Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
As soon as I make it to the altar, I turn to hand Paige my bouquet, ignoring the fake, I’m so happy for you smile she’s giving me, so I can take Allister’s hands, just like we rehearsed.
Gaze up, lovingly into his eyes while the priest charged with marrying us can go about the business of making us man and wife.
Instead of letting Allister take my hands, like I’m supposed to, I reach into the voluminous folds of my dress and into the pocket, hidden within its yards of hand-beaded satin and imported lace. Wrapping my trembling hand around my cellphone, I hesitate.
What are you doing, Millie?
What the hell are you doing?
“Millie?” Like I said it out loud, Allister looks down at me. Frowning slightly, he repeats the question. “What are you doing?”
Get even—that’s what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to find a way to make that motherfucker pay for humiliating you.
“Excuse me, Father…” Looking at the priest, I offer him a faint, nervous smile that’s not a complete lie.
“I know this isn’t what we rehearsed, but I’d like to read something to Allister before we start—it won’t take long,” I say, my anxiety spiking just a little when I realize just how well the acoustics of the sanctuary carry my voice.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the secret service agents guarding the front steps could hear me.
“Well…” Father Flanagan, a good-looking man in his forties who the wedding coordinator insisted on because he would photograph well—hesitates.
Lifting his gaze from where I’m standing, he surveys the crowded pews behind me as if mentally assessing just how much damage I could possibly do in front of the Vice President of the United States, three senators, The governor of New York, most of Forbes magazine’s Top 100, and a congressman.
“Certainly, my child,” he says, flashing me a beatific smile before he aims it at the three hundred people behind me.
“The bride would like to read something special to her husband-to-be before we begin.” Looking back down at me, he gives me an encouraging nod. “Whenever you’re ready.”
The wedding coordinator is right—he would’ve taken a beautiful photograph.
“Thank you…” Pulling my phone from my pocket, I tap my thumb on the screen, bringing up the note I have bookmarked.
“What is this, Millie?” Allister gives me an indulgent smile before addressing the sanctuary full of wedding guests. “I didn’t know we were writing our own vows. We never discussed it or I would have—”
“Allister…” Cutting off his fumbling apology, I look up from the words, I have committed to memory so I can see his face when I read them. “I want to see you but it can’t be here. Millie still hasn’t turned her location back on. I can’t risk her coming home while we’re together.”
“Sweetheart?” The smile on his face ripples like a mask. “I don’t under—”
Ignoring him, I keep reading. “Paige—could you imagine the look on her face if she actually did walk in on us?” When I say my cousin’s name, one of the faster thinking someone’s in the audience gasps.
I’m pretty sure it was my aunt. “Allister—no and I really don’t want to.
I can’t risk her finding out about us. Not this close to the wedding. ”
The smile on Allister’s face winks out completely. Turning toward the stunned priest in front of us, he shakes his head. “I apologize for my fiancée’s outburst, Father. Perhaps there’s a more private place where we can—”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I tell him quietly before I continue reading. “Paige—It would serve her right. She might learn a thing or two about what it takes to keep a man satisfied and faithful.”
Behind me, Gwen practically snarls. “You backstabbing whore.”
“Stop it, Millie—right this instant.” Panicked, Allister reaches for me like he means to shake some sense into me.
Hand closing over my arm, he squeezes while trying to pull me closer.
Reaching down, he starts to pry my fingers away from my phone so he can take it.
When I tighten my grip, he gives me a rough shake. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”
In my peripheral, I catch movement. Someone standing up from their seat behind me. More than one. Looking into the crowd, I see my father in the front row. My uncle Andy directly behind him. Dean in the back, standing, center aisle, like he’s about to charge up the middle of it.
“Let her go, right now, or I’m going to knock you the fuck out—sorry, Father.”
Turning away from the crowd, I find Dalton, of all people, standing a few feet away, fists clenched at his sides.
Allister’s right—I am embarrassing myself. Right now, I’m downright humiliated but instead of quitting, I keep at it. Jerking my arm out of his grip before either one of them has a chance to react, I shake my head. “Allister—don’t be cruel, Paige.”
“Millie, this is a complete overreaction—” Lifting a hand to his face, Allister gives it a rough scrub like he thinks this might be a nightmare he can wake himself up from. “I can explain. If you’d just give me a chance to explain, I can fix this. I can—”
“Paige—why? Do you love her? Allister—don’t be ridiculous. Of course I don’t love her.”
More gasps. A few coughs. Someone clears their throat like they’re getting ready to cut me off but there’s no point—I’m finished.
