Chapter 2 - The Wedding That Had Been Moved
Elena made it as far as the bridal room before her knees weakened.
Paige locked the door behind them while their father, Thomas Whitmore, stood outside preventing Adrian’s relatives from entering. Elena sat beneath a framed painting of the Virgin Mary, one hand pressed to her cheek and the other still curled as if the ring remained on her finger.
“Let me see,” Paige said.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re bleeding.”
The pearl earring had split Elena’s earlobe. Paige dampened a towel and held it gently against the cut.
Outside, Celeste’s voice moved through the hallway with remarkable calm.
“This is a private misunderstanding. Please return to the reception venue. We’ll provide an update.”
Elena almost laughed.
The reception at the Westin had cost nearly forty thousand dollars. Elena had paid half from savings she had built over seven years. Adrian had insisted on the larger ballroom, the cathedral, the live band, and the accelerated date.
Six weeks earlier, he had come home from work carrying takeout and an expression that made refusal feel selfish.
“My grandmother’s heart is getting worse,” he had said. “She wants to see us married.”
Elena had agreed to move the wedding from September to June. She had rescheduled vendors, paid rush fees, and worked late for weeks to finish a hospital budget before the honeymoon.
Now Grandma Ruth sat healthy in the cathedral while Celeste repeated Monday like a deadline.
Thomas entered the bridal room after speaking with cathedral security. He had removed his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves, the way he did before repairing something at the small marina he owned south of the city.
“The police can take a report,” he said carefully. “The priest saw the slap. Half the church saw it.”
Elena stared at the blood on the towel.
Adrian had never hit her before.
He had punched a wall once during an argument about his company. He had squeezed her wrist too hard when she refused to leave a work dinner early. Each time, he apologized with such precision that Elena felt unreasonable for remaining afraid.
“I want the report,” she said.
Paige nodded immediately.
Thomas’s shoulders lowered with relief.
A cathedral employee brought Elena the papers Adrian had dropped. One page had been left beneath the altar rail when Celeste gathered the rest.
The title read SPOUSAL ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND FINANCIAL CERTIFICATION.
Below it was a loan number, a closing date, and the name Coastal Heritage Bank.
Closing date: Monday, June 15.
At the bottom, beneath a blank signature line, someone had already typed Elena’s professional license number.
Only three people had ever asked her for that number.
Her employer.
May you like
The Georgia State Board of Accountancy.
And Celeste Mercer, who had claimed she needed it for the wedding insurance application.
