Just a few days before her wedding, Jenna discovers that her perfect dress has been ruined by burn marks. Heartbroken and confused, she searches for answers—only to uncover a shocking betrayal that changes everything. Her next step? Pure revenge.
I never thought I would be one of those brides who cried over a dress. But there I was, standing in front of the mirror at Bella’s Bridal, covering my mouth with my hands and trying not to smudge my mascara as tears welled up in my eyes.
“Oh, sweetheart,” my mother said, squeezing my shoulder. “You look beautiful.”
I ran my hands over the pearl-adorned lace bodice, admiring how it hugged my curves before flowing into a dreamy tulle skirt. It was perfect—exactly what I had always imagined wearing when I married Adam.
“This is it,” I whispered, spinning around to look at my mother. “This is the one.”
A week later, I was still on cloud nine. I had hung the dress in the guest room closet, safely tucked away in its garment bag, but I couldn’t resist sneaking a look at it every chance I got.
“You’re obsessed,” Adam teased one evening as I returned from yet another visit to my dress.
I grinned, sinking onto the couch beside him. “Can you blame me? In three weeks, I get to wear that dress and marry you. I’m the happiest girl in the world.”
Adam pulled me into his arms and kissed my forehead. “I’m the lucky one,” he murmured.
If only I had known then how quickly my world would fall apart.
It happened on a Tuesday morning. I remember because I had the day off and planned to finalize some wedding details. Practically skipping into the guest room, I was eager for my daily dose of bridal bliss.
But when I opened the closet door, my heart stopped.
At first, I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing. The garment bag was torn open, and my dress was there, but something was… wrong.
With trembling hands, I touched the fabric, only to see the large, ugly burn marks that had ruined the delicate lace and pearls.
My legs gave out, and I collapsed to the floor, a strangled sob escaping my throat. This couldn’t be real. It had to be a nightmare. With shaking fingers, I reached for my phone and called my mother, tears streaming down my face.
“Mom,” I stammered when she picked up. “The dress… it’s ruined.”
“What? Jenna, calm down. What happened?”
Between sobs, I tried to explain, but nothing made sense. How could this have happened? The dress had been fine just yesterday.
“I’m coming over,” Mom said firmly. “Hang tight, sweetheart. We’ll figure this out.”
I hung up and immediately called Adam. He answered after the second ring, his voice cheerful. “Hey, babe! What’s up?”
“Adam,” I said, my voice breaking. “Something terrible happened.”
When I told him about the dress, I could hear his shock through the phone.
“That’s impossible,” he said. “How could that happen? Are you sure it wasn’t an accident? Maybe there’s something wrong with the house wiring or something?”
His suggestion sounded ridiculous, but I was too distraught to argue. “I don’t know,” I said weakly. “Can you come home?”
“I have an important meeting I can’t reschedule,” he said, sounding genuinely regretful. “But I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay? Don’t worry. We’ll figure this out.”
As I hung up, a sinking feeling settled in my stomach. Something about this situation felt… off. And I was determined to find out what.
Mom arrived within the hour, and together we examined the dress, trying to make sense of the damage.
“It looks like it was burned with an iron,” she said, frowning. “But who would do that?”
I shook my head, nausea rising in my throat. “I don’t know. The only people who’ve been here recently are you and Jason.”
Jason was Adam’s best friend. He had stopped by a few days ago to drop off some things for the wedding. But he wouldn’t…
“Let’s check the security cameras,” Mom suggested. “Maybe they caught something.”
I had completely forgotten about the cameras Adam had installed months ago. With shaking hands, I opened the app on my phone and started scrolling through the footage.
And then, I saw it.
My heart stopped as I watched Adam—my Adam—enter the guest room with an iron in hand. He looked calm, almost methodical, as he unzipped the garment bag and pressed the hot iron against my dress.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, dropping my phone. Mom picked it up, her face pale as she stared at the screen.
“Jenna,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry. But… why would he do this?”
I had no answer to that question. The rest of the day passed in a blur. I canceled my appointments and ignored the worried texts from friends and family. I couldn’t bear to explain what had happened—I could barely understand it myself.
When Adam finally came home, I was waiting for him in the living room.
The ruined dress lay between us on the coffee table.
His face turned white when he saw my expression. “Jenna, I can explain—”
“Explain?” I cut him off, my voice shaking with fury. “Explain how you deliberately destroyed my wedding dress? How you lied to me?”
“It’s not what you think,” he pleaded. “Jason… he told me things. About you and your ex. He said you were meeting up with him and that you had doubts about us.”
I stared at him, disbelief and rage swirling inside me. “And you believed him? After five years together, you thought I was cheating on you?”
Adam’s shoulders slumped. “He suggested… he said that if I ruined the dress, your reaction would prove how much this wedding—and I—meant to you.”
“So you decided to test me?” I spat. “By destroying my dream dress?”
Tears streamed down Adam’s face. “I’m so sorry, Jenna. I don’t know what I was thinking. Please, we can fix this. We can get you a new dress—”
“A new dress?” I let out a bitter laugh. “You think this is about the dress? You betrayed me, Adam. You let your jealousy and insecurity destroy everything we had.”
And in that moment, as I looked at the man I thought I knew, I realized something. The dress wasn’t the only thing that had been irreparably damaged.
“The wedding is off,” I said quietly.
Adam’s face crumpled as if I had physically struck him. “Jenna, no. Please. Don’t do this. I made a terrible mistake, but I love you.”
I let out a shaky breath, feeling the weight of my words settle between us. “If you loved me, you wouldn’t have done this. You wouldn’t have tested me like I was some kind of experiment. Love is trust, Adam. And you just proved you don’t trust me at all.”
Tears filled his eyes, but I had nothing left to give him. I picked up the ruined dress, ran my fingers over the scorched lace one last time, and turned away.
I heard him say my name, but I didn’t stop. I walked straight to the door, opened it, and stepped outside, feeling the cool evening air wash over me.
I didn’t know what would come next. I only knew one thing—my wedding was off, but my revenge was just beginning.
