He exhaled, almost trembling. “She cornered me twice in the last few months. Once at the engagement party, and another time after I tried on my dress, when she said she needed to talk to you. I told her I wasn’t interested and I didn’t tell you because I thought she’d stop, and I didn’t want to upset you before the wedding.”
He seemed consumed by regret.
“You should have told me,” I said.
“I know. I was wrong.”
It hurt, but it was also sincere. Ethan wasn’t perfect. He was good. There was a difference.
I took her hand. “Today, it’s not about humiliating anyone for the sake of it. It’s about protecting something good.”
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A shiver ran through my entire body.
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Beds
bed
dress
There are times when your brain refuses to process what your ears have just heard. I remained frozen at the edge of the bed, convinced I had misunderstood, until another bridesmaid asked me, “Do you really think he’d fall for you?”
Vanessa replied without hesitation, “He almost did it. Men like Ethan don’t marry girls like Olivia if they don’t want security. I’m just trying to correct his mistake.”
I clapped a hand over my mouth.
Olivia. Me.
My wedding. My maid of honor. My closest friends.
The room seemed to sway. Every memory of the past six months flooded back, amplified and transformed into painful recollections. Vanessa insisting on controlling everything. Vanessa offering to be the ring bearer. Vanessa commenting on my luck, on how Ethan “preferred the easy way out.” Vanessa lingering too long by his side at the engagement party, stroking his sleeve, laughing too loudly at his jokes. I had promised myself I wouldn’t be jealous. I had trusted her, because that’s what you do with your maid of honor.
Through the wall, Kendra asked, “What if she finds out?”
“She won’t,” Vanessa said. “She never notices anything until it’s too late.”
Something warm and stable emerged from the shock.
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