Chapter 2

  I sat frozen, my fingers tangled with Nathan’s. The wedding that was once organized had turned into a scene out of a movie. 

What had gotten into Zac?

  “Zac, what the fuck are you talking about?” Olivia asked, her beautiful makeup now ruined by tears.

  “I’m sorry, I just can’t.”

   “Have you lost your mind, Zac?” Olivia’s father demanded, his fists curled into a ball. The veins in his neck bulged as though he could explode at any moment.

  “I’m in love with someone else, and we’ve been together for a while now,” Zac confessed.

More gasps erupted from the guest. My hands flew to my chest, hoping this was all a part of the wedding or some stupid joke.

   “You know better not to humiliate my daughter.” Olivia’s father growled, his tone low and dangerous. “Have you forgotten what happened years ago?”

 Olivia crumpled to her knees. Her chief bridesmaid and mother rushed forward to comfort her.

   “How dare you?” She screamed, her voice raw with pain. “After all these years? After all I’ve done for you? What does she have that I don’t?”

Zac's face hardened. “I love her so much, Liv. I can’t let go. She is here.”

The audacity of men! I never thought of Zac as somehow who could bring the girl he was cheating with to his own wedding. How disgusting of him.

Gasps filled the air as some guests rose from their seats, others whispering into each other's ears furiously.

Guests twisted in their seats, eyes darting from face to face as though the guilty woman might confess.

   “Who is she?” Someone hissed.

  “Do you know her?” Another man asked, craning his neck.

Every young woman became a suspect.

   “Can you believe this?” Nathan asked, shaking his head in disappointment. “What a mess!”

I sighed. The fact that Zac disrupted his wedding to confess his love for the mystery woman meant that he was really in love with her, and they had probably been together for years. 

My eyes scanned the room, looking for whom the lady could be. Could it be a bridesmaid?

  “Where the fuck is she?” Olivia screamed as she yanked off one of her glittering heels, using it as a weapon.

  “I swear to God, I’ll kill her!” she spat.

 Zac stepped down from the altar, Olivia following behind him. Everyone’s eyes were glued to his every step.

I swallowed hard as he walked to the back of the room. For a split second, our eyes met, and I wondered if he recognized me. 

Around us, conversations died as Zac got closer to the back row where Nathan and I sat.

Nathan’s hand tightened around mine possessively. I looked around me, searching for anyone who might fit the role of Zac's lover. There was a young woman whose face was buried in her palm, surely, it had to be her.

But Zac didn’t glance in her direction.

His eyes were now fixed on mine and I could feel my heart slam violently against my ribs. 

Zac stopped in front of me and I could feel hundreds of eyes boring jokes into me.

I turned to Nathan, who shared the same confused look as me. 

For a moment, Zac said nothing. An angry Olivia was ready to pounce on me.

  “It’s you, Jane,” he said. “It has always been you.”

 The room erupted in shouts, gasps and curses but all I could hear was the pounding of my heart. Nathan slipped his hand from mine as if I was dirt.

A glittering heel flew at me but I ducked just in time. Olivia shrieked as the bridesmaids held her back from tearing me apart. 

  “Nathan,” I rasped as my eyes got teary. “He’s lying. I swear to you, Zac is lying!”

I turned to Zac. “Is this some stupid prank? I haven’t seen you since high school. What the hell are you doing?”

  Zac sighed. “Baby, you can drop the act now. Everyone knows about us, we can finally be together just like we’ve always wanted.”

  “Jane?” Olivia’s voice rang through the air. “Plain Jane? I didn’t recognize you, you finally got rid of the braces and fixed your ugly face. You stupid bitch! I’ve always known you wanted to be me, you’ve always wanted what I had, but I didn’t know you would go this far.”

  Olivia’s words pierced through my heart and once again, I was a timid sixteen-year-old. I wanted to yell at her that it's Jane Ackerman, not plain Jane.

   “He’s lying,” I told her, my voice shaky. 

With a sudden cry, she lunged forward and slapped me hard across the face.

 My cheeks burned instantly and the tears I'd been trying to hold back dropped. Nathan flinched but didn’t move to shield or comfort me. My sweet Nathan 

   “I can’t believe you brought me here to humiliate me,” Nathan’s voice was low, but it carried so much pain.

   “Nathan, please..”

“Don’t,” he raised his hand. “Is this why you never stopped talking about Zac and Olivia? You mentioned how much they bullied you and I thought you had moved past it, not knowing you had an evil plan. Was this why you looked them up on I*******m?”

  The crowd gasped. Shame burned hotter than the slap.

It was true that I searched for Zac and Olivia on I*******m, but that was ages ago, and they weren’t the only ones I searched for. Wasn’t it normal to look up old schoolmates?

  I searched for mama in the crowd? She was the only person that would believe me, but I didn’t find her. 

   “Jane, you can stop pretending,” Zac said, his tone low and confident. 

He pulled his phone from his suit pocket. “If you won’t admit it, then I’ll show them myself.”

Everyone circled the room as Zac held his phone high. “We’ve been together for months. Every call and message are right here.

  He slid his thumb across the call icon and in a few seconds, the shrill buzz of my phone echoed. All eyes turned to me.

  With trembling hands, I reached for my phone.

  Incoming call: My Lover

  “You lying bitch!” Olivia screamed.

 Nathan’s face went pale, his jaw tightening.

  “I didn’t save it like that! I didn’t have his number!” My voice shook violently, tears blurring my vision. “He must have changed it somehow!”

  The crowd erupted, most of them shouting curses at me, the others struggling to see my phone. 

I wanted to scream that I was being set up, but it seemed like the more I tried, the more I failed.

I shut my eyes and prayed that this was all a nightmare.