Chapter 3
The next few days passed in a blur of precision.
My father handled the media team quietly.
My mother contacted our lawyers.
Mia stayed by my side and screened every vendor, every message, every call.
Meanwhile, Isaac played the devoted fiancé flawlessly.
He sent flowers.
He brought me breakfast.
He kissed my forehead in front of staff and called me sweetheart.
I smiled back every single time.
The performance almost made me sick.
On the third day, he took my hand over dinner and said, “Only a few more days, Caroline. Then you’ll be mine.”
Mine.
The word slid over my skin like oil.
I looked up at him, gentle and adoring.
“I can’t wait.”
His smile deepened.
Across the room, Evelyn sat at the bar in a silk dress the color of champagne, pretending not to watch us.
I nearly laughed.
That same evening, after Isaac dropped me off, my phone rang from an unknown number.
I almost ignored it, but something in me stirred.
I answered.
There was silence.
Then a woman’s voice.
“You really are pathetic, aren’t you?”
I leaned back slowly against the wall.
“Evelyn.”
She laughed softly. “You recognized me.”
“How flattering. I didn’t know I mattered enough for you to call.”
“Oh, you matter,” she said. “At least for now.”
I said nothing.
She continued, her tone silky with cruelty. “Tell me, Caroline… when Isaac leaves you at the altar, will you faint or will you beg first?”
My fingers tightened around the phone.
“You seem very sure of yourself,” I said.
“I am.”
There was a beat of silence.
Then she added, “You were always just a placeholder. He loves me. He always has.”
I let out a quiet breath.
“Then why is he still marrying me?”
Her voice sharpened.
“For the same reason he does anything. Because men like him enjoy winning.”
Then she hung up.
I stared at the dark screen.
Mia, who had heard enough to understand, muttered, “I hope she enjoys prison orange.”
I gave a hollow laugh.
Then my phone lit up again.
This time, it was a text from Isaac.
Miss you already.
I looked at the words and felt nothing but cold.
I typed back.
See you at the rehearsal.
The rehearsal dinner was held in the ballroom itself.
It looked exactly as Isaac had promised.
Grand.
Expensive.
A masterpiece of light and white flowers and gleaming crystal.
The giant screen above the stage displayed our engagement photos in a slow, elegant loop.
Anyone watching would have thought we were the perfect couple.
Isaac stood beside me in a black suit, one hand resting at my waist.
Every so often, he leaned down to murmur something affectionate against my hair.
Every time, I smiled.
When dessert was served, he rose with a champagne flute in hand.
“I just want to say,” he began, “that meeting Caroline changed my life.”
The room warmed with soft laughter and approving looks.
He looked at me as if I hung the moon.
“She taught me what devotion looks like. What loyalty looks like. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life proving I deserve her.”
Applause followed.
My nails bit into my palm under the table.
Afterward, while guests mingled, I slipped away to the control booth where the audiovisual team was testing the wedding broadcast.
Mia stood by the door, keeping watch.
The technician smiled politely when he saw me.
“Miss Hart, can I help you?”
I held up a flash drive.
“The updated ceremonial montage. Isaac wanted the revised file included.”
The technician took it without question.
“Of course.”
I watched him drag the file into the wedding program and replace the old one.
There it was.
The dashcam recording.
The photos.
The documents.
The timestamps.
The truth.
I thanked him and stepped back out into the hall.
Isaac was waiting just around the corner.
For one brief second, my pulse stopped.
But he only smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Nervous?”
I looked up at him.
“A little.”
He kissed my forehead.
“Don’t be. Tomorrow will be unforgettable.”
Yes, I thought.
It will.