But that wasn’t even the worst part.
People get reckless when they believe they’ve already won.
One day, I was at my parents’ house when a message preview from Lori lit up Mom’s iPad.
What do we do if Andrea freaks out?
Mom was in the bathroom, and she hadn’t locked the device. I tapped on the message.
That’s when I saw the message that changed something in me for good.
She won’t. She’s always been too soft to fight back.
I stared at it so long that the words blurred. My mother was in on it.
I took a screenshot and sent it to myself, then deleted it. The three of them were in for a big surprise on the wedding day!
I saw the message that changed something in me for good.
The church looked beautiful on the wedding day. The flowers, the decorations… it was all perfect.
It brought tears to my eyes knowing that it was all a sham, but I wiped them away. I had to ensure all the plans were in place for my surprise.
Little did I know just how thoroughly Lori and Nick intended to betray me.
I entered the bridal suite in time to get ready for “my wedding.”
But my gown was gone.
All the plans were in place for my surprise.
I stared at the empty hanger.
“They didn’t… not my dress. They wouldn’t steal that, too.”
I ran back out in the dress I’d arrived in. Most of the guests were already in their seats. As I drew level with the main entrance to the church, the doors opened wide.
And there they were.
Lori walked through the main doors in my wedding gown. Nick stood beside her with her hand looped through his arm like they were the stars of some cruel little show.
And there they were.
“Surprise!” Lori said brightly to the room. “We’re getting married instead.”
A few people gasped. A few just stared. A few looked at me, waiting for the scene. Waiting for me to fall apart.
My mother stood from the front pew and started clapping.
“Well,” she said loudly, “this makes much more sense.”
I turned slowly and took in the room. Two hundred guests stared at us with mixed expressions of confusion and horror.
“We’re getting married instead.”
And then I smiled.
“I’m glad you’re all here,” I said. “Because I have a surprise, too.”
Nick frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
I signaled the sound and video technician. “Play it.”
The lights dimmed, and all the screenshots I’d taken of Lori, Nick, and my mother’s messages to each other discussing the wedding and my sister’s affair with my fiancé played on the white screen at the front.
It didn’t take long for the whispers to start.
“I have a surprise, too.”
Someone near the front said, much too loudly, “Oh my God.”
Another woman exclaimed, “They’re stealing her wedding?”
I heard someone yell, “Her own family did this to her?”
Nick’s face lost color. Lori let go of his arm.
“Turn that off,” she hissed.
