Chapter 3

It was 3:47 AM when the video went out.

The wedding planning group chat had seventy-eight people in it.

Both sets of parents, the best man and bridesmaids, the wedding planner, the hotel manager, the convoy coordinator, the photography team, and a few elders in charge of greeting guests.

James edited it cleanly.

The clip was only twelve seconds long.

Charlotte stood in the middle of the dance floor in her wedding dress, Alex on one knee holding up the ring box, with people all around shouting, "Kiss her."

The camera didn't catch anything private, and there were no captions.

I sent one message under the video. [The wedding is canceled. Tomorrow's party is now the Warren family's appreciation dinner. The Wynn family's guests, please make your own arrangements.]

The chat was dead silent at first.

Then the chat blew up with messages.

[What's going on?]

[Is Charlotte wearing a wedding dress?]

[Who's that guy?]

[All the relatives are coming tomorrow. How can you cancel?]

Charlotte called me almost right away.

I didn't pick up.

She switched to a voice message, her voice urgent and hoarse. "Edward, delete the video. Why did you send it to the group? Do you have any idea how embarrassed my parents are right now?"

I listened to the voice message but didn't reply.

She kept sending messages. "It was a party my friends threw for me. I didn't promise him anything. If you keep this up, everyone's going to get the wrong idea about me."

I stared at the voice message, my finger hovering over the screen.

My dad took my phone and pressed the voice button. "Charlotte, this is Edward's father. The video wasn't edited, and nothing was added.

"Everyone can see exactly what happened. What you need to do now is talk to your parents about it, and don't reach out to Edward anymore."

After he finished, he handed the phone back to me.

Charlotte's father, Benjamin Wynn, finally showed up in the group chat. [Edward, we know what happened. The wedding can't be canceled.

[Tomorrow, all our relatives and friends will be there. If something goes wrong, it'll be embarrassing for both families. Charlotte acted inappropriately, and we'll make sure she apologizes to you.]

I replied with a text. [Benjamin, the wedding's off.]

Benjamin called me right away.

My dad answered.

They talked in the hallway outside the ballroom for fifteen minutes.

I stood in the hall, watching the staff take down the welcome sign.

The welcome sign used to say: [Welcome to the wedding of Mr. Edward Warren and Ms. Charlotte Wynn.]

The sign had been taken down, its back leaning against the wall.

I glanced at it, then turned and walked into the lounge.

The lounge still had the groom's suit for tomorrow laid out.

The dark gray suit was neatly pressed, the cufflinks were still in their box, and one of the lapel flowers was missing.

I sat on the couch, staring down at my hands.

My knuckles were still swollen from punching Alex earlier.

There were a few knocks on the door.

Luna was standing in the doorway.

She was wearing a black coat, her hair a mess, and she looked a little uncomfortable. "Mr. Warren."

I looked up. "What are you doing here?"

She clutched her phone. "I was worried Charlotte and her crew might try to blame you, so I came over. The club's a mess right now. Alex's people keep asking who tipped you off."

James followed her in, holding a glass of water. "I picked her up. She's got the whole thing on video."

Luna looked at me, a little guilt flickering in her eyes. "At first, I didn't know Charlotte was keeping this from you.

"She told me you were aware of it, that you thought she was under too much pressure, and were fine with her friends throwing her a chill send-off party. I didn't realize something was wrong until I got there."

I took the phone she handed me.

The video was longer than the one James had received.

In the footage, Alex was standing on stage, holding a microphone. "Tonight, there's no groom. It's Charlotte's last night of freedom."

The crowd laughed.

Charlotte was standing off to the side, waving her hand at first.

Alex came down, took her hand, and led her to the center of the dance floor.

Someone nudged a wedding dress toward her.

Charlotte refused it the first time.

The girl next to her laughed and said, "Come on, put it on for a bit. Tomorrow you'll be someone else's wife. Tonight's your last night as a single girl."

Alex never took his eyes off her.

Finally, Charlotte took the dress and went to the changing room.

When she came back out, the whole place erupted in cheers.

Luna's video was shaky, and her own voice got caught on tape.

She said, "Isn't this a little over the top?"

Someone next to her replied, "Alex's been planning this forever, and Charlotte didn't stop him."

I paused the video.

"I'm sorry," Luna said softly.

"You don't have to apologize," I said.

She shook her head. "She told me you knew, so I didn't tell you right away. But when Alex went down on one knee, I realized something was seriously wrong, so I sent James my location."

I handed the phone back to her. "Don't send this one yet."

James frowned. "Why not? This one's clearer than the last."

"If we send it now, the Wynn family will say we're trying to stir things up. Hold onto it. We'll use it when they start backtracking," I said.

Luna shot me a look.

I asked her, "Has Alex been talking to Charlotte a lot lately?"

She paused, looking a bit uncertain.

She said, "Yeah, they've been talking way more these past six months. Charlotte told me he's stressed out with his startup, so he keeps reaching out to her, reminiscing about old times.

"She said nobody around Alex really gets him, so she lets him talk."

I gave a wry smile. "She's got her hands full."

She was busy planning the wedding, chasing old dreams, and acting as Alex's emotional dumping ground.

Luna added, her voice a little uneasy, "Alex booked the place tonight. Charlotte originally said she didn't want a bachelorette party, but Alex convinced her it'd be a few close friends, nothing crazy.

