I picked up a shrimp and chewed. The meat wasn't bitter, but everything I tasted was.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Beatrice watching my every move.
She was worried for nothing.
When I made a promise, I kept it.
What I hadn't expected was that her request would be for me to keep the secret that we were together.
I pulled my gaze away and stopped looking at her.
My mind was a wreck, the ache unbearable. I was about to stand and leave when Jude's groomsmen started joking around.
“Jude, congrats on finally landing the girl!”
“You two went pretty hard that night, huh?”
Jude played dumb：“What night? You've had too much to drink, man!”
“Please. I can drink anyone under the table.”
“Quit playing. The eighteenth, last month. You and Beatrice got a room right next to mine.”
“Man, you two were so loud.”
Beatrice went rigid. I just sat there, frozen, for what felt like a long time.
The eighteenth of last month. That was the night my mother was on her deathbed. I'd called Beatrice over and over, begging her to come see my mother one last time.
I was about to give up when she finally called back.
I remembered how heavy her breathing sounded, her voice rough and hoarse.
She said she was away on a business trip and had come down with a fever. She couldn't make it back.
I believed her. I even worried about her health, since I wasn't there to take care of her.
That whole night, half of me was in agony, and the other half was drowning in grief.
Only now, from the mouth of her lover's buddy, did the truth come spilling out.
That night, she wasn't on a business trip. She was in a hotel room with Jude.
I sank back into my chair, all the strength gone from my body. My chest felt like something was gnawing through it from the inside, tearing without mercy.
“Enough! Stop talking!”
Beatrice snapped at the guy, furious, but he was genuinely drunk.
“Oh, relax! You're married now.”
“Can't a bunch of single guys learn a few moves?”
“Am I right, guys?”
Beatrice's face was taut, her expression so panicked she looked like someone running for her life.
Jude wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her into his chest.
“Babe, what's gotten into you tonight?”
“You're acting so different from usual. Don't tell me your ex really is……”
“No!”
“I just don't think what happens in our bedroom needs to be announced to a whole table!”
Jude chuckled：“You little minx. Since when are you shy about that?”
“Tonight when we get home, you're going to……”
I couldn't listen to another word.
If she had truly fallen for someone else and was just too afraid to tell me, I would have sent her a breakup text and been done with it.
I hated dragging things out. What I feared even more was being deceived.
“Hey, cousin, where are you going?”
“Sit back down, eat something!”
“You're Beatrice's cousin, her only family here tonight. You've got to stay and see the wedding through!”
“Seraphina, over here!”
Even as Jude spoke to me, his eyes had already drifted past my shoulder. He lifted a hand and waved over a woman named Seraphina Whitmore.
“Wow, look at you!”
“You get more gorgeous every time I see you. Still as classy as ever.”
Seraphina was a former classmate of Jude's, one of several he'd invited to the reception.
But the moment she saw me, a flash of something crossed her eyes.
I looked up at her, and she fell quiet.
“Come on, come on. Gotta introduce the good ones to the inner circle.”
“This is Rhys Dickerson, my wife's cousin.”
