All Chapters of ON MY WEDDING NIGHT : Chapter 11 - Chapter 17

SUSAN Rachel flipped the switch and the room exploded with light.I threw a hand up over my eyes. "Jesus, Rachel.""Sorry." She laughed, already moving past me. "Noah's always saying I overdo it. He's not wrong."The brightness settled. I blinked twice and looked around.It wasn't a nursery.Not yet, anyway. The crib was there, pushed against the far wall, still wrapped in plastic. The changing table was in pieces on the floor. The walls were painted a soft gray, but the shelves were empty and the closet door hung open with nothing inside but hangers.Rachel caught me looking."It's not done," she said. "I keep telling everyone it's not done. My mother-in-law keeps asking when I'm going to finish it like I'm building a house." She rolled her eyes. "It's a baby. He's not going to care if the shelves are empty.""It looks beautiful.""It looks like a storage unit." She crossed to the window and pulled the curtains open. "But that's not what I wanted to show you."She pointed at the floo

SUSAN We didn't talk in the car.Noah drove with one hand on the wheel and the other resting on my knee, thumb tracing small circles against the fabric of my dress. It was a habit of his — something he did without thinking, something that usually made me feel grounded. Safe. Held.Tonight it just felt like pressure.The photo was in my pocket.I could feel it against my thigh. A small square of paper, older than me, folded twice like someone had carried it for years. My father's face was in there. Young. Smiling. Standing next to a man I'd spent three weeks hunting.I kept my eyes on the window and watched the city slide past.You're quiet.I heard the words before he said them. I knew they were coming. I'd known since the moment I stepped out of that nursery with my hands shaking and my pulse in my throat. Noah had been watching me all night. He'd noticed the moment I went pale. He'd noticed when I pulled my hand out of his. He'd noticed when I said I wanted to go home.He always no

SUSAN Noah didn't move.He stood in the middle of the living room with his arms at his sides and his eyes on me. Not angry. Not yet. Just waiting. That quiet, patient look he got when he already knew the answer and was giving me a chance to say it myself."Where did you get it?""I told you. Nonso brought it.""That's not what I asked."I looked at the photograph on the table. My father. Young. Smiling. Standing next to a man who'd been watching us for weeks."It's just a photo, Noah.""It's not just a photo." He took a step closer. "You went pale at Rachel's. You barely spoke the whole way home. And now Nonso shows up with the same picture and you look like you've seen a ghost.""I'm tired.""Stop saying that."His voice wasn't loud. It never was. That was the thing about Noah — he didn't need to yell to make you feel it. He just went quiet and steady and looked at you like he was reading every thought you'd ever had."You've been hiding something since the wedding," he said. "I've