When Paige’s sister steals her fiancé, the betrayal is not enough for her, but she wants to boast of her small victory. A year later, an invitation arrives. Erica is going to marry the man who stole from her, and she wants Paige to see her. But what Erica doesn’t know is that Paige has a plan. And before the night ends, the bride’s perfect day will be in ruins.
I shouldn’t have been at this wedding.
That was clear from the sideways looks and murmurs that followed me as I walked through the great hall.
A smiling woman at a wedding | Source: Midjourney
A smiling woman at a wedding | Source: Midjourney
I admit that the wedding assembly was impressive. Erica had taken her time to prepare the scene with golden and ivory tones. The guests had come with their expensive dresses and tuxedos. Everything was… impressive.
But no elegance could hide the rot that was under the surface.
It wasn’t just any wedding. It was his wedding.
People at a wedding | Source: Midjourney
People at a wedding | Source: Midjourney
My little sister. My parents’ golden girl. The one who had been given everything on a silver platter while I scraped and scratched every pinch of success I had.
He had taken the only thing that was supposed to be mine.
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
Stan had been my fiancé. It had been my future. He was the man I loved and trusted, until one night I got home early from work and found them tangled in our bed.
I still remember how he was frozen, with his face twisted by guilt. And my sister? He had only smiled, with a voice that exuded satisfaction.
“I won, Paige,” he had said simply. “Shakmate.”
A shocked woman | Source: Midjourney
A shocked woman | Source: Midjourney
A month later, the wedding I had spent more than a year planning was canceled, and all the suppliers tried to keep my deposits. And what happened to Erica and Stan? They didn’t have to sneak away anymore. They were finally an official couple.
After that, I left the city for a few weeks, moving around hotels while working remotely. I tried to leave everything behind and, in the end, I succeeded. When I was ready, I moved again and bought a kitten.
A red-haired kitten | Source: Midjourney
A red-haired kitten | Source: Midjourney
Then, the invitation arrived.
And now, a year after all that fiasco, here I was, in the middle of his celebration, invited as a mere spectator of his supposed victory.
I’m sure it was my parents who forced her to invite me. If Erica had gotten away with it, she would never have invited me. Or maybe he would have done it… just to rejoice. She was as unpleasant as she was alone.
A wedding invitation | Source: Midjourney
A wedding invitation | Source: Midjourney
But what Erica didn’t know, what no one knew, was that tonight I wasn’t here to mourn my loss.
I was here to make sure Erica never forgot what she had done to me. And with that, he would never forget the surprise I had planned for his wedding banquet.
The ceremony was a blur. I stood near the bottom, barely listening to the officiant talk about love and devotion. Honestly, they were words that meant nothing.
A woman standing at a wedding venue | Source: Midjourney
A woman standing at a wedding venue | Source: Midjourney
Stan, dressed in an elegant black tuxedo, looked at Erica with a look of adoration that I knew was fake. She, in turn, smiled at him as if she had won the biggest prize.
Enjoy it while you can, honey, I thought while sipping my champagne.
A smiling couple | Source: Midjourney
A smiling couple | Source: Midjourney
When the reception began, the room was bubbling with laughter and colliding drinks. A huge screen located behind the dance floor showed a slide show of their engagement photos, in which Stan lifted Erica in the air and their foreheads touched while they smiled.
Honestly, if you didn’t know the story of their relationship, you would think they were really happy.
And maybe they were. Maybe that was how things should be.
Champagne glasses on a table | Source: Midjourney
Champagne glasses on a table | Source: Midjourney
But I wasn’t going to give up so easily. I wasn’t going to let it go.
Why was Erica going to be happy forever, especially after all the pain and betrayal she had felt?
Soon, his perfect little fairy tale was going to take a turn.
I went unnoticed in the crowd, with my elegant black dress tight to my body. She wasn’t dressed like a guest. I was dressed like a settling of scores, and I felt sure of myself, more confident than I had felt in a long time.
A woman walking through a wedding banquet | Source: Midjourney
A woman walking through a wedding banquet | Source: Midjourney
When I got to the laptop connected to the projector, I inserted my USB memory. A few clicks, I took a deep breath and…
The first seconds went unnoticed. The guests continued drinking champagne and nibbling on canapes, lost in the conversation. The bridal couple made their way through the crowd, stopping to talk and hug the people in their path.
Then, Stan’s voice filled the room.
“Please, don’t leave me!”
A man sitting on a bed | Source: Midjourney
A man sitting on a bed | Source: Midjourney
The video was played on the huge screen, with the granulated images of the security camera installed in my bedroom. Stan was in bed, his face full of tears. I was on the other side listening to him trying to “explain” what had happened 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 big mistake!”
