Chapter 6 - The Groom’s Revelation And The Secret Recording
The chaotic noise of the resort courtyard slowly faded as the remaining guests retreated to the air-conditioned hotel lobby, eager to escape the unfolding legal disaster. Only my parents, Sutton, Alden, Vesper, and I remained around the grand marble staircase.
Sutton sank onto the second step of the staircase, her expensive wedding dress pooling around her ankles like dirty foam. The veil she had spent months choosing was now snagged on the rough stone edge, torn and forgotten.
“You planned this,” Sutton whispered, her voice trembling with venom as she glared up at me from the ground. “You waited for the exact right moment to destroy my life because you couldn't stand seeing me happy.”
“No, Sutton,” I said, rolling my wheelchair slightly closer so she had to look me in the eye. “I spent thirty-four years protecting you, covering up your mistakes, and stepping aside so you could take credit for my work. Mom and Dad taught you that you could walk all over everyone else and never face consequences. But gravity doesn't care about your favorite child status. And the law doesn't care about your aesthetic.”
Althia sat slumped in her lounge chair, dabbing her mascara-stained eyes with a tissue. For the first time in my life, she didn't yell. She just looked old, tired, and defeated. “Fallon… please,” Althia muttered weakly. “We’re family. You can’t let them arrest your sister. Think of what the neighborhood will say. Think of the shame.”
“Where was your concern for family when Sutton pushed me down these exact stairs?” I asked, my voice cutting through her plea like glass. “Where was your shame when you told me to get up and stop being dramatic while my leg was broken in two? You made your choice decades ago, Mom. You chose to feed a monster. Now you get to watch her starve.”
Alden stepped forward, placing a hand on the back of my wheelchair handle. He looked down at Sutton one last time.
“I’m filing for full annulment of our engagement contract,” Alden said firmly. “And I’ve already transferred my half of our savings directly back into Fallon’s engineering account to help cover the rest of her stolen contract funds. It’s the least I can do.”
Sutton’s eyes flared with pure hatred. “You’re siding with her?! After everything I gave up for you?!”
May you like
“You didn't give up anything, Sutton,” Alden replied quietly. “You only ever loved yourself.”
With that, Alden nodded to Vesper and me, and together we turned our backs on the wreckage of the destination wedding, leaving my family sitting in the tropical sun amidst thousands of dollars of unpaid bills and shattered illusions.
