She Spent the Night With Her Ex Before Our Wedding, So I Let Her Walk Down the Aisle Before I Dropped the Ultimate Bombshell

Claire froze, her tears momentarily suspended as she stared at me, blinking in confusion.

""What?""

""Thirty-seven minutes ago,"" I said, looking at the digital clock on the nightstand, ""you finished telling me how you betrayed me in a hotel room with another man the night before our wedding.""

She scrambled off the bed, clutching her robe tightly around her. ""Grant, please! Don't look at me like that. We can fix this. We can postpone the ceremony. We can talk to a counselor. We can—""

""There is no wedding, Claire,"" I interrupted, my voice dropping an octave. ""It's over. Done.""

Panic flared in her eyes, replacing the sorrow. ""You can't do that! Everything is paid for! My parents invited two hundred people! The venue is locked in! People are flying in from across the country right now!""

""That's a logistical problem,"" I replied coldly, walking toward the door. ""You should have thought about logistics before you got into another man's bed.""

She rushed across the room and grabbed my arm, her fingernails digging into my skin. ""Grant, listen to me! You are throwing away three years over a momentary lapse in judgment! You're the stable one! You're the dependable one! You always fix things!""

I looked down at her hand on my arm, then slowly met her gaze.

""I spent my entire career restoring old buildings, Claire,"" I said quietly. ""I know the difference between a structure that needs structural reinforcement and one that is fundamentally rotten from the foundation up. You're rotten.""

She gasped as if I had physically struck her.

""Thirty minutes ago,"" I continued, checking my watch again, ""I offered you a quiet way out. I told you that you could pack your bags right now, tell your parents you had a sudden family emergency, and leave without a public scandal. You could have walked away with your dignity intact.""

Claire stared at me, her chest heaving. ""And... and what did I say?""

""You didn't answer me,"" I said. ""You just cried and begged me to sweep it under the rug.""

I reached for the door handle.