The Bride Saw Red Threads of Desire, Then Fled the Wedding Chapter 03

The Bride Saw Red Threads of Desire, Then Fled the Wedding Chapter 03

xGraham’s voice dropped low.

“I couldn’t help it. I had to see you.”

“Okay, you’ve seen me. Now go. We said last night was the last time.”

She was telling him to leave, but nothing in her voice meant it.

“You’re getting married tomorrow. I can’t have Tessa picking up on something.”

“You know how she is. She’s been paranoid about cheating since she was a kid. She overthinks everything. She literally just asked me if my boyfriend’s last name was Calder.”

Graham laughed.

“So you know she’s terrified of being cheated on.”

A beat of silence. Then the rustle of fabric on the other side of the heavy fire door.

“Camille, last night was a mistake.”

“So what?”

“I have to marry Tessa. I owe her that.”

Camille’s breath caught. “Do you love her?”

“Yes.” No pause. Not even half a second.

“I’ve known since college she was it for me. The condo’s in her name. My accounts are tied to hers. I’m not going to let her want for anything.”

“Then what the hell am I?”

“I know. I have no excuse. I lost control. I couldn’t stay away from you.”

His voice went soft.

“We’ve been in each other’s lives for years, Camille. You’re the one I call when things get bad. You’re the only person I can actually be honest with. Last night you cried and said we’d never see each other again, and I just… I couldn’t let that be the end.”

I heard what sounded like a soft slap against his chest.

“If you love her so much, why are you here right now?”

“I miss you.”

Two words, barely louder than a breath. And they gutted seven years of trust in a single stroke.

I gripped the door handle. My knees almost gave out.

So that was how it worked. He could love me and ache for someone else at the same time.

He’d kept his loyalty wrapped up like a wedding gift, something precious he was saving just for me.

But the night before he handed it over, he’d torn it open and let Camille have it first.

“Graham, is this really over once you’re married?”

“It has to be.”

“Can you really walk away?”

“Doesn’t matter if I can’t. Tessa doesn’t forgive. If she finds out, it’s over, all of it.”

“She’s obsessed with you. There’s no way she’d actually leave.”

Graham let out a quiet laugh. “She won’t.”

His certainty hurt more than his betrayal.

“She spent six months planning this wedding. The condo’s done. Both families are flying in tomorrow. And the thing she’s most afraid of is humiliating her mother. Even if she found out tonight, she’d wait until after the ceremony to deal with it.”

Camille’s voice cracked.

“What about me? Do you ever think about what this is like for me? I love you, and tomorrow I have to stand next to her in a bridesmaid dress and smile while you say your vows.”

She broke into quiet sobs.

He murmured to her for a while. I couldn’t make out the words. Then his voice came through clearly.

“The code to the new condo is her birthday. Go there and wait for me. Tonight is yours.”

“Are you out of your mind? She decorated that place herself.”

“After tomorrow, I can’t hold you like this anymore.”

“What if she finds out?”

“She’s at the hotel with her girls tonight. She won’t be anywhere near the condo.”

A kiss. Brief and unmistakable.

Then Graham, low and rough.

“Wait for me.”

Footsteps moved toward me. I slipped into a bathroom stall and locked the door.

Through the thin stall wall, I heard Camille come in.

Water ran. She was humming. My phone buzzed.

[Tessa, I’m not feeling great so I’m heading home. Don’t hate me. I promise I’ll be there tomorrow, on time, bridesmaid duties and all.]

I stared at the message until the words blurred. Then I typed back: [Feel better.]

Half an hour later, I was sitting in my car in the hotel garage. Alone.

My phone lit up with a notification from the condo’s smart lock.

We’d bought that place together. Our names were both on the mortgage.

After we finished renovating, I’d put a camera in the living room. Security, I’d told myself. I never got around to mentioning it to Graham.

On the surveillance feed, Camille moved through the condo like she’d been there a hundred times. She pulled his spare hoodie from the hall closet, opened the liquor cabinet without hesitating.

Graham walked in twenty minutes later.

Camille launched herself at him.

“If this is really our last night, don’t say her name. Not once.”

“Camille, come on.”

“Can’t you give me that much?”

His arms wrapped around her from behind. “Fine. Not tonight.”

They kissed their way out of the living room and down the hall. The feed cut out at the bedroom door. Behind that door was the ivory satin bedding I’d spent an entire afternoon steaming by hand.

Our photo hung on the wall above the headboard. His wedding gift to me still sat on the nightstand.

Everything I’d arranged with my own hands had become the set dressing for their night together.

The camera only reached the living room.

But the scarlet tether had already told me everything I needed to know.

I thought I was ready for it. I wasn’t. My throat closed up, and for a long time I couldn’t breathe.

The tears came. They hit the screen and blurred the two tangled figures into nothing.

The screen went dark. In the black glass, my own face stared back at me. Twenty-eight years old, the exact age my mother had been when she found out about my father.

She’d stayed. I wasn’t going to.

I had the screenshots. I had the cloud footage. I wiped my face, grabbed my bag, and took the elevator up to my mother’s hotel room.

The moment I saw my mother, the dam broke.

“Mom, I’m canceling tomorrow’s wedding.”