Paige’s sister snatches her fiancé, and treachery isn’t enough; she wants to celebrate her small victory. A year later, an invitation arrives. Erica is getting married to the man she took, and she wants Paige to go. However, Erica is unaware that Paige has a plan. And before the night is up, the bride’s ideal day will be ruined.
I wasn’t supposed to be at this wedding.
That much was clear from the sideways glances and murmured remarks I received as I walked across the massive hall.
I will admit that the wedding setup was spectacular. Erica had taken her time setting the atmosphere with gold and ivory tones. The guests had arrived in their pricey gowns and tuxedos. Everything was beautiful.
However, no amount of elegance could hide the rot beneath the surface.
It wasn’t just any wedding. It was her wedding.
Erica.
My younger sister. My parents’ golden child. The one who received everything on a silver platter while I worked hard for every success I had.
And now?
She had taken the only thing that was supposed to be mine.
Stan.
Stan had been my fiance. He’d been my future. He was the man I loved and trusted until one night, when I returned home early from work and discovered them intertwined in our bed.
I still recall how he froze, his face twisted with shame. As for my sister? She had just smirked, her voice full of smug delight.
“I won, Paige,” she had said simply. “Checkmate.”
A month later, the wedding I had spent over a year organizing was canceled, with all vendors attempting to keep my deposits. So what about Erica and Stan? They no longer needed to sneak about. They were now an official couple.
After that, I left town for a few weeks, staying in various motels and working remotely. I tried to put everything behind me, and I eventually succeeded. When I was ready, I moved back in and acquired myself a kitten.
Then the invitation arrived.
And now, a year later, here I was, standing in the midst of their celebration, invited just as a witness to their alleged win.
I bet my parents compelled her to invite me. If Erica had her way, she would not have invited me. Perhaps she would just gloat. She was as vicious as they get.
But Erica had no idea, and no one knew, that I wasn’t here tonight to mourn my loss.
I was here to ensure that Erica never forgot what she had done to me. And she’d never forget the surprise I had prepared for her wedding celebration.
The ceremony was a haze. I stood in the back, barely listening while the officiant rambled on about love and devotion. Honestly, these were empty words.
Stan, dressed in a sharp black tuxedo, looked at Erica with affection that I felt was phony. She, in turn, smiled up at him as if she had won the finest treasure of all.
I nearly laughed.
“Enjoy it while you can, sweetheart,” I thought as I sipped my champagne.
By the time the reception began, the hall was filled with laughter and clinking glasses. A large screen behind the dance floor displayed a slideshow of their engagement images, with Stan raising Erica into the air and their foreheads touching as they smiled at each other.
To be honest, if you didn’t know the story behind their meeting, you’d assume they were truly happy.
And perhaps they were. Perhaps this was the expected outcome.
But I was not going to give in that simply. I was not going to let this go.
Why should Erica get the happily ever after, especially after all the agony and betrayal I had experienced?
Nope. Not a chance.
Soon, their beautiful little fairytale would take a turn.
I slipped through the crowd unnoticed, my sleek black dress fitting my figure just so. I was not dressed as a guest. I was dressed like a princess, and I felt as confident as I had in a long time.
I reached for the laptop linked to the projector and inserted my flash drive. After a few clicks and a big breath,
Showtime.
The first few seconds passed unnoticed. The guests continued to sip champagne and nibble on canapés while lost in conversation. The bridal pair made their way through the crowd, pausing to talk and hug people along the way.
Then Stan’s voice filled the hall.
“Please, don’t leave me!”
The video played on the massive screen, the footage grainy from the security camera mounted in my bedroom. Stan was on the bed, his face streaked with tears. I was standing on the other end listening to him try to ‘explain’ what had gone on between him and my sister.
“Erica means nothing to me, Paige! Absolutely nothing!” he sobbed. “She was a mistake! I love you, Paige! I made a huge mistake!”
A heavy stillness descended upon the room.
I turned to look at Erica.
Her face had lost its color.
Stan, too, stood motionless, eyes wide. His hands twitched by his sides.
Still, I wasn’t finished.
The video cut to additional surveillance footage. I lived in a quiet neighborhood that was frequently targeted for break-ins, so I installed security cameras everywhere and in every room.
Now, the footage showed Erica and Stan sneaking into my house together, slipping into my bedroom when they thought I was working late. Timestamp after timestamp, betrayal after betrayal.
Then, the final nail in the coffin.
Erica, lying in my bed, laughing.
“She’ll never know…” she whispered, her voice light and breathy.
“Paige who?” Stan said, laughing with her.
A collective gasp spread through the crowd. Someone dropped a champagne glass.
“Oh my God,” a woman murmured.
My mother looked like she was about to faint. My father’s jaw clinched so firmly that I swear I could hear his teeth grinding.
Then came complete chaos.
Erica lurched backward, her hands shaking.
“This… this isn’t real!” she stammered.
But the proof was right there, blaring under the screen’s strong glare.
“Dinner will be served now!” she blurted, waving her hands in the air. “Everyone just take your seats and enjoy!”
Stan turned to her, his expression morphing into pure rage.
“Erica, you told me that you went onto Paige’s computer and deleted the footage.”
