Chapter 1: The Door Opens
Chapter 1: The Door Opens
The key trembled between my fingers.
Click.
The lock released with a soft metallic sound.
For one impossible second, nobody moved.
Then I pushed the door open.
The curtains were half-drawn, allowing strips of afternoon sunlight to spill across the suite.
A wedding tuxedo jacket lay carelessly on the floor.
A pair of ivory heels rested beside the bed.
My breath caught.
The room was silent.
Too silent.
Then I heard water running.
The bathroom door slowly opened.
Maverick stepped out first.
His white dress shirt was unbuttoned at the collar.
His tie hung loosely around his neck.
The color drained from his face the moment he saw me standing there in my wedding gown.
"Amy..."
Behind him...
Penelope appeared.
She was still wearing her lavender bridesmaid dress, but her hair had come loose, mascara streaked beneath swollen eyes.
She wasn't smiling.
She looked terrified.
My mother's gasp echoed through the suite.
My father lunged forward.
"You son of a—"
"Stop!"
Penelope screamed.
Everyone froze.
She stepped between us, shaking so hard she could barely remain standing.
"It's not what you think."
I laughed.
A broken, hollow laugh.
"Oh really?"
"You disappear with my fiancé on our wedding day..."
"...you hide in the honeymoon suite..."
"...and you expect me to believe this is innocent?"
Tears streamed down Penelope's face.
"I came to stop the wedding."
The words struck harder than any slap.
Maverick lowered his head.
"I should have told you months ago."
"Told me what?"
Neither of them answered.
Instead...
Maverick slowly removed a thick envelope from the hotel desk.
He handed it to me.
Across the front, written in Penelope's handwriting, were only four words.
Before You Say Yes.
With trembling hands, I opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Dozens of them.
Hotel receipts.
Bank statements.
Private investigator reports.
And one photograph that shattered everything I believed.
It showed Maverick...
embracing another woman.
Not once.
Not twice.
Over the course of nearly two years.
Different cities.
Different hotels.
Different dates.
My knees nearly gave out.
"I don't understand..."
Penelope whispered,
"I hired the investigator three months ago."
"I prayed I was wrong."
"But I couldn't let you marry a lie."
The room fell completely silent.
Except for Maverick.
May you like
"I'm sorry."
Those two words sounded painfully small.
