My Wife's New Groom Looks Just Like Me

A deafening buzz suddenly filled my ears. My face went as white as a sheet.

I couldn't tear my eyes off the familiar maple leaf tattoo on the back of the groom's hand.

It was the one my best friend, Kevin Holder, had gotten after suffering a heartbreak, the one he'd insisted on getting no matter how hard I tried to talk him out of it.

No matter how many times I asked, he refused to reveal the identity of the woman he loved so much that he'd lost all reason.

He'd just kept his head down, drunk his way through the whole table of liquor, and finally said bitterly, "I just want something to hold on to. Clark, you have it all. You'll never understand how much it hurts to want someone you can't have."

And now, I finally did. The one he loved and couldn't have was Autumn Freeman.

I swayed where I stood, feeling as though my heart had been ripped open. For the past three years, whenever I broke down, Kevin always replied instantly and comforted me. Yet he never once came to see me.

I just assumed he was away on assignment, too busy with work to get away. It never once crossed my mind that he was the same man from three years ago—the man who was in my fiancée's bed and too afraid to look me in the eye.

Ignoring the worried looks from the clerk, I staggered out and rushed to the wedding venue.

The moment I stepped out of the car, I heard the voice of Autumn's best friend, Miranda Hayes. "You're really not scared of Clark finding out?"

Autumn went quiet for a beat, then spoke slowly. "Kev's face was disfigured because of Clark. What better way to make it up to him than with a wedding? As for Clark Ballard, just help me keep him in the dark a little longer."

Miranda gave her a hug. "Of course. If Clark hadn't pushed Kev so hard back then, Kev wouldn't have had to resort to such an extreme measure.

"At the end of the day, Clark's the one who went too far."

Tony Driscoll, the young man from a poor family I'd put through school, chimed in without a second's hesitation.

"Don't worry, Autumn. We'll cover for you. Just enjoy your honeymoon with Kevin for the next few days."

With that, he whipped out his phone and effortlessly sent me a text. "Clark, Autumn's running clinical training for the interns these next few days. She'll be staying at the hospital.

"Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on her for you. I promise no man will get anywhere near her."

I clutched my phone, my eyes burning red. As I scrolled up, I realized there were 500 messages they'd sent me over the years, supposedly keeping me updated on Autumn's whereabouts.

Now, every single one sounded like a taunt. It was a reminder that the people closest to me had played me for a fool for three years straight.

Just then, Miranda seemed to remember something, and her face paled. "There were so many guests here just now. What if Clark comes across a video someone else posted? I'll go handle it."

She'd barely stood up when Kevin stopped her. "There's no need to worry."

He spoke casually. "Clark has discovered the evidence we had accidentally left behind before. But every time he checked the security footage, all he saw was this face, which is identical to his.

"After enough of that, he started thinking he was losing his mind."

Those light, offhand words hit me like a sledgehammer, wiping my mind blank. The year I caught Autumn cheating on me in that hotel was our tenth year together.

The condoms strewn across the floor and their tangled bodies had torn my whole world apart.

After that, I became obsessive about monitoring Autumn's every move.

Even if she came home a minute late, it was enough to send me spiraling. Autumn would always look exhausted, her eyes red, yet she never stopped me from pulling her into a tight embrace. Then she'd hand me her phone and let me go through it.

She'd swear up and down there was no other man, that it was all in my head.

Back then I was a paranoid wreck. I would often lose sleep, and there were times when I genuinely thought something was wrong with my mind.

And now the truth was right in front of me. So, it was my face that had been their perfect cover all along.

I felt utterly sick to my stomach. Unable to hold it in anymore, I doubled over and vomited all over the ground. Then, Tony's voice reached my ears again.