“Oh?” I mused, my voice dripping with mock innocence. “You mean you knew about it? You knew that the security cameras were going to catch you in the act?”
His face turned pale, giving himself away.
The guests grumbled loudly, judgment and disdain flashing over their faces.
And then, before Erica could respond, a voice broke through the tension.
“Paige.”
I turned.
Jack walked forward from the crowd, his clean white shirt showing beneath the black vest of his waiter’s outfit.
When I told Jack about my plans a month earlier, he insisted on accompanying me. He had just returned from work, and the first thing he noticed was my sister’s wedding invitation on the table.
“I want to go to the wedding,” I said. “I just don’t want to be… I don’t know. Jack, Erica is a problem. She’s used to everything being about her. I want to teach her some kind of lesson.”
Jack moved around the kitchen, chopping whatever I asked him for.
“Then I’ll come with, Paige,” he said.
“But I don’t want to draw attention to you,” I said, handing him a bowl of ramen. “I don’t want Erica to spoil my moment before I even get to it. And if she sees you, that’s exactly what she’ll do.”
“Then I’ll come in as a waiter, if that’s what it takes!” he said. “But I want to be there. That way, if you need me, I’ll be right there.”
Finally, I gave in. I was disconnected from my parents, and I hadn’t been close to them in a long time, so knowing Jack was present made me feel better.
Jack smiled at me as he laid down his tray of champagne glasses on a table.
His piercing blue eyes met mine. They remained firm and unyielding. And reassuring.
I had never been so grateful to see someone in my entire life. As much as I was surrounded by family, having Jack present was the one thing that kept me grounded during the ceremony. I loathed Erica and Stan, but seeing them get married touched my heart.
But now? Seeing Jack?
I was comforted.
“Shall we go?” I asked.
Jack shook his head and stepped up to me.
Gasps echoed across the crowd as he came toward me, each stride measured and determined. Without hesitation, he sank to one knee.
The audience, already horrified by the incident on film, fell silent.
Jack reached into his pocket and took out a little velvet box. He opened it, exposing the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen.
“I’ve waited long enough to ask you this, my love,” he said, his voice strong, clear, and certain. “Paige, will you marry me?”
A sharp inhale swept through the crowd.
Erica let out a strangled sound.
“Are you… are you kidding me right now?” she screeched. “Paige! Why? What the hell? Now? At my wedding?!”
She looked like a deer in headlights, but she also resembled a canon preparing to explode through the room, destroying everything in its path. For a second, I felt guilty. But overall, I felt vindicated.
I grinned, the weight of the previous year lifted off my shoulders.
I would have checked on him. But he wasn’t my problem.
Instead, I turned back to Jack, my chest tight with emotion.
“Yes!” I said, my voice unwavering. “Yes, Jack! I will!”
The room erupted. Some attendees, still reeling from the scandal, began to celebrate. This time, my mother brushed away tears of delight rather than shame.
Erica’s face contorted with uncontrolled wrath. Her wrath was strangely unfamiliar. I hadn’t seen her this upset in my life. Erica was accustomed to getting what she wanted, but on the most crucial day of her life, she had lost control. Her behaviors conveyed no delight. There was no more victory over me.
There was only wrath and hurt. And disappointment. I should have felt awful, correct?
But I could not. I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
“This is my day!” she shrieked, stamping her foot and knocking her chair over.
I turned to her, tilting my head.
“Oh, honey,” I said, my voice dripping with sweetness. “You stole that fool from me and my wedding. I just returned the favor and stole the show.”
Then, holding Jack’s hand, I walked out of the hall, leaving my sister embarrassed, betrayed, and devastated at her wedding celebration.
My heart was still beating, even though the wedding was well behind us. The sounds of gasps, whispers, and Erica’s shriek lingered at the borders of my mind.
Now, it was just Jack and me.
We sat opposite from each other in a little 24-hour diner, both ridiculously overdressed for a place that served greasy fries and milkshakes in chipped glasses.
“Eat,” he commanded. “You’ve had a long day.”
“That’s an understatement,” I laughed, but I picked up a fry anyway.
For a while, we just sat there, the hum of the diner filling the silence. It wasn’t awkward, it was easy. But that had been life since I met Jack.
Finally, I set my drink down and met his gaze.
“So… how long were you planning that?”
“The proposal?” he smirked.
He exhaled, leaning back against the booth.
“I’ve wanted to ask you for months, Paige. But I knew you weren’t ready. Not just for marriage, but the whole commitment thing? You needed time to heal. I wasn’t going to rush that.”
His fingers traced patterns on the table and then picked up his milkshake.
“But when I found out that she invited you? That was the final straw. I wasn’t going to let you stand there alone while she flaunted him in front of you.”
“And you got a job in the catering industry, or you snuck in?”
“I called in a favor, honey,” he grinned. “Apparently, I look good holding a tray.”
I laughed, really laughed, for the first time in a long time.
Jack leaned forward, his expression much softer now.
“I meant every word, Paige. I love you. And I’ll wait as long as you need. But this evening felt like the right moment to finally ask.”
“I think,” I said after a moment, “that you chose the perfect moment.”
And for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had won.
