His Betrayal, My Wedding Day (Wives Who Bite Back #14)

1. The Perfect Lie

Chapter one

The Perfect Lie

The Glass Conservatory was the kind of space that demanded attention.

I stood in the center of the reception hall, taking in the sweeping arches of dark steel that supported the glass roof. The evening sky pressed against the panes, already fading to an inky black.

In my line of work, everything was about anticipating failure. A compromised foundation here, a hairline fracture in a load-bearing wall there. My entire career as an architect was built on predicting exactly where and how things would eventually fall apart.

But as I stood in this half-lit room precisely one week away from my wedding, the persistent hum of anxiety in my chest had finally gone quiet. I’d found something that wasn’t going to break.

“Marianne?”

The sound of my name pulled me from my thoughts.

Daniel navigated the maze of half-assembled tables, holding a small porcelain plate.

The overhead work lights cast harsh shadows over the venue’s setup crew, but they somehow bypassed him completely.

His navy suit draped perfectly across his shoulders.

It wasn’t just how he dressed, though. Daniel had this quiet magnetism. A way of stepping into a room and instantly making it belong to him. It was soft, almost gentle, and I loved him for it.

He stopped mere inches away, so close his masculine cologne teased my nostrils. “You checked out on the coordinator,” he teased me warmly. His voice was pitched low, meant just for me.

“I was mentally reverse-engineering the ceiling,” I admitted. “Whoever mapped out the tension cables in this place knew exactly what they were doing.”

“Well, I’m mentally reverse-engineering my beautiful bride.

” He leaned down, pressing his lips to my temple.

His hand found the familiar dip at the small of my back, his touch steady and grounding.

“Figuring out how I got so lucky. Also, you completely abandoned the final cake tasting. Since I take my duties as your future husband very seriously, I brought the winner to you.”

He offered a silver fork. I took the bite—lemon sponge layered with thick blackberry preserve. The bright citrus flavor instantly cut through the unsettled air of the venue.

“Oh, wow,” I murmured, swallowing. “You were right.”

“I usually am.” Daniel grinned. “Well, no, not really, that’s you. But I do a pretty decent job, right?”

That was the understatement of the century.

Daniel’s enthusiasm had been a godsend throughout the wedding planning.

I’d heard countless nightmare stories about grooms who simply dumped all the preparations on their bedraggled brides.

But Daniel had been as dedicated to our special day as I was, if not more so.

I wanted to tell him how much I appreciated that, but I didn’t get the chance. Sarah, our venue coordinator, hurried over, looking ready to drop.

Her hair was fraying from its messy bun, and she hugged her clipboard to her chest like a shield. Daniel turned to face her and shot her a warm smile. “Sarah,” he said. “I was just telling Marianne that this cake is an absolute masterpiece. Actually, this whole setup is flawless.”

His honest appreciation worked like a charm. The tight tension bled out of Sarah’s shoulders. “Oh, it was my absolute pleasure,” she replied. “You two are perfect together. And please, don’t worry. I’ll make sure your wedding day will be just as perfect.”

“I have no doubt, Sarah,” I assured her. It was true. She’d come highly recommended through the friend of a friend. The events she organized were always successful, elegant without being over the top.

“The vendors know their load-in times, the riggers just finished the lighting grid, and catering is entirely locked down,” Sarah continued. “If there’s anything else, at any time, you call me, and I’ll make it happen.”

“Thank you. We couldn’t have pulled this off without your team,” Daniel said, offering the coordinator a firm handshake.

“You’ve helped so much already. Marianne and I are lucky to have you.

Though, admittedly, I’m even luckier. I still can’t believe I managed to get her to marry me. She’s amazing.”

That was probably something I should’ve said.

Dating in my mid-twenties had always felt like navigating a minefield.

Most of the men I’d met treated my successful career as an inconvenience.

They complained about my late hours or quietly resented my paycheck, wanting someone who shrank to fit their lives.

Daniel had never asked me to shrink. He worked in finance, managing corporate portfolios, but he always joked that he just chased numbers while I built the physical world.

Whenever I was stuck in a late-night drafting session, he was the one showing up at my office with takeout.

He made me feel like my drive wasn’t a character flaw.

And now here we were. Just one week until we permanently tied our lives together. I couldn’t have been happier.

I adored Daniel and he adored me. What more could I possibly want?

Our meeting with Sarah lasted for a while longer. But once we’d said our goodbyes to her, Daniel turned back to me. “All right. Ready to go? I think Harper is about to initiate a hostage situation.”

I glanced toward the front coat-check area. My twenty-four-year-old sister was slumped in a wingback chair, scrolling aggressively on her phone.

While I spent my days fighting contractors over material specs, Harper tended to float through life on a breeze of missed deadlines and maxed-out credit cards. I usually ended up covering her rent or fixing her mistakes, but I never minded.

“Let’s go rescue her,” I said.

We retrieved our coats from the rack. As Daniel helped me into my trench coat, his knuckles brushed against my shoulder. The casual gesture made me smile. I called out to my sister, and she immediately pushed herself out of the chair.

“Finally,” she groaned. “I’m starving. I feel like we’ve been trapped in here for days.”

“It’s been forty-five minutes, Harp,” I replied dryly, looping my arm through hers.

“Forty-five minutes in a giant greenhouse. Can we please get sushi?” she asked, looking past me to Daniel.

“Whatever the bride dictates,” Daniel replied easily.

Daniel always treated Harper like a mildly annoying little sister, and she relied on him to buffer my stricter tendencies.

Seeing them together always felt right. Harper and I had always been so different, but since I’d started dating Daniel, things had been so much better.

A marriage was supposed to merge two separate families together, but my bond with Daniel had given me so much more.

