Chapter 2 â Room 237

Chapter 2 â Room 237
I didnât think.
I grabbed the handle.
Locked.
âOpen the door,â I said.
Silence.
Then Maverickâs voice came through the wood.
âAmy⊠this isnât what you think.â
That sentence almost made me laugh.
Because people only say that when it is exactly what you think.
Linda rushed up behind me with a hotel manager.
âI need a key,â I said.
The manager hesitated. âMaâam, hotel policyââ
âMy wedding is downstairs,â I snapped. âMy groom is inside that room. Open it.â
He looked at Linda.
Linda looked at my face.
Then she said, âOpen the damn door.â
The manager swiped the keycard.
The light turned green.
I pushed the door open.
Penelope stood near the bed, still wearing her maid of honor dress.
Her makeup was ruined.
Maverick stood beside her with his shirt half-buttoned.
For one second, nobody moved.
Then my mother gasped behind me.
Penelope started crying harder.
âAmy, please let me explain.â
I looked at Maverick.
âDid you sleep with her?â
His face twisted.
âIt wasnât supposed to happen like this.â
That was my answer.
My knees nearly gave out, but I refused to fall.
Penelope stepped toward me.
âI love him,â she whispered.
I stared at her.
âYou love him?â
She nodded, tears running down her face.
âWe tried to stop.â
I laughed once. Cold. Empty.
âOn my wedding day?â
Maverick rubbed his face. âAmy, I was going to tell you after the ceremony.â
The room went silent.
âAfter?â I whispered.
He looked away.
That was when I saw the papers on the desk.
Legal documents.
A prenuptial agreement.
But not the one my lawyer had reviewed.
This one had my signature on it.
Except I had never signed it.
I walked to the desk and picked it up.
My name was forged at the bottom.
Beside it was another document.
Transfer authorization.
For the house my grandmother had left me.
My hands started shaking.
âYou werenât just cheating,â I said.
I turned slowly toward Maverick.
âYou were stealing from me.â
Penelope stopped crying.
Maverickâs face went white.
Then someone behind me said,
âAmy⊠you need to come downstairs.â
It was Emma.
May you like
Her voice trembled.
âYour father just found something else.â