"But when I got there, there were a bunch of people I didn't recognize and cameras everywhere."

I looked up. "Cameras?"

She nodded. "Yeah, on the left side of the dance floor, there were two cameras. One looked like it was set up for live streaming, and the other was fixed for a wide shot.

"At first, I thought they belonged to the venue, but then Alex's friends said they were planning to make a highlight reel of the party tonight."

James muttered a curse.

I kept quiet, feeling blood seeping from the wound on my hand again.

Luna sent me a photo.

The photo showed a small camera set up on the left side of the dance floor, with a lighting rig beside it.

The lens was aimed straight at Charlotte's spot.

If I hadn't shown up tonight, what would've happened tomorrow?

Charlotte would've been wearing the wedding dress I picked out for her, letting Alex get down on one knee and propose to her at the party he threw.

That video would've ended up as their so-called youthful memory.

And the next day, I'd be standing on the wedding stage, marrying a bride everyone had already laughed at behind my back.

My phone rang again.

This time, Charlotte called me herself.

I answered.

It was noisy on her end, like she was in a car, and I could hear Victoria crying in the background.

"Edward, where are you? I'll come find you," Charlotte said.

"At the hotel," I replied.

"Wait for me. I'll be there soon. Please, don't send anything else, okay? I know you're mad, but this really is a misunderstanding."

"Then you explain it."

She paused, then said, "What do you want me to say?"

"Tell everyone who made you put on the wedding dress. Did you know Alex was going to propose before he did? And who was behind that highlight video for the party?" I pressed.

There was a sudden silence on the other end.

Her breathing grew shaky.

"Did you see Luna?" she asked.

I didn't answer.

Her voice turned sharp. "Why is she making things up? She doesn't know what really happened."

I glanced at Luna.

Luna's face went pale, but she didn't say a word.

I spoke into the phone, "Come to the hotel. Bring Alex with you."

"He's hurt," Charlotte said.

I laughed. "My hand's hurt too."

She was speechless.

I hung up.

Twenty minutes later, Benjamin, Victoria, and Charlotte's brother, Michael Wynn, showed up first.

As soon as Benjamin walked into the ballroom and saw the backdrop half torn down, his expression was downright scary.

Victoria's eyes were swollen from crying, and as soon as she saw me, she came straight at me. "Edward, how could you send that video to the group chat? How is Charlotte supposed to face anyone now?"

My dad stepped in front of me. "Did she ever think about how that would make Edward look when she showed up at her ex's party in a wedding dress?"

Victoria was speechless for a moment, then started crying harder.

Michael looked at me, his voice tight with anger. "Charlotte was wrong, but you punched Alex at the club and called off the wedding in front of everyone. If this gets out, nobody wins."

I held up my injured hand. "If you want to call the police, I'll cooperate."

Michael frowned.

Benjamin said in a low voice, "Nobody's talking about calling the police. We need to sort this out. The wedding can't be canceled tomorrow. At most, we'll keep the ceremony simple.

"You and Charlotte should still get married, and we'll handle the rest in private."

I looked right at him.

Benjamin wouldn't meet my eyes.

He knew that excuse wouldn't fly.

But he said it anyway.

Because the Wynn family couldn't handle the shame.

My dad's face went cold. "Benjamin, that's out of line."

Benjamin clenched his fists. "Charlotte was wrong, but Edward went too far. Seven years together, and he has to blow everything up the night before the wedding?"

Hurried footsteps echoed from the entrance of the ballroom.

Charlotte walked in.

She'd changed back into her own clothes, but her makeup was still smeared. She had glitter stuck to the corners of her eyes, and her hair was streaked with silver party confetti.

She came right up to me, and her tears spilled instantly. "Edward, I know I was wrong. Can we please not do this here?"

I stared at her. "Where's Alex?"

Charlotte froze for a moment.

Michael frowned. "Why are you talking about him right now?"

I stared hard at Charlotte.

She looked away. "He went to the hospital for his injury."

"He needs a hospital for a busted lip?" I said.

She shot me a glare, her eyes sharp with accusation. "You punched him."

I stared at Charlotte, not saying a word.

The whole room went silent.

Charlotte suddenly realized she'd said the wrong thing and reached out, trying to grab my arm. "That's not what I meant."

I pulled away from her.

Charlotte's hand missed, and her tears started falling harder.

I pointed at the stage, now empty. "The wedding's off tomorrow. If you want to give your friends and relatives a real explanation, make it clear tonight.

"Don't expect me to sweep this under the rug for you. That's not happening."

Charlotte's face went completely pale.

She stared at the welcome sign that had already been taken down, like she finally realized I wasn't threatening to call off the wedding.

Her voice shook. "Edward, do you really not want me anymore?"

Before I could say anything, Victoria clutched her chest and collapsed into a nearby chair.

Benjamin barked, "Charlotte, shut up."

But she didn't shut up.

She stared at me, as if waiting for me to give in.

I noticed the glitter still clinging to the corners of her eyes.

For seven years, I couldn't stand seeing her cry.

Seeing one tear from her, I'd beat myself up for weeks.

But tonight, when I watched her cry, there was only one thought in my head.

Thank God we never made it down the aisle.