I Was the Bride They Voted Out Chapter 08

I Was the Bride They Voted Out Chapter 08

Around noon, Ryan called Attorney Mason Ford.

Mason put it on speaker.

Ryan’s voice was wrecked.

“Where is Nina?”

I stayed silent.

He got desperate.

“She was that injured. Why is she posting this? The internet will tear her apart again.”

Mason said, “Mr. Sullivan, compared to the car accident and the slander, the truth is not the harm.

The line went quiet for a long time.

Ryan said, “I need to see her.”

“Ms. Bennett refuses.”

“I’m her boyfriend.”

Mason flipped a page.

“In the public videos, your friends refer to her as an ex.

Mr. Sullivan, you should decide which version of the story you’re sticking with.”

After he hung up, Emily laughed a little.

A second later, her eyes turned red again.

At 3 PM, I posted the second video.

This time, it was the security footage from the building.

Claire Whitmore picked up my metal box.

Olivia Brooks stepping on the photos.

Ryan Sullivan holding Claire and asking me to admit I was the obsessed ex.

The footage had no sound-but I added the recording from that day.

My voice was calm.

“You want me to admit I’m the ex who’s been obsessed with you?”

Ryan’s pause. Then: “Just for now.”

Those words sent the hashtags straight to the top.

#JustForNow#

#NinaBennettLastFootage BeforeTheAccident#

#NoMarriageCertificate#

The commenters started asking:

[Wait, I thought she was his wife? Where’s the marriage certificate?]

[So the wedding was for Claire, but he planned to marry Nina legally? Is this guy collecting wives?]

Claire finally started a livestream.

Her eyes were swollen with tears.

“I just love Ryan too much. I didn’t know it would go this far.”

“If my existence hurts Ms. Bennett, I’ll leave.”

This time, no one believed her.

The comments weren’t buying it.

[Leave? Then why were you throwing her belongings out of her home?]

[Stop crying. Show the certificate.]

Her face went pale.

Then Ryan burst into the livestream.

He didn’t look at the camera. He stared at Claire.

“Did you hire that blogger?”

Claire’s tears stopped mid-track.

The stream went silent for a second-then the comments detonated.

After Claire’s livestream disaster, the internet lit up like a match.

The wedding blogger broke first. She posted an apology at midnight.

The video, she said, had been provided by Claire’s friend. The script, too. She’d just been paid to

post it.

The payment receipt showed the sender: Olivia Brooks.

Olivia’s name was dragged into the light for the first time.

She panicked, posting a late-night status.

“I just felt bad for Claire. I never meant to hurt Nina.”

But the comments weren’t calling her sweet anymore.

[You felt bad for someone else, so you threw your best friend under the bus?]

[When you said she had no parents and no one to back her up-where was your pity then?]

Rachel didn’t escape either.

People dug up an old IOU.

Years ago, she’d borrowed eighty thousand dollars from me.

Back then, she’d called me her future sister-in-law.

The signed note was still sitting in one of my old email folders.

Mason asked if I wanted to release it.

I nodded.

That morning, she’d still been calling me a desperate ex.

By afternoon, her social media was buried under demands that she repay the money.

Ryan was the quietest.

He didn’t post anything.

But Emily said he went back to that wedding house. Stayed there alone all night.

The property management gave the footage to Mason.

In it, Ryan sat on the living room floor, going through the boxes I’d left behind.

When he found the gray scarf, he suddenly covered his face with one hand.

He didn’t move again for a very long time.

I watched the video for only a few seconds., then turned it off.

Emily asked, “Ms. Bennett…”

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

I touched the brace on my ribs.

“There are too many places that hurt.’

“I can’t even tell them apart anymore.”