My best friend has been the golden boy since kindergarten. Me? I've been "Scarface" for as long as I can remember.
Girls have handed me over three thousand love letters throughout my life. Every single one was meant for him.
On my wedding day, Cedric Simmons showed up looking like he'd stepped off a magazine cover.
"Brother, you're finally getting your happily ever after!" He clapped my shoulder, grinning. "I'm here to make sure this day is perfect for you!"
Then he saw my bride's face—the kind of beauty that belonged on movie posters.
His congratulations died in his throat.
He recovered with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Irvin Dickerson, did you ever pick up that syphilis test result?"
Kate Mason turned to stare at me.
I shot Cedric a desperate look, willing him to shut up.
"You must be thinking of someone else. When have I ever been tested for syphilis?"
But he was already reaching past me, snatching the folder from my jacket.
"Don't be modest, brother! Remember? We tested for syphilis and HIV together. I was right there with you!"
He held up the report. Positive results glared back at me in black and white.
Cold sweat prickled down my spine.
He didn't know. That report wasn't mine.
It was his.
——
I'd prepared a best man speech for Cedric Simmons.
Instead, his out-of-nowhere accusation made me the center of attention—and not in a good way.
I locked eyes with him, silently pleading.
"Cedric, you've got this wrong. I've never been tested for syphilis."
"How could I be wrong?" His voice carried across the room, loud enough for every guest to hear. "You told me yourself—syphilis and HIV. I went with you to the clinic! You think I'd forget something like that?"
"HIV too?!"
A guest shot to his feet, knocking over his wine glass. Red spread across the white tablecloth like a stain.
"How dare you invite us here! What if the groom touched the food? The drinks?"
"Exactly!" Another voice joined in. "You lured us here without telling us? What kind of people are you?"
Panic clawed at my chest. I turned to Kate, standing beside me in her white gown.
She was supposed to defend me. She was my wife.
But her gaze had drifted past me entirely—fixed on Cedric Simmons.
This was the first time she'd seen him in person. I'd mentioned my handsome best friend before. Back then, she'd laughed and thrown her arms around me.
"In my heart, my husband is the most attractive man in the world."
Now I recognized that look in her eyes. I'd seen it a thousand times growing up—on every girl who'd ever laid eyes on Cedric. That stunned, breathless fascination.
Today, his hair was perfectly styled, his tailored suit accentuating his tall frame.
Kate wasn't going to help me. I was on my own.
I gripped the microphone until my knuckles went white.
"Cedric, you're mistaken. I've never had that kind of test!"
"Come on, don't play coy with me!" He was already striding toward my car, parked just outside. "I saw it earlier—the report's right in your front seat!"
He yanked open the door and rummaged inside.
"See? Right here!"
"Give that back!"
I lunged forward, ripping the paper from his hands before anyone else could see.
The reaction was instant. Every eye in the room sharpened with suspicion.
Cedric's face twisted into exaggerated shock.
"Irvin... why are you so nervous?" His voice dropped, thick with false concern. "Don't tell me you actually have it?"
"I don't!"
"Then let us see." He spread his hands, all innocence. "If the results are normal, everyone can relax. Problem solved."
My fingers tightened around the crumpled report.
Normal?
A dozen markers. Every single one positive.
If I showed this, Cedric Simmons would be finished. His reputation, his future—gone.
I still didn't understand why he was doing this. Why humiliate me at my own wedding?
But I couldn't stop remembering.
That rainy night when I was eight years old. A pack of kids had shoved me into the gutter, circling like hyenas, chanting ugly freak and scarface while mud soaked through my clothes.
Only one person had stepped between us.
"He got that scar saving someone's life! It's not his fault! What gives you the right to treat him like this?"
Cedric Simmons. My defender. My brother.
I couldn't destroy him.
Not even now.
