PART 2
The microphone squealed once.
The entire ballroom went silent.
Two hundred guests who had been laughing seconds earlier now watched Daniel Mercer stand beneath the crystal chandelier, holding the same microphone Camille had planned to use for her perfect wedding speech.
Except this time…
The speech wasn’t going to be about love.
It was going to be about betrayal.
Camille rushed toward him.
“Daniel, don’t do this.”
Her voice was low, almost desperate.
Not angry.
Afraid.
That was the first time anyone in the room saw it.
Camille wasn’t worried about embarrassing me.
She was worried about what he was about to reveal.
Daniel looked at her for several seconds.
“I spent six months believing I was marrying the woman who saved my life,” he said quietly.
Camille’s expression softened.
“Daniel…”
“No.”
His voice hardened.
“I believed every story you told me.”
The guests exchanged confused looks.
My mother stood from her chair.
“Daniel, this is a family issue.”
He looked directly at her.
“No. It stopped being a family issue when your daughter stole from the people who trusted her.”
A wave of whispers moved through the ballroom.
Camille’s face lost color.
“That’s a lie.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I wish it was.”
I slowly pushed myself up from the floor.
My shoulder throbbed, but I refused the hands reaching toward me.
I didn’t want pity.
