Chapter 4
Tyler blew out smoke. “How long do you think Sloane’s temper will hold?”
“Did you see her today? Dress on, down the aisle, groom gone and she didn’t even flinch.”
“A wife like that? What more could a guy want?” Carson sighed. “Trent has no idea how good
he’s got it.”
“Trent’s not thinking about that right now. That little witch Aria’s got him wrapped around her
finger. She’s got his whole soul.”
They all laughed.
Then someone FaceTimed Trent. “Yo, Trent, you finally picked up. The bride’s still waiting. Kinda
weird if you don’t come back, don’t you think?”
A wet, breathy noise came from the other end. “Can’t you see I’m busy?” Trent’s voice was thick
with annoyance and lust. “I’m not coming back. You guys entertain the guests.”
“Sure, sure, you do you.” Tyler grinned. “Sloane’s easy to handle anyway…”
I pushed the terrace door open.
Their smiles froze.
Tyler hid the phone behind his back. “Sloane…
.. hey…”
I looked at them. “The wedding starts in three minutes.’
“What are you all doing hiding in here?”
“There are hundreds of people sitting out there. You want them to just sit and wait? Or you want them to watch a disaster unfold?”
For a second nobody moved. Then they burst out laughing.
“Come on, Sloane, don’t be like that,” Carson wayed a hand, still chuckling. “Three minutes? That’s not gonna cut it. Trent’s not that quick. He can’t just…”
“Enough.”
I cut him off flatly and turned to leave.
Chapter 4
COSSYP Harbor
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Tyler suddenly remembered the video call was still on. He glanced at the screen. “Trent, Sloane says the wedding’s in three minutes. You better hurry.”
A low, lazy laugh came through the speaker.
Still thick with whatever he’d been doing.
“Three minutes?”
“Three minutes? What does she think I am, a minute man?”
A woman’s soft giggle murmured something in the background.
“Trent…” Tyler lowered his voice. “So what do we…’
Two seconds of silence. Then Trent’s impatient voice, “Go hold it down for me. I’ll be there when
I’m done.”
When he said “done,” another female whimper played in the background.
Tyler hung up fast.
They all scrambled to stub out their cigarettes, straightened their suits, and filed out of the terrace.
As Carson caught up to me, he muttered, “Look, Sloane… we’ve known you and Trent for years. He does have feelings for you. It’s just… guys, you know.”
I didn’t look at him. I didn’t answer.
The truth was, until yesterday, I didn’t want to believe he’d fall for someone new.
Aria was the only daughter of one of his investors. Fresh out of college.
Ever since that celebratory dinner, the way he looked at her had changed.
Back then I told myself I was being paranoid.
Ten years together, if I didn’t know him by now, I wouldn’t have stayed.
So I chose to believe him through every shady moment, every text he didn’t answer late at night.
I refused to believe that we, after all we’d been through, finally about to start our life together, would lose to a girl straight out of school.
But he started ripping off the mask faster and faster.
Chapter 4
Gossyp Harbor
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No more hiding. He practically shoved it in my face.
Then he wrapped the betrayal up like a gift.
“A man like me, why would I settle for one woman? But my heart is yours. No one else gets to sit in
the Mrs. Harrison seat.”
He expected me to thank him.
Jenna was right. He was a hell of an actor.
He kept the act going right up until the day before the wedding, when he finally tore off the last layer of disguise.
In the cruelest way possible. He made me see it. Made me hear it. Made me understand exactly what
I was to him.
He played it until I had no way out.
“Sloane, take it slow on the aisle, okay? We’ll back you up from behind.”
“Yeah, Trent said he’ll come when he’s done. Just go through the motions.”
They thought I was just going through the motions.
That I’d walk down the aisle alone in my white dress, stand in front of the priest, and wait for a groom who might never show.
Then smile and say “I do” to an empty spot beside me.
That was the script Trent left me.
The groomsmen stood on either side of me, still wearing that “everything’s under control” smirk.
The cathedral doors swung open.
A figure stood in the backlight,
And every single smile died.
Chapter 4
Gossyp Harbor
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