Chapter 2
"Once I cut that braid, she'll understand who's in charge."
The voice was unmistakable.
Evelyn.
My new mother-in-law.
The woman standing twenty feet away from me in an emerald-green gown.
The woman who had just destroyed my wedding hairstyle.
I stared at the giant screen above the ballroom stage.
Security footage showed Evelyn speaking to another woman in the venue's private preparation room.
The timestamp read 4:18 p.m.
Less than two hours before she cut my hair.
The woman beside her was Lorraine, Evelyn's younger sister.
I recognized her gold earrings and purple dress immediately.
Lorraine looked uncomfortable.
"Evelyn, you can't just cut that girl's hair."
Evelyn laughed.
"Watch me."
My stomach twisted.
On the screen, Evelyn reached inside her handbag and removed the silver scissors.
She opened and closed them twice.
Practicing.
I felt sick.
Lorraine lowered her voice.
"Marcus will be furious."
"He'll get over it."
"What about Nia?"
Evelyn shrugged.
"She needs to learn that becoming a Carter means respecting the women who came before her."
Lorraine frowned.
"But nobody did that to me when I married into the family."
Evelyn leaned closer.
"Because you knew your place."
The ballroom erupted.
Guests whispered angrily.
Someone near the front shouted, "That's disgusting!"
I couldn't look away.
The video continued.
Lorraine folded her arms.
"She's going to be devastated."
Evelyn smiled.
"Good."
That single word made my knees weaken.
Good.
She wanted me devastated.
She wanted me crying.
She had planned to humiliate me.
Not accidentally.
Not because of some misunderstood tradition.
On purpose.
Marcus paused the video.
I looked toward Evelyn.
She stood perfectly still.
Her mouth opened.
Then closed.
For the first time since I met her, she had nothing clever to say.
Marcus raised the microphone.
"You told me yesterday that you wanted to give Nia a wedding gift."
Evelyn looked at him.
"Marcus—"
"You asked if you could come into the bridal suite before the ceremony."
"Son, please."
"You told me you wanted to welcome her into the family."
His voice cracked.
"And all that time, you were planning to hurt her."
Evelyn suddenly straightened.
"That recording was private!"
Marcus stared at her.
"That's your defense?"
She turned toward the guests.
"This is a family matter."
My cousin Tasha stood from her table.
"Then why did you do it in front of three hundred people?"
Several guests nodded.
Evelyn ignored her.
She looked directly at me.
"Nia, I apologize if you misunderstood my intentions."
I felt something inside me harden.
"If?"
She blinked.
I stepped forward.
"If I misunderstood?"
Marcus lowered the microphone toward me.
I took it.
My hands trembled so badly that I almost dropped it.
But I forced myself to speak.
"You grabbed my hair from behind."
The ballroom went silent.
"You cut it without asking."
My voice cracked.
"You held it up in front of everyone like you were proud."
Evelyn looked away.
"And now you're telling me I misunderstood?"
She lifted her chin.
"I was trying to teach you something."
"What?"
"Respect."
I stared at her.
Then slowly shook my head.
"You don't teach respect by humiliating someone."
A few guests began clapping.
Evelyn's face reddened.
"Marcus, control your wife."
Everything stopped.
I looked at my husband.
He stared at his mother.
Then he took the microphone.
"My wife is not someone I control."
Evelyn gasped.
"How dare you?"
"How dare you put your hands on her?"
She stepped backward.
Marcus turned toward the venue manager.
"Please ask security to escort my mother out."
A shocked murmur moved through the ballroom.
Evelyn stared.
"You wouldn't."
Marcus didn't blink.
"You can leave peacefully."
"Marcus!"
"Or security can help you."
Her eyes filled with angry tears.
"After everything I've done for you?"
He swallowed.
"That's what makes this hurt so much."
Security approached.
Evelyn looked toward the guests.
"You all think she's innocent?"
My heart jumped.
She pointed at me.
"You don't know what kind of woman my son married!"
Marcus stepped forward.
"Enough."
But Evelyn wasn't finished.
She reached into her handbag.
Then pulled out a folded document.
"You want the truth?"
I stared at the paper.
She held it high.
"Ask Nia why she secretly met with a lawyer three weeks before the wedding!"
The room erupted.
My stomach dropped.
Because I had met with a lawyer.
And I had never told Marcus.
Evelyn smiled.
For the first time since the video played, she looked victorious.
"Go ahead, sweetheart."
She waved the paper.
"Tell your husband what you were planning."
Marcus slowly turned toward me.
"Nia?"
I couldn't speak.
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Because the reason I had visited that lawyer was connected to a secret I had discovered about Evelyn.
A secret that could destroy much more than our wedding.