We reached the main vestibule. Outside the glass doors, the evening rain had picked up, slicking the pavement and forming deep puddles in the parking lot.

Harper stopped dead in her tracks, wrapping her arms around her chest. “Oh, no. I am not walking out in that. My hair will be ruined.”

“I’ll go,” I offered, pulling my car keys from my leather tote. “You two stay inside where it’s warm. I’ll pull the car around to the front awning and text you when I’m at the curb.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” Daniel said, pressing a quick kiss to my cheek. “We’ll be right here.”

I pushed through the doors, ducking my head against the cold drizzle. I navigated the lot quickly, my heels splashing against the wet asphalt. By the time I reached my sedan, the shoulders of my trench coat were damp.

I unlocked the door and slid into the driver’s seat. A part of me wanted to rush back to Daniel’s side. Since I had to wait for the defroster to kick in, I reached into my tote to grab my planner. It wouldn’t hurt to review the Monday morning meeting agenda.

My fingers brushed past my wallet and sunglasses case. The rigid, navy leather spine of the notebook wasn’t there.

Damn it.

The planner held our finalized vendor contracts and my architectural sketches. I really needed it for work tomorrow. I must have left it on the table in the tasting room.

I killed the engine, locked the car, and jogged back through the rain toward the venue.

When I pushed through the vestibule doors, the lobby was empty. I frowned, shaking the water from my coat. Daniel and Harper weren’t waiting by the exit.

“Daniel?” I called out softly.

No answer. The venue was eerily quiet. The setup crew had moved to the far wing, the ambient lighting fading to a dimmer glow. I couldn’t exactly ask them for information.

Maybe Daniel and Harper had wandered back toward the coat-check counter to find a place to sit? I walked past the front desk, intent on tracking them down.

Then, a low murmur broke the silence.

“…sick of this.”

I paused. The voice belonged to Harper. It drifted from a secluded alcove just past the coat racks—a small nook meant for private phone calls during busy events.

“You just have to wait,” another voice whispered. Urgent. Low.

Daniel.

A small flutter of excitement bubbled in my gut. Daniel was probably coordinating some elaborate wedding surprise and had roped my sister into helping. Amused by their terrible stealth, I took a quiet step forward.

I rounded the edge of the alcove wall—and froze.

They were backed into the darkest corner of the nook. Daniel had Harper pressed flat against the wall. His hands—the same hands that had just guided me through the venue—were gripping her waist, pulling her hips flush against his own. Harper’s fingers were tangled in his hair.

Their mouths moved together in a desperate kiss. It was practiced, a rhythm they both clearly knew.

I stood completely paralyzed in the shadow of the corridor, staring at the man I was going to marry and the sister I loved so much.

Daniel broke the kiss, his breathing ragged. He rested his forehead against Harper’s.

“You promised,” Harper whispered as she lightly slapped his chest. “You promised me we wouldn’t have to keep hiding. I hate watching her touch you.”

“I know,” Daniel murmured. The smooth confidence I was so used to had vanished, replaced by a frantic strain. “Just one more week. Let me get through Saturday.”

“I don’t want to wait,” she complained. “I feel sick every single morning, Daniel. The seamstress had to let out the waist of my dress yesterday because the bloating is so bad. I’m six weeks pregnant. The clock is ticking, and I am exhausted from pretending.”

The words didn’t register at first. They hovered in the air, a sequence of syllables that made absolutely zero sense.

Pregnant. Six weeks.

A layer of cold static spread across my skin. Every muscle in my body went numb, and I had to lean against the wall to keep my legs from giving out.

“I know it’s hard, baby,” Daniel insisted, his grip tightening on her waist. “But you have to hang in there until after the wedding. If you blow this now, we have nothing. Do you understand me? Nothing.”

“She has enough money to support us!” Harper argued. “Just tell her the truth!”

Daniel let out a harsh laugh. It wasn’t the warm, captivating sound he used to charm my colleagues.

It was cruel. “Are you out of your mind? If I confess that I got her sister pregnant, Marianne will destroy me. She’ll freeze me out before I can even pack my bags.

You know what a vicious bitch she can be. ”

Vicious bitch. So this was what my ‘perfect’ fiancé actually thought about me. I couldn’t breathe.

“I am drowning,” Daniel hissed, the polished facade completely gone.

“I am a hundred and fifty thousand dollars in debt. My broker license is on the line if I don’t settle those margin calls by the end of the month.

The only way I survive this—the only way we can afford a life for this baby—is if I marry her. ”

Harper sniffled, dropping her forehead against his shoulder. “It’s not fair. She gets the wedding. She gets the ring. I just get to hide.”

“She’s funding our way out,” Daniel said.

“Next week, after we sign the marriage certificate, she is transferring the entire budget for our custom house build into the new joint account. The second those funds commingle, I can access them to wipe my debt. I’ll string her along, siphon off what we need, and when I file for divorce, I’ll force a cash settlement. Then we’re free.”

“You better,” Harper whispered, her fingers gripping the lapels of his suit. “Because I can’t keep smiling at her. I can’t keep pretending.”

Daniel leaned in and kissed her again, cutting off her complaints. “I’ll take care of it. Just play the maid of honor, and let me handle my fiancée.”

I couldn’t listen to another word. I took a step backward. Then another. I retreated down the edge of the corridor, keeping entirely to the shadows until I reached the front lobby. I hit the heavy glass exit doors and practically threw myself outside.

The permanent life I thought I had built was a complete lie. Daniel was a parasite, a desperate fraud planning to stab me in the back. And Harper—the sister I had bailed out, protected, and loved my entire life—was the one polishing the knife.