Chapter 5

The entire room focused on me.

It was his wedding day. Benjamin looked annoyed but wouldn't make a scene now.

He adjusted his expression, beaming as he took the remote from me, ready to play the video himself.

After so many years together, he knew me.

He assumed it was a montage of our love story.

Before he could turn, the giant screen erupted with the sounds of passionate lovemaking, freezing him in place.

The footage was crystal clear.

The bridal suite. Yesterday. Chloe in my wedding gown—the strapless one Benjamin said I couldn't pull off—her body wrapped around his.

Their whispered words filled the banquet hall through the surround-sound speakers.

"Ben, tomorrow you're getting married... love me one more time!"

"Wearing Miss Reed's gown... it was so exciting..."

Three hundred guests sat in stunned silence.

Then the gasps started. Then the murmurs. Then the roar.

Benjamin lunged for the projector. I stepped back calmly, remote in hand.

"Elaine! Turn it off! TURN IT OFF!"

"Why? You said I wasn't model material for this gown. I thought everyone should see who is."

His face was the color of ash. He looked at Chloe in the front row. She was frozen, mouth open, the tattoo of his initials still visible above her neckline.

His mother stood up, her champagne glass shattering on the floor.

"Benjamin White. What is this?"

"Mom, it's not—it's been manipulated—"

"That's your voice." His father's tone was ice. "That's your face. And that's the wedding gown we paid thirty thousand dollars for."

Benjamin turned to me, his expression shifting from panic to rage.

"You planned this. You set me up!"

"I set you up?" I laughed. "I didn't drag you into that suite. I didn't put you on top of her. All I did was press record."

The room erupted. Phones were out. Guests were filming. Benjamin's college friends stood frozen, their gift envelopes suddenly feeling very heavy.

My mother was crying. My father's face was granite.

Benjamin grabbed my wrist. "Elaine, please. We can fix this. It was a mistake—"

I looked at his hand gripping mine. The wedding band glinted. The same hand that had grazed Chloe's fingers twenty minutes ago.

I pulled the ring off his finger and dropped it on the floor.

"The wedding is cancelled."

The words echoed through the silent hall.

Chloe bolted for the exit, but my college roommate, Lisa, blocked the door.

"Oh no, sweetheart. You're staying for the reception."