4: 4
Early that morning, I found the flash drive in the shrubs below the building.
The casing had cracked, but the files inside still read fine.
I uploaded all the evidence to the cloud and contacted a lawyer to have it notarized.
When I got home, a gold-embossed invitation was sitting on the coffee table.
Groom: Seth James. Bride: Willow Locke.
The wedding was tomorrow.
Willow came out of the bedroom in her pajamas and pushed the invitation toward me.
“Sis, don't forget to come tomorrow. You're at the head table.”
She stroked the wedding-gown catalog and added, on purpose,
“Seth says he's going to throw me the grandest wedding this whole city has ever seen.”
Seth had his arm around her shoulders, and somehow he could still calmly console me.
“This wedding is only to give the child a proper standing.”
“Once it's all over, I'll make it up to you.”
I asked “And how do you plan to make it up to me?”
He let out a breath, thinking I'd finally come around.
“Later I'll give you a bigger one.”
“Autumn, the one I've always wanted to marry has been you all along.”
Willow's face shifted, and then she clutched his arm.
“Seth, my stomach hurts. Maybe I didn't sleep well last night.”
Seth caught her at once and didn't spare another word to explain himself to me.
I watched them go into the bedroom, picked up the invitation, and called the real estate agent.
I'd paid the down payment on this marital home.
I was the only one making the mortgage payments.
Only my name was on the deed.
I demanded we sign that same day, at thirty percent below market price.
Even the agent thought I'd lost my mind.
“Ms. Locke, selling like this, you'll lose over a million, easy.”
I only asked him “Can the title transfer go through today?”
By four that afternoon, the buyer had signed, and the full payment landed in my account.
My one condition was that the buyer could move in before noon the next day.
I boxed up all of Seth and Willow's clothes, their household things, the crib,
and had the hauling company take it to the waste disposal station.
Everything that was mine filled only two suitcases.
At the very back of the closet still hung the wedding gown I'd never gotten to wear.
On the inside of the hem were my and Seth's initials, embroidered there. I'd always been too fond of it to put it on.
I got the scissors and started at the waistline, cutting it open piece by piece.
I put the scraps into a gift box, then added a photocopy of the home sale contract.
On top I laid a card.
Once I'd written the last line, I booked a same-city courier.
In the small hours I changed my phone number, deleted all my social accounts, and turned off location sharing.
At six in the morning, I wheeled my suitcases out of the city.
At ten, the wedding began right on schedule.
Luxury cars packed the lot outside the hotel, and the banquet hall was full of guests, every one of them a somebody in this city.
Willow, in her wedding gown, was led onto the red carpet by my mother.
My mother cried her makeup off, telling anyone who'd listen that her younger daughter had finally found a good home.
Marion pulled relatives aside to show off.
“Willow is gentle and sensible, and she's given us Jameses a grandson. That's what a daughter-in-law should be.”
Ivy stood by, smiling along.
“Seth and Willow are so in love, and they already have the baby. No one could ever tear them apart.”
A guest who didn't know the story suddenly asked,
“I thought Seth's bride was supposed to be Autumn.”
The table went quiet in an instant.
My mother's face darkened first.
“Don't bring her up. She's had a mind of her own since she was little. Nothing like how sweet and sensible Willow is.”
Ivy picked it up.
“Autumn cares too much about her career. Not the type to settle into married life. Seth saw through her just in time.”
Seth heard that, and his brow furrowed as he spoke.
“Autumn isn't what you're all making her out to be. She……”
Willow suddenly pressed a hand to her chest and asked, wounded,
“Seth, it's our wedding today. Are you still going to blame me for your sister's sake?”
Seth stopped for a few seconds, then finally soothed her under his breath.
“No. We won't talk about her today.”
The officiant began reading the vows.
Willow raised her right hand and said that for richer or poorer, she would stay by Seth's side forever.
Seth was about to speak when the doors of the banquet hall swung open.
A courier carrying a white gift box walked up to the stage.
“Excuse me, which of you is Mr. Seth James?”
“A same-city urgent delivery from Ms. Autumn Locke. She required you to sign for it in person.”
The whole room went silent again.
Willow's face went white on the spot.
Seth took the box and undid the ribbon around it.
He paused for a moment, then reached out and lifted the lid.
