Chapter 3
I left my wedding reception through the service entrance.
Not because I was ashamed.
But because I couldn't bear another photograph.
Another whisper.
Another stranger staring at the frosting stains on my dress.
Camille helped me change into a plain cream sweater and black trousers.
Isaiah carried my overnight bag.
Outside, the evening air was cool.
I looked back at the beautiful ballroom.
The chandeliers were still glowing.
The flowers were still fresh.
The band was still playing softly.
Everything looked exactly as I had imagined.
Except my marriage had already fallen apart.
"Nia," Isaiah said gently, "you can stay with me tonight."
I nodded.
I couldn't return to the apartment I shared with Marcus.
Not yet.
I didn't want to see his clothes.
His shoes.
The framed engagement photographs.
I didn't want to remember how excited I had been when he proposed.
As Isaiah opened the car door, Marcus appeared.
He had removed his bow tie.
His tuxedo jacket hung open.
"Nia!"
I froze.
He hurried toward us.
Isaiah stepped forward.
"Stay back."
Marcus ignored him.
"Baby, please. Everyone's leaving. We need to talk."
I looked at him.
"Did you tell Aunt Denise I'd approved Harbor Point?"
His expression changed.
"What?"
"Answer me."
He sighed.
"Nia, it was a business conversation."
"Did you tell her?"
He looked away.
"She misunderstood."
I felt anger rise through my exhaustion.
"You told her I'd agreed."
"I said you'd probably agree."
"That's not what she told me."
Marcus threw up his hands.
"Fine. Maybe I exaggerated."
I stared at him.
"You lied."
He stepped closer.
"I was trying to help your family."
I almost laughed.
"By hiding a consulting agreement from me?"
"By bringing in investors!"
I looked at him.
"Who owns the consulting company?"
His jaw tightened.
"What company?"
"The one collecting millions from the Harbor Point deal."
He said nothing.
Isaiah folded his arms.
"That's what I thought."
Marcus pointed at him.
"You've hated me since the day we met."
Isaiah's expression remained calm.
"I disliked the way you treated my sister."
Marcus turned toward me.
"He's been poisoning you against me."
I shook my head.
"No, Marcus. I watched the video."
His eyes flashed.
"One stupid video."
"One video that showed exactly what you think of me."
He stepped closer.
"You want to throw away our wedding because I made a joke?"
I looked directly at him.
"No. I want to leave because you planned to use me."
For a moment, he seemed genuinely shocked.
Then his expression hardened.
"You'll regret humiliating me in front of my family."
I stared at him.
"You pushed my face into a cake in front of three hundred people."
He didn't answer.
I turned and climbed into Isaiah's car.
Marcus shouted my name.
I didn't look back.
As we drove away, I removed my wedding ring.
It rested in my palm.
Beautiful.
Expensive.
Suddenly meaningless.
I began crying again.
Isaiah didn't tell me to stop.
He simply drove.
At his house, his wife, Renee, was waiting.
She opened the door and pulled me into her arms.
"Oh, sweetheart."
I held on to her.
For years, Renee had treated me like her younger sister.
She helped me choose my wedding dress.
She organized my bridal shower.
She spent the morning of the wedding carefully adjusting my veil.
Now she was holding me while I cried because the man I married had humiliated me.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
She pulled back.
"For what?"
"For ruining everything."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Nia, you didn't ruin anything."
I shook my head.
"The wedding cost so much money."
She looked at me.
"Money can be earned again. Your dignity matters more."
I wanted to believe her.
But all I could think about was my mother's savings.
Before she died, she had left me money specifically for my wedding.
She told me she wanted me to have one beautiful day surrounded by people who loved me.
I had spent nearly all of it.
Now the flowers would be thrown away.
The food would be cleared.
And the photographs would become painful reminders.
That night, I lay awake in Renee's guest room.
My phone filled with messages.
Some guests asked whether I was okay.
Others sent videos from the reception.
One message came from Marcus's mother, Gloria.
Nia, a marriage requires patience. Please don't embarrass our family further.
I stared at the screen.
Her son had humiliated me.
Yet somehow, I was being blamed.
I turned off my phone.
The next morning, Isaiah knocked on my door.
He carried coffee and a folder.
"Nia, we need to talk."
I sat up.
"What happened?"
He placed the folder beside me.
"Our company attorney reviewed the Harbor Point agreement."
My stomach tightened.
"And?"
"The consulting company is called Crestline Strategic Partners."
I frowned.
"I've never heard of it."
"Neither had I."
He opened the folder.
"Devin Carter owns forty percent."
I closed my eyes.
Marcus's best man.
The man laughing beside him in the video.
"And the rest?"
Isaiah hesitated.
"Marcus owns forty percent."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"Through a holding company."
I felt sick.
My husband had been encouraging me to approve a contract that would pay him millions.
Without telling me.
"Who's the final owner?"
Isaiah lowered his eyes.
"Aunt Denise."
My heart stopped.
I stared at the documents.
Twenty percent.
Our aunt.
The woman who helped raise us after our mother died.
The woman who hugged me before I walked down the aisle.
The woman who told me my mother would be proud.
I shook my head.
"No."
Isaiah sat beside me.
"Nia, her name is on the ownership records."
"Maybe Marcus tricked her."
"Maybe."
I wanted that to be true.
Then Isaiah turned another page.
There was an email.
From Denise to Marcus.
The subject line read:
AFTER THE WEDDING.
My hands trembled as I read it.
Marcus, once Nia signs, we can finalize the consulting payments. Isaiah will object, but he won't have enough votes to stop us.
I looked at my brother.
"She knew."
His face was pale.
"Yes."
I pressed my hands against my mouth.
My husband had betrayed me.
Now my aunt had, too.
And the worst part was that I couldn't understand why.
Denise had always been family.
Or at least, I thought she was.
Then Isaiah showed me the final document.
A proposed shareholder resolution.
It contained a signature line bearing my name.
But beneath the line, someone had already inserted an electronic signature.
Mine.
I stared at it.
"Isaiah, I never signed this."
He nodded.
"I know."
My stomach turned.
Someone had tried to make it appear that I approved the deal.
And suddenly, I understood why Marcus had been so confident that marriage would give him control.
He wasn't simply counting on my love.
He was counting on my silence.
But he had made one terrible mistake.
May you like
He had humiliated me in front of everyone.
And now the entire world was watching what I would do next.