A heavy silence took over the room.
I turned to look at Erica.
His face had run out of color.
A shocked girlfriend | Source: Midjourney
Una novia conmocionada | Fuente: Midjourney
Stan also froze, with his eyes wide open. His hands twitched to the sides.
The video showed more security images. He lived in a quiet neighborhood that was often the target of robberies, so he had installed security cameras everywhere and in every room.
Now, the images showed Erica and Stan entering my house together, sneaking into my bedroom when they thought I was working late. Timestamp after timestamp, betrayal after betrayal.
A security camera on a porch | Source: Midjourney
A security camera on a porch | Source: Midjourney
Then, the last nail in the coffin.
Erica, lying on my bed, laughing.
“She’ll never know…”, he whispered, with a light and choppy voice.
“What Paige?” Stan said, laughing with her.
Un grito ahogado colectivo se extendió por la multitud. A alguien se le cayó una copa de champán.
A glass of broken champagne | Source: Midjourney
Una copa de champán rota | Fuente: Midjourney
“My God,” a woman murmured.
My mother seemed to be about to faint. My father’s jaw tightened so much that I would swear I heard his teeth grind.
Erica retrocedió dando tumbos, con las manos temblorosas.
“This… this is not real!” he stammered.
A shocked woman | Source: Midjourney
A shocked woman | Source: Midjourney
But the proof was right there, shining under the glow of the screen.
“Dinner is served,” he said, waving his hands in the air. “Let everyone take a seat and enjoy.”
Stan turned to her and his expression turned into pure rage.
An angry girlfriend | Source: Midjourney
An angry girlfriend | Source: Midjourney
“Erica, you told me that you went into Paige’s computer and deleted the images.”
“Oh, yes?” I mused, with a voice loaded with feigned innocence. “Do you mean you knew it? Did you know that the security cameras were going to catch you in the act?”
His face turned pale, betraying himself.
The guests now murmured louder, with judgment and disgust blinking on their faces.
A shocked boyfriend | Source: Midjourney
A shocked boyfriend | Source: Midjourney
And then, before Erica could retaliate, a voice cut the tension.
Jack se adelantó entre la multitud, con su camisa blanca a la vista bajo el chaleco negro de su uniforme de camarero.
Un hombre sonriente con una bandeja en la mano | Fuente: Midjourney
A smiling man with a tray in his hand | Source: Midjourney
Months ago, when I told Jack what I wanted to do, he was inflexible in that he needed to be with me. He had just arrived after work and the first thing he saw was my sister’s wedding invitation on the table.
“I want to go to the wedding,” I told him. “I just don’t want to be… I don’t know. Jack, Erica is a problem. She’s used to everything revolved around her. I want to teach you a lesson.”
Jack moved around the kitchen, biting what he asked for.
“Entonces iré contigo, Paige”, dijo.
“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 the moment before I get to him. And if he sees you, that’s exactly what he’ll do.”
“Then I’ll come in as a waiter, if necessary!” he said. “But I want to be there. That way, if you need me, I’ll be there.”
In the end, I gave in. I was disconnected from my parents, and I hadn’t been close to my family for a long time, so knowing that Jack was nearby made me feel better.
A bowl of ramen | Source: Midjourney
Un cuenco de ramen | Fuente: Midjourney
Jack left the tray with the champagne glasses on the table and smiled at me.
His penetrating blue eyes met mine. They were firm and unwavering… and reassuring.
I’ve never been so grateful to see someone in my entire life. As much as I was surrounded by family, having Jack close was the only thing that had kept my feet on the ground throughout the ceremony. I despised Erica and Stan, but seeing how they got married touched my heart.
Jack shook his head and approached me.
A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
He exclaimed through the crowd as he walked towards me, with measured and determined steps. And then, without hesitation, he knelt down.
The room, already shocked by the scandal on the screen, plunged into a stunned silence.
Jack put his hand in his pocket and took out a velvet box. He opened it, revealing the most impressive ring he had ever seen.
“I’ve waited long enough to ask you this, my love,” he said, in a strong, clear and confident voice. “Paige, do you want to marry me?”
A beautiful engagement ring | Source: Midjourney
A beautiful engagement ring | Source: Midjourney
Una aguda inhalación recorrió la multitud.
Erica made a strangled sound.
“¿Me estás… me estás tomando el pelo ahora mismo?”, chilló. “¡Paige! ¿Por qué? ¿Por qué? ¿Ahora? ¡¿En mi boda?!”.
