Her eyes widened, perhaps expecting an apology.
I gave her none.
“When I heard my brother’s name followed by the words ‘still doesn’t know,’ I listened.”
Jack shut his eyes.
Grace lowered her voice.
“You’ve always wanted to ruin this.”
“No,” I said.
“Until ten minutes ago, I wanted my brother to marry the woman he thought you were.”
That landed harder than shouting would have.
One of Grace’s bridesmaids had gone completely pale.
She had been standing near the back of the ballroom since the recording began, staring at the floor.
Grace saw her.
“Say something,” she snapped.
The bridesmaid slowly raised her head.
Everyone followed Grace’s gaze.
“You were with me,” Grace said.
“Tell them she’s twisting it.”
The bridesmaid swallowed.
“I was with you.”
Grace’s shoulders loosened for one hopeful second.
Then the woman continued.
“And that is what you said.”
Grace’s face hardened.
“You don’t know the whole situation.”
“I know enough.”
Jack looked between them.
“How long?”
Grace shook her head.
“Jack, please.
Not here.”
“You were happy to humiliate my sister here.” His voice remained frighteningly quiet.
“We can talk here.”
She reached for his arm.
He stepped away.
That small movement seemed to frighten her more than the recording.
“Who is he?” Jack asked.
Grace said nothing.
Her father spoke for the first time.
“Grace.”
She looked at him.
“Answer him.”
Something in his tone changed the atmosphere again.
This was no longer a father trying to contain an embarrassing family scene.
He was an executive surrounded by colleagues who had just realized the scandal might extend into their workplace.
Grace pressed her lips together.
Jack understood before she confessed.
His gaze moved across the tables where his company’s senior staff were seated.
“No,” he whispered.
Grace said, “Jack—”
“Is it someone from work?”
She didn’t answer.
She didn’t need to.
Jack’s jaw tightened.
Her father closed his eyes briefly.
One of the senior executives at a nearby table stood up.
He was a man I recognized only because I had helped arrange the seating chart.
