Chapter 3 — The Wedding Gift
Chapter 3 — The Wedding Gift
I walked back to the ballroom still wearing my wedding dress.
Only now, I wasn’t walking toward a marriage.
I was walking toward a public execution.
Mine.
Or his.
The guests turned as I entered.
Whispers spread instantly.
Maverick followed behind me, pale and furious.
Penelope stayed upstairs.
Coward.
My father stood near the stage holding an envelope.
His jaw was tight.
“Amy,” he said quietly, “this was delivered to the front desk this morning.”
I took it.
Inside were bank records.
Emails.
Screenshots.
Messages between Maverick and Penelope.
And one message from Maverick to his best man:
After the wedding, Amy signs everything over. She’ll never know until it’s too late.
My breath caught.
Then I saw another line.
Penelope is nervous. Keep her quiet until the vows are done.
I turned toward Maverick.
“You were going to marry me just to take my house?”
His mother stood from the front row.
“Now, let’s not be dramatic.”
The entire ballroom went silent.
I looked at her.
“You knew?”
She lifted her chin.
“My son deserves security.”
Something inside me broke.
Not in a weak way.
In a clean way.
Like a chain snapping.
I walked onto the stage and took the microphone.
“Amy,” Maverick hissed. “Don’t.”
I looked out at three hundred guests.
Then I smiled.
“Thank you all for coming.”
The room went dead quiet.
“I know you came here to watch a wedding.”
I turned toward Maverick.
“But instead, you’re about to witness a confession.”
His face darkened.
He lunged toward the stage.
My father stepped in front of him.
“Try it,” Dad said.
Maverick froze.
I lifted the forged prenup.
“My fiancé disappeared before the vows because he was upstairs with my maid of honor.”
Gasps filled the room.
Penelope appeared at the ballroom entrance, crying.
I kept going.
“And while I was downstairs waiting to marry him, he was preparing forged documents to steal property from me after the wedding.”
Maverick shouted, “She’s lying!”
Then Linda stepped forward.
“No,” she said. “She isn’t.”
Everyone turned.
Linda held up her phone.
“The hotel hallway camera caught them entering Room 237 together.”
Maverick’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Then two police officers walked into the ballroom.
And behind them...
Penelope’s father.
His face was burning red.
May you like
He looked straight at Maverick and said,
“You used my daughter too?”
