THE EVIL PLAN OF MINE

Mia's POV

Alessia Cara said, “Cover girls don't cry after the face is made.”

So, I became that and faced the one thing I had come to resent in my life.

***

Isabel's apartment looked like a wedding magazine exploded. Fabric samples covered every surface, three half-eaten cake samples sat on the counter, and a massive P*******t board took up half her living room wall with color-coded sticky notes everywhere.

"So I'm thinking sage green for the bridesmaids but like muted sage, not too bright." Isabel held up two fabric swatches that looked exactly the same to me. "Which one screams elegant spring wedding?"

I pointed at the one on the left.

"Yes! I knew it. You have such a good eye." She pinned it to her planning board. "Chris is going to love this."

I smiled and nodded, playing the perfect supportive friend while my brain worked through how I was going to destroy everything she was building.

This was my fourth time helping in two weeks. Isabel had me running to dress fittings, meeting her wedding planner, giving opinions on centerpieces. And every time I showed up and smiled and acted like we were still best friends.

Chris was there twice.

The first time he grabbed his gym bag and left without looking at me. The second time we made eye contact for a few seconds and something passed between us, maybe regret or just awkwardness, but he didn't say anything. Just nodded and walked out.

Every time I saw him I had to remember why I was doing this. Had to remember the wedding invitation he gave me after we had sex. Had to remember him calling me dramatic when my heart was breaking. Had to remember that he threw me away like garbage.

That's what kept me smiling at Isabel.

That's what made every fake compliment worth it. Because what I had planned was so perfect, so devastating, that even thinking about it made me satisfied.

I was at Isabel's again on Thursday organizing seating charts when someone knocked on the door.

"Can you get that?" Isabel was on her phone with the caterer. "It's probably the florist with samples."

I opened the door and my entire body went cold.

Tom stood there in his leather jacket with his back turned on me.

I stepped back fast and shook my head once before turning away from the door entirely.

"Who is it?" Isabel called from the kitchen.

"Someone for you," I whispered under my breath.

Then without waiting, without looking at Tom again, I walked straight down the hallway to the bathroom and locked myself inside.

My heart was beating very fast as I pressed my back against the door and tried to breathe quietly.

"Oh! Hi!" Isabel's voice carried from the living room. "You must be Tom, right? Chris's dad? Come in, come in."

"Thank you." Tom replied.

"Chris isn't here right now but he should be back in like twenty minutes if you want to wait."

"That's alright. I was just in the neighborhood."

I heard them moving around, probably Isabel gesturing to the couch or something.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Isabel asked.

"I'm fine, thank you."

There was a pause. I pressed my ear harder against the door.

"So how have you been?" Isabel asked. "Chris doesn't really talk about you much, which is kind of sad. Family is important, you know?"

"We have a complicated relationship," Tom said.

"Yeah, I figured. But I'm hoping maybe the wedding could be a fresh start for you two."

Another pause.

"I saw someone answer the door," Tom said. "Does someone else live here?"

OMG! Did he know that I'm here?

"Oh no, that's just my friend. She's one of my bridesmaids, she's been helping me plan everything." Isabel laughed. "Total lifesaver honestly. I don't know what I'd do without her."

"A friend," Tom repeated.

"Yeah, you wanna meet her?"

The silence stretched so long I thought I might pass out.

"No," Tom said finally. "I don't think so."

"Oh. Well she's great. Super supportive friend. Been with me through all this wedding craziness." Isabel paused. "Actually she's been kind of down lately. I think she's going through something with a guy but she won't talk about it. She's pretty private about that stuff."

"I see."

"She's really pretty too. And smart. Works in sports marketing or something like that. If you weren't, you know, Chris's dad and older, I'd totally try to set you two up." Isabel giggled.

I wanted to die… Actually just melt into the bathroom floor and disappear.

"That's kind of you," Tom said, and I could hear something in his voice I couldn't quite place.

"So what brings you by?" Isabel asked. "Just checking out where Chris lives?"

"Something like that. I haven't seen much of him lately. Thought I'd stop in."

"Well you're welcome anytime. I keep telling Chris he should talk to you more. I mean you're his dad, right? That's important."

