3: 3
My chest went tight.
Back when our relationship had settled into something steady, I told him the truth about who I was: the eldest daughter of the Sullivan shipping family. I brought him home to meet my father.
I never expected that one meeting would be enough. My father dug in without room for argument and forced us to break up.
"Gail, this poor nobody isn't good enough."
For his sake, I stiffened my neck and fell out with my father. We hadn't spoken in years.
After I built his account into a following that made him an online-famous vet, he never once brought up going back to see my father again.
I assumed he was waiting until he'd grown a little bigger before facing him.
I never imagined he'd been nursing the grudge the whole time.
Worse, now he was using it as leverage against me.
Because no family stood behind me, I deserved to be brushed aside. I deserved to be bullied on my own wedding day.
Something cold slid down my face. I wiped it away without thinking.
On the screen, Carrie sneered along with him.
"The Sullivan shipping family, my foot. No word in years. For all we know she made the whole thing up!"
"She's just an orphan girl. She's the one reaching above her station for my Warren. It's only because my son's soft-hearted, holding on to old feelings, that he'd even marry an old maid like her."
The groomsmen nodded and chimed in.
Mercedes charged over and planted herself in front of me.
"Warren! Have some conscience when you talk! Your whole account was built by Gigi!"
"Who do you think Gigi gave all that up for? She walked away from being an heiress to eat bitter with you!"
Nanette squeezed forward, her eyes curving into a smile on the screen.
"You never eat bitter with Warren. It's nothing but sweetness with him!"
Mercedes shot her a glare and said nothing.
When they saw me still trying to reach the changing room, they actually put their hands on me. In the scuffle I was shoved to the floor, part of my skirt trampled underfoot. I only managed to cover my chest, and my knee split open in a wide raw patch.
Two groomsmen pinned Mercedes's arms, one on each side, and someone had already started reaching for the hem of her dress.
My eyes felt like they'd tear at the corners. Sitting on the floor, I broke and cried out.
"No!"
"Enough! I won't change my clothes!"
"I'll wait quietly for the ceremony!"
Watching how wretched I looked, something flickered across Warren's face on the screen, close to reluctance, before he hardened his heart again in an instant.
"See, isn't that better? Be good, and wait for me to get back."
I was shaking with rage. I didn't answer him. I turned and helped Mercedes over, and we held each other up as we sat down. I couldn't stop apologizing to her. Her eyes were red and her hands trembled as she hugged me back and told me it was fine, and hearing that only broke me more.
For the first time in my life, I began to hate someone.
He could stop loving me. I'd made the bet and I'd lose it and live with that.
But he had no right to treat my friend like this, to treat my cat like this. How dare he.
Two groomsmen were left to watch us. Carrie and the rest went off to see to other things.
The makeup artist came over on her own to straighten our gowns. I held Mercedes's hand and told her with a look that this was not over.
About ten minutes later, my phone buzzed once.
The surveillance footage from the lounge and the makeup room had just landed in my hands.
You don't build Warren into the most popular online vet in the country without knowing a few tricks. Quietly gathering material was one of them.
To collect more footage for the wedding videos, so I could grow Warren's following, I'd made a point of sponsoring the hotel with free ultra-high-definition 4K cameras, and I'd gotten the manager's blessing to pull my wedding-day surveillance anytime I wanted.
I never thought it would become my trump card for proving I'd done nothing wrong.
……