It looked like a deer in the lighthouses, but it also looked like a cannon about to break into the room, taking everything ahead. For a moment, I felt bad. But as a whole… I felt vindicated.
A screaming girlfriend | Source: Midway
A screaming girlfriend | Source: Midway
I smiled, getting rid of the weight of the last year.
He had robbed the wrong man. Stan was nothing compared to Jack. Jack was everything Stan hadn’t been. He was trustworthy and sure of life and his love for me.
Stan? Stan had just wanted to have a good time.
But now that I looked at him, he seemed disconsolate. It seemed as if everything bad had happened to him and the weight of all this was suffocating. He looked at Erica, who was still smoking. He even tried to grab her hand, but she pushed it away so hard that he seemed shocked.
I would have gone to see him. But it wasn’t my problem.
Side view of a boyfriend | Source: Midjourney
Side view of a boyfriend | Source: Midjourney
Instead, I turned to Jack, with my chest tight with excitement.
“Yes!” I said, in a firm voice. “Yes, Jack! I’ll do it!”
The room exploded. Some guests, still shocked by the scandal, were now cheering. My mother wiped her tears, this time not out of shame, but out of joy.
Una mujer emocionada sentada a la mesa | Fuente: Midjourney
An excited woman sitting at the table | Source: Midjourney
Erica’s face twisted with pure rage without a filter. There was something strange in his rage. I had never seen her so upset in my entire life. Erica was used to getting everything she wanted, but now, on the most important day of her life, she had lost control. There was no joy in his actions. There was no victory over me anymore.
There was only… anger and pain. And disappointment. I should have felt bad, right?
But I couldn’t. I didn’t dare.
“This is my day!” he screamed, stomping and knocking down the chair.
A disgusted bride holding her head | Source: Midjourney
A disgusted bride holding her head | Source: Midjourney
I turned to her, tilting my head.
“Oh, honey,” I said, my voice soaked in sweetness. “You stole that fool and my wedding. I just returned the favor and stole the show from you.”
Then, with Jack’s hand firmly gripped to mine, I left the room, leaving my sister standing at her wedding banquet, humiliated, betrayed and hurt.
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
The wedding was far behind, but my heart was still racing. The echoes of the gasps, the whispers and the scream of Erica kept clinging to the edges of my mind.
Now, however, it was just Jack and I.
We were sitting opposite each other in a small coffee shop open 24 hours a day, both absurdly too arranged for a place that served greasy fries and milkshakes in chipped glasses. My elegant black dress looked out of place in the cracked leather cabin, and Jack looked like it came out of a movie scene.
The inside of a coffee shop | Source: Midjourney
The inside of a coffee shop | Source: Midjourney
However, it was the most comfortable thing I had felt all night.
Jack brought me a plate of fries.
“Eat,” he ordered me. “You’ve had a very long day.”
“That’s an understatement,” I laughed, but I took a potato anyway.
A plate of fries | Source: Midjourney
A plate of fries | Source: Midjourney
We sat for a while, with the buzz of the cafeteria filling the silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable, it was calm. But that’s life since I met Jack.
Finally, I stopped drinking and met his gaze.
“So… how long had you been planning it?”
“The proposition?” he smiled with satisfaction.
He exhaled and leaned back in the seat.
A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
“I’d wanted to ask you for months, Paige. But I knew you weren’t prepared. Not only to get married, but to get engaged. You needed time to heal yourself. I wasn’t going to rush.”
His fingers traced patterns on the table and then took his milkshake.
“¿Pero cuando me enteré de que te había invitado? Fue la gota que colmó el vaso. No iba a dejar que te quedaras allí sola mientras ella alardeaba de él delante de ti”.
A lime smoothie on a coffee shop table | Source: Midjourney
A lime smoothie on a coffee shop table | Source: Midjourney
“And did you get a job in the hospitality industry, or did you sneak in?”
“I asked for a favor, honey,” he smiled. “Apparently, I look good holding a tray.”
I laughed, I really laughed, for the first time in a long time.
Jack leaned forward, with a much softer expression now.
A woman sitting in a cafeteria and laughing | Source: Midjourney
A woman sitting in a cafeteria and laughing | Source: Midjourney
“I meant it, Paige. I love you. And I’ll wait as long as you need. But tonight seemed like the right time to finally ask you.”
“I think,” I said after a moment, “that you have chosen the perfect moment.”
And for the first time in a long time, I felt that I had won.
A smiling woman sitting outside | Source: Midjourney
A smiling woman sitting outside | Source: Midjourney
What would you have done?
