The Night Before

Chapter Three

The Truth

(Ella’s POV)

The elevator doors opened on the hotel’s top floor, far from the noise of the reception happening below. Hayes didn’t speak as he guided me toward the suite reserved for the bride and groom. For Lucas and me. 

When the door closed behind us, silence spread through the room. Rose petals were scattered on the bed. Champagne sat in a bucket of ice. A chocolate fountain in the corner was somehow still running, like the universe wanted to mock me.

Hayes stood near the door with his hands in his pockets, shoulders tense. Then he turned to me.

“What do you know?”

No hesitation. 

I met his eyes. “Everything.”

His jaw tightened. “Everything?”

“I overheard the conversation last night.”

His chest rose sharply. “Ella…”

“I know Lucas wasn’t coming,” I said. “I know he planned to run off with Ashley. I know he expected you to lie for him.”

Hayes didn’t move, but something in his expression cracked. Guilt, anger, something else I couldn’t name.

He took a step toward me. “Then why did you still marry me?”

The question hit harder than I expected. His tone wasn’t accusing. It was confused. Maybe even frustrated.

Annoyance flared through me. “Why were you standing at the altar instead of doing what your ‘best friend’ asked you to do?”

Hayes blinked, taken aback. “My what?”

“Your best friend,” I repeated. “Lucas. The person you’re so loyal to.”

A muscle in his jaw twitched. “Lucas isn’t my best friend.”

I crossed my arms. “Sure.”

“He isn’t,” Hayes insisted. “I don’t have one. I’m not a little girl.”

Despite everything, I rolled my eyes. “Fine.”

He stared at me for a long moment, and for some reason the silence felt heavier than the room, heavier than the petals and champagne and reminders of a wedding night I didn’t want.

Hayes had never looked at me like this. Not in all the years I’d known him through Lucas. We’d been friendly-ish. Civil. But he was always distant. Cold. Grumpy. Lucas used to joke that Hayes hated everyone equally.

Sometimes I thought he hated me a little more.

Under his gaze now, something inside me squirmed.

I broke the silence first. Of course I did. “I chose to marry you because it was an opportunity.”

His brows lifted slightly. “An opportunity?”

“I wasn’t going to let Lucas think I’d wait around for him,” I said. “I wasn’t going to let him humiliate me. I would never take that asshole back.”

Hayes’s eyes softened. Just for a second. “Good.”

“Good?” I repeated.

“He deserves nothing from you,” Hayes said simply.

I stared at him. For someone who barely talked, Hayes Flynn’s words hit harder than most people’s speeches.

He exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Look… I didn’t stand there for Lucas. I didn’t stand there because I believed anything he said. I stood there because I didn’t want you to walk down that aisle to nothing.”

My breath caught.

“And when you wanted to continue the wedding,” he added quietly, “I took it as a sign.”

“A sign of what?” I asked.

He held my gaze for a beat too long. “That you’d rather face the world with someone beside you than fall apart alone.”

The air felt heavier. Warmer. Something I didn’t want to acknowledge curled low in my stomach. Hayes wasn’t Lucas. Hayes wasn’t charming or smooth or comforting.

But Hayes had shown up.

Hayes had said I do.

He adjusted his tie like he needed a distraction. “We can talk about the rest later.”

“The rest?” I echoed.

“There’s more,” he said lightly. “And you’re not ready for it.”

My heart skipped. “What does that mean?”

He shook his head. “Later.”

I wanted to push. But I didn’t. Not now. 

"So what happens now?" I asked him. “We can either go down stares to face all those people in the reception hall … or we can sneak out and go back to my penthouse.” Hayes answered. 

Without hesitation I answered. “Penthouse.”