Chapter 2

The dressing-room door opened again.

Celeste Monroe came in wearing her bridesmaid dress, eyes already red.

"Harrison, Nat, why are you fighting?"

She came forward like she meant to break it up.

Instead her heel came down with perfect accuracy on the wedding shoe I'd left beside the chair.

Crack. The crystal work across the toe shattered.

Celeste cried out and let herself fall toward Harrison.

He caught her.

"Celeste, are you hurt?"

She leaned into him and turned wounded eyes on me.

"Nat, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to break your shoe.

"If it's ruined, wear mine. I don't mind stepping down as a bridesmaid."

What a beautifully rehearsed little performance.

The woman I used to be would have swallowed it to keep the ceremony on schedule.

My phone lit up again.

The messages from ten years ahead came fast.

"She did that on purpose."

"I walked out there in her ruined shoes and became a joke in Wrenford for a decade."

"Harrison stood onstage and complained that I'd embarrassed him."

I looked at Celeste tucked into Harrison's arms, and something in me came loose.

I walked over and raised my hand.

Smack.

The slap landed clean across her face.

Her head snapped sideways and five red marks bloomed on her pale skin.

The dressing room went dead quiet.

Harrison stared.

Celeste covered her cheek and looked at me like she couldn't process it.

"Natalie, have you lost your mind?"

Harrison shoved her behind him and rounded on me.

"She told you it was an accident. What gives you the right to hit her?"

I looked at the two of them without any heat at all.

"I hit her. I didn't realize I needed to book a date for it.

"Harrison, if you care that much, marry her instead."

He pointed at me, shaking.

"Natalie, don't push it.

"You think I'd be marrying you if your father didn't control what he controls?"

There it was. The truth, finally.

Love at first sight. He'd never marry anyone else.

All of it for access to my family's company.

Behind him, Celeste's mouth curved.

I picked up my phone.

Ten years ahead had sent a wall of exclamation points.

"That felt incredible."

"I swallowed it. For the sake of the ceremony, I swallowed all of it."

"They locked me in a basement and took marrow out of me over and over for Celeste's brother, Evan. He had leukemia."

"That's when the photo was taken."

My breathing went shallow as I read.

I couldn't let myself imagine what was waiting on the other side of that door if I walked through it today.

"The wedding's off."

I tore the veil out of my hair and threw it in Harrison's face.

"Take her and get out of my sight."

I gathered the skirt of my gown and turned for the door.

Harrison laughed.

"You want to leave now? You're too late.

"Every person out there matters in this city. Walk out and see what happens.

"Or don't you care what it does to your father's name?"

He knew exactly where to put the knife.

I stopped.

My phone started vibrating hard.

Three messages in a row.

"Don't leave. Whatever you do, you can't leave yet."

"Even if you run, Fairbourne Global goes down anyway. The emcee is about to go on."

"If you don't show, Harrison swaps the wedding video on the main screen for forged records showing Dad taking bribes and hiding income."

Something roared in my head and heat rushed up through my chest.

No wonder he hadn't cared about making me angry.

He'd already built the trap and set it.

When he saw me stop, he assumed I'd folded.

He came over, looked down at me, and adjusted his tie.

"Put on a pair of shoes and go wait in the wings.

"Behave yourself today and you can still be Mrs. Blake."

Celeste added sweetly, "He's right, Nat. Think about the bigger picture."

I looked at the two of them and the faces they were wearing.

My hand closed slowly around my phone.

One last message came through.

"Fight back, Natalie."

"I'm sending you the login for the event system Harrison set up. The account is his phone number."

"Today we make the whole thing collapse on top of them."

I read the long string of characters, and a slow smile started.

I turned back to Harrison.

"Fine. I'll go."