They talked for a few more minutes about nothing really, just small talk about the wedding venue and the weather and Chris's racing schedule. I stayed pressed against the bathroom door the whole time, barely breathing.

Finally I heard Tom say, "I should let you get back to your planning. Tell Chris I stopped by."

"I will! It was so nice meeting you finally."

"You too."

The front door opened and closed. I waited, counting to sixty in my head before I flushed the toilet even though I hadn't used it and ran the water in the sink.

When I came out Isabel was back at her seating chart.

"Sorry," I said. "Stomach thing."

"You okay?" She barely looked up.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I grabbed my purse off the couch. "I should actually get going though. I'll text you about the dress fitting."

"Okay! Thanks for all your help today."

I was halfway to the door when Isabel called my name.

"Hey Mia?"

I turned around, trying to look normal.

"That was Chris's dad who just left. Tom. Did you see him?"

"No, I was in the bathroom. Why?"

"I don't know, I just thought it was interesting. He seems nice but there's definitely some family drama there." Isabel leaned against the counter. "Chris told me some stuff about him. Apparently he used to be really rich, like seriously wealthy. But then he got divorced and his ex-wife took everything. Like everything. The house, the cars, most of his money. Chris said that's when their relationship fell apart, when his dad couldn't help him anymore financially."

My brain went completely still.

"Chris left because his dad went broke?" I asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. I mean Chris says it was about more than that, about his dad making bad choices or whatever. But from what I can tell, Tom lost everything in that divorce and Chris bailed." Isabel shrugged. "Kind of sad honestly. But Chris says his dad was always kind of shady with money anyway."

I nodded slowly, pieces clicking together in my head.

Tom at that bar. Tom saying his ex took the dog, the house, everything. Tom looking tired and worn down and lonely. Tom proposing a fake marriage that would pay me money he apparently didn't have.

"You look weird," Isabel said. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, just tired. I'll text you later."

I got out of there and sat in my car for ten minutes just thinking.

Tom had lied… Or at least hadn't told me the whole truth. He wasn't some wealthy biker with money to throw around.

He was broke or close to it.

And I'd agreed to marry him based on a payment he probably couldn't make.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn't actually care.

The money was never really the point…

The point was revenge…

The point was watching Chris's face when he realized what I'd done.

The point was ruining his perfect wedding and his perfect life the way he'd ruined mine.

And Tom could still give me that whether he was rich or not.

I pulled out my phone and called him.

He answered on the second ring. "Mia."

"Where are you?"

"Why?"

"Because we need to talk. Where are you?"

He gave me an address to some bar on the south side and I drove there, my mind already working through what I was going to say.

Tom was in a booth in the back. I slid in across from him and he looked at me with those dark eyes, waiting.

"Sorry I've been hard to reach," I said. "I was out of town for work."

"For two weeks?"

"It was a big project." The lie came easy. "But I'm back now and I've been thinking about your offer."

"And?"

"And I want to know what my plan is. What exactly you want me to do."

Tom leaned forward. "That's what I've been asking you. You said you had a plan and I should wait to hear it."

"Right. But first you need to send the money. Like you promised."

He heaved a sigh. "I don't have all of it available right now."

Even though I'd been expecting this, I felt utterly disturbed. "What do you mean?"

"I can get it. I just need about a week to move some things around." He looked uncomfortable. "Things are tight at the moment."

"How tight?"

"Tight enough that I need time."

I stared at him and suddenly everything Isabel had said made perfect sense. Tom wasn't rich. He'd lost everything and he'd been lying to me this whole time, or at least letting me believe something that wasn't true.

"You don't have the money," I said flatly.

"I'll get it. I just need a week."

Part of me wanted to be angry and wanted to call him a liar and walk away. But the bigger part of me that was still burning with rage every time I thought about Chris, didn't care about the money at all.

"Fine," I said. "Forget the money for now."

Tom's eyebrows went up slightly.

"Here's the plan," I continued. "On the day of the wedding, after they do the bouquet toss, you're going to propose to me. Right there in front of everyone."

Tom stared at me. "You want me to propose at my son's wedding."

"I want you to steal his moment and make the whole day about us instead of them." I held his gaze. "Can you do that or not?"

A slow smile spread across Tom's face.

"Yeah," he said. "I can do that."