Wedding-Day My husband's childhood sweetheart Prank Killed My Mother,I Sued Her

On our wedding day, my fiancé asked me to run down to the front desk for the rings.

By the time I came back, doctors in white coats were carrying my mother, drenched in blood, into an ambulance.

I dropped the rings and rushed over in a panic.

That was when I learned she had fallen down the stairs, and no matter what they did, she couldn't be saved.

The wedding was called off. I cried the whole night.

After the funeral I went to find my fiancé, and outside the private room I heard the people inside talking. "Lena, so Bertha Henson's mother died because of one of your pranks? What happened?"

"I was just messing with her. I told her Bertha had been in a car accident, so she went running out in a rush. I never thought she'd fall down the stairs and end up brain-dead."

"Where do you even come up with a joke like that!"

"John knew about it too. To go along with me, he sent Bertha off to get the rings on purpose, and then I scared her mother."

John Gilbert let out a sigh. "No one is to bring this up again. I'll repay whatever I owe her!"

Standing outside the door, I felt the blood freeze in my veins, my eyes going wide in disbelief.

So my mother's death was no accident. Lena Finch's prank had killed her.

And the man who loved me had a hand in it too, ready to bury the secret for her.

With hate like this between us, there was no way I could still marry him.

...

1

"Okay, I know I was wrong! I'll never pull a joke like that again."

That was what came out of Lena's mouth, but the smug look on her face was impossible to hide.

I thought her friends would call her out for how rotten she was. Instead, they laughed and clapped her on the shoulder.

"Come on, you! You could give a prank pro a run for their money."

"Don't take it so hard, it wasn't all your fault."

"Who knew the old bag had no brains? It was just a harmless little joke, and she went charging out without a second thought."

"Right! Maybe her time was up anyway. She was fated to die at her own daughter's wedding."

Lena clapped her hands and made a face like she was giving them credit for finally getting it.

"See, see, see, John? You hear that? This really isn't on me!"

"It's not my fault the old woman had no sense! I joke around with you guys all the time too!"

"Has anybody ever been scared to death by one of my jokes? No, right!"

The people across from her nodded and laughed, all agreeing that my mother had simply been fated to die.

I clenched my fists hard, the rage in my chest refusing to go away.

And John, instead of scolding Lena, only shook his head with helpless, doting amusement.

Then someone suddenly blurted out, "Damn! There's a fresh hickey on your neck."

"Ha, come on, spill it, what were you up to last night?"

John's buddy leaned in, laughing, demanding to know how that hickey got on his neck.

Lena smiled, like she'd pulled off something to be proud of.

"Take a guess?" They exchanged glances, and once they caught the pride on Lena's face, the room broke into a racket.

"No way, that hickey's from you?"

"Do you even need to ask? Bertha's been busy handling her mother's funeral all this time. She hasn't got the time or the mood to be all over John."

"So poor lonely John, who can't hold out and has a big appetite, went to Lena to get his fill."

Lena immediately gave the guy a thumbs-up.

And my heart now held more than fury. There was a bottomless grief in it too.

How ironic.

After my mother was gone, I'd still worried I was neglecting him.

So the moment the funeral was over, I hurried to find him.

I never imagined he'd never had me in his heart at all. My mother had died because of them, and now they were rubbing salt in the wound.

"Damn! This Bertha's got it rough, doesn't she!"

"If she found out Lena's prank killed her mother, and that John's been sleeping with Lena and cheating on her, would she sue you?"

Lena only sneered. "Does she have proof?"

"Without proof, what can she do to me?"

I couldn't take another second of Lena's gloating voice. I kicked the door open and stormed in.

The instant they saw me, every one of those careless smiles froze on their faces.

The whole room went dead silent, the air thick and suffocating.

Only Lena wasn't cowed by my rage. She leaned back against John, wearing that same taunting little smile.

John's hand paused around his cup. He glanced back at Lena, then turned to look at me.

His tone was easy, unhurried, as if none of this had anything to do with him.

"Finished with your mother's arrangements, then?"

I said nothing, just glared at all of them, shaking with fury.

John sighed. The others traded uneasy glances.

All of them wondering whether I'd overheard their little secret.

"Bertha, did you hear what we were just talking about?"

"Yes!"

"So my mother didn't just fall down the stairs by accident. She died because Lena pulled some sick prank on her—"

Before I could finish, Lena jumped up and jabbed a finger at me, screaming.

"Hold on. What do you mean I pranked your old lady to death?"

"She's the one who couldn't tell a joke from the truth. Not my problem her head doesn't work right."

"You've never joked around with anybody? Please. She fell and died, that's on her. Don't you dare pin it on me."

"Who jokes about someone's life to scare them on their wedding day? Who sent me off so my mother couldn't find me, and took my phone so no calls could get through?"

"My mother had a heart condition. She couldn't handle a scare like that!"

Faced with my fury, none of them dared make a sound.

Only Lena had the nerve to stand up and grab a cup off the coffee table and hurl it at me. I dodged and lunged straight for her, fast as I could.

We went at each other, and she was clearly no match for me, losing ground fast.

But she had friends. They pulled me off her, all in the name of breaking it up. Really they were pinning my arms so I couldn't move, just so Lena could get her shot at me.

Blind as ever, John couldn't see it. He rounded on me, shouting.

"Enough!"

"How long are you going to keep making a scene before you stop?"

Was I the one making a scene? I was fighting for justice for my own mother, and my fiancé wasn't just refusing to stand with me. He was taking her side.

Right. I'd almost forgotten he'd slept with Lena.

While I was busy burying my mother, the two of them were rolling around in bed behind my back.

No wonder he was covering for her.

"John, after everything, you won't even apologize to me. Instead you're helping her dodge responsibility."

I shook off the hands pinning me and swept my eyes over every ugly face in the room.

Maybe something in my bleakness got to John, because he told Lena to apologize to me.

She didn't dare defy him. She threw me a resentful, sullen look.

"Hey. Sorry, all right?"

"There. I apologized. Do me a favor and show a little more respect from now on."

Only then did John's smile return as he looked at her. "And you can't go around making careless jokes anymore either."

Then he turned back to me.

"Lena's still young, a little full of herself. Don't hold it against her."

"Besides, she already apologized to you."

Every word dripped with favoritism, a soft blade wrapped in gentleness.

He was calling it a matter of her youth when it was deliberate, and telling the victim to just accept it.

My nails dug into my own flesh. It should have hurt, but I felt nothing.

"That so-called apology was pure contempt. I won't accept it."

"If killing someone can be settled with one simple 'sorry,' then I've got no problem finishing her off too."

I dropped that on them and straightened my clothes.

"If she doesn't understand what she did wrong, I've got no problem handling it my own way."

I reached the door and stopped.

"There won't be any wedding for us. We're done, here and now."

I pulled the door open and walked out. Behind me, John's furious roar followed.