Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 72586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 363(@200wpm)___ 290(@250wpm)___ 242(@300wpm)
In seconds, I moved through the people who had seen me punch Chase and entered back into the blissfully unaware—the ones who didn’t know this thing was already doomed.
Katie was by the cake, champagne flute in hand, laughing at something her maid of honor had said. She looked up as I approached, her smile faltering slightly.
"There you are! I was just about to—"
"We need to talk."
She must have seen something in my face because she set down her glass and followed me without argument. I led her to a quiet corner, away from prying eyes.
"How many?" I asked simply.
"What?"
"How many men have you slept with while we were together?"
The color drained from her face. "James, I don't know what you—"
"Don't." My voice cracked. "Don't lie to me. Not now. I already know, but I want to hear it from you. You owe me at least that much. How. Many."
She stared at me for a long moment, then lifted her chin. "Four."
"Including my brother?"
She flinched. "Who told you?"
"Does it matter?"
Katie's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry. I never meant to—"
"To what? To fuck my brother? To fool around with half our friend group? To make me look like an absolute idiot in front of everyone we know?"
"Keep your voice down," she hissed.
I stepped closer. "Why? Worried what people might think? Worried they'll realize that while I was saying my vows, promising to love and cherish you forever, you were probably thinking about your next hookup?"
"It's not like that." She grabbed my arm. "I love you, James. I do. Things just... got complicated. I get nervous when you're away. You’re so handsome, and women always want you. I only do… that… because it helps me take my mind off the fear that you’re cheating.”
I jerked away from her. "Complicated," I repeated. "Right. For the record, I never laid a hand on anyone else while we were together. So let me uncomplicate things for you."
I turned and walked to the center of the dance floor and let out a sharp whistle for attention. The band stopped playing, confused. Three hundred pairs of eyes turned to me.
"I'd like to make a toast," I announced, grabbing a champagne flute from a nearby table. "To my beautiful bride, Katie. And to my brother Chase, who's been fucking her for eight months." I raised my glass. "Oh, and to Mike, Steve, and Zander. Thanks for making my wedding day so memorable. Have a great night, everybody."
I lowered my glass, considered it, and then smashed it on the floor.
The silence that followed was deafening.
I straightened my tie and walked out. Behind me, chaos erupted. People gasping, shouting, crying. Katie screaming my name.
I kept walking.
The worst part? I was stupid enough to try to make it work after that. For three months, I listened to her excuses, her promises that she'd changed. That it was just cold feet, that she'd been scared of committing. That she'd never do it again.
And like an idiot, I believed her. Right up until I found out she was still sleeping with my brother. But she had changed, she said. It was only with Chase, and since we were family, was it really so bad in the end?
My lawyer called the next day after I finally filed for divorce. Katie wanted half of everything.
"She already took half my family," I had told him. "Might as well take half my stuff too."
It took months to finalize the divorce. Months of lawyers and paperwork and well-meaning friends asking if I was okay. Months of watching other couples plan their perfect weddings or finding new love, knowing they might be heading for the same trap I'd fallen into.
It felt like something inside me died a little every day of it, and by the time it was final, I wasn’t the same James I’d been before. Maybe I still believed in silly things like love, but I knew better than to think a wedding could fix a relationship built on shaky ground.
That's when I decided it.
I sold my law firm and used the money to start a new business. A business that would allow me to help people from making the same mistake I made. If I did my job well, I could expose lies before they turned into legally binding vows. I could stop weddings that should never happen, and in the process, I could save men and women from getting destroyed the same way I had.
Some people said it was cynical and ridiculous. Others said worse things. But I was just a realist. Some weddings really shouldn’t happen, and I was the necessary evil in an industry built on blind fantasy.
I became the Wedding Wrecker, and I was damn good at my job.
1
EMMA
"Emma Marshall, if you tell me you're measuring light angles instead of enjoying Ireland, I swear I'll reach through this phone and strangle you."