On cue, the sanctuary is filled with a cacophony of bells and trills—the sound of notifications popping up on people’s cellphones—alerting them that they’ve received an email.
Thank you, Alice.
“There’s more,” I say, turning to address the stunned crowd.
“There’s a lot more and most of it would probably get me struck by lightning if I read them out loud in church, but the gist of it is that my fiancé and my cousin have been having an affair for more than two years now.
I’ve sent you their text exchanges so you can read them if you want—that way you can decide for yourself if I’m overreacting or not.
” Slipping my phone back into my pocket, I reach up and pull out the jewel-encrusted pins anchoring my silk tulle veil to the back of my head.
Dropping it on the floor, I look at poor Father Flanagan who’s staring at me like I’m the devil himself.
“Sorry, Father, but I don’t think I’ll be getting married today, after all.
” Looking at Allister, I offer him a tight smile.
“I’ve had your things removed from my apartment and the locks have been changed.
Mitch at the front desk was gracious enough to agree to hold your items for a few days to give you time to find a new place to live. ”
“You can’t do that,” Allister fumes through clenched teeth. “You can’t just—”
“I assure you I can,” I counter coolly. “We’re not married. My assets are still my own. Make sure you let Mitch know where to send your things.”
Dismissing Allister altogether, I turn to look at Paige and my heart breaks a little because there’s nothing there.
No regret. No remorse. Nothing on her perfectly beautiful face that says she’s even remotely sorry for the betrayal and pain she’s caused me and everything I’d planned to say to her simply floats away because nothing I have to say would matter to her.
“I hope it was worth it,” I say instead before turning toward the steps that’ll lead back down the aisle and away from the mess I’ve created.
Almost everyone—all three hundred wedding guests—have their phones out and their noses practically pressed to the screen in an effort to read the scandalous details of the affair between my cousin and fiancé.
Some of them are already taking screenshots.
I have no doubt this entire thing will be plastered all over social media by the time I reach the airport.
“Millie?”
Turning at the base of the steps, I find my little sister looking down at me, a mixture of trepidation and admiration at war on her face.
“I’ll call you when I get back,” I promise her with a quiet smile. “Maybe we can have lunch.”
Pushing my way forward before she can start bombarding me with questions, I hurry past my stunned parents, barely sparing them a glance because I didn’t just humiliate myself—I humiliated them too.
What I’ve done will be covered and talked about by every gossip column, celebrity entertainment show and social media influencer in the world.
Millie Blackwell: Runaway Bride
Millie Blackwell Stuns Wedding Guests with X-rated Texts
Millie Blackwell Extracts Wedding Day Revenge by Exposing Cheating Scandal
I might even be the lead story on TMZ. If not for the fact that I’ve probably ruined my family’s name, our publicist would be ecstatic.
Hurrying down the aisle, gaze zeroed in on the open doors that leads from the sanctuary into the vestibule, I don’t even see Dean, still standing in the middle of the aisle, until I practically run right into him.
“Holy shit,” Dean laughs. “When I said find a way to make that motherfucker pay, I didn’t think you were going to incite a riot, Macklemore.”
“What can I say?” I ask, throwing a quick, harried glance over my shoulder.
“You give a good pep talk.” Allister and Paige are still standing on the raised dais, heads bent together, whispering to each other furiously, already trying to figure out a way to minimize the damage. Make me out to be the crazy one.
Crazy?
I’ll show them crazy.
Turning away from them, I look up at Dean. “Do you want to come with me?”
For a second, he doesn’t say a word. He just looks at me, almost long enough for me to come to my senses. To say never mind or just kidding before I step around him and bolt through the door the way I’d planned.
Alone.
“Melisandre!”
My father bellows my name and everything stops.
Turning, I see everyone—all three hundred of them—staring at me.
Even Allister and Paige have stopped their whispering to look at where I’m standing, frozen solid in the middle of the church.
I feel my chest tighten and my knees start to shake, all the emotions I’ve been suppressing for the last three days beginning to barrel down on me with the force of a tidal wave because I didn’t move fast enough.
I let myself get distracted. Didn’t stick to the plan.
And now I’m caught.
Looking away from my father, I aim my gaze up at the man standing in front of me. “Dean…”
“Shit.” Muttering it under his breath, Dean lifts his gaze to my father. Pauses for just a second before he seems to make up his mind. “Sorry, sir.” Giving him a tight head shake, Dean takes my hand and drags me down the aisle and into the vestibule.
“Wait.” Stopping in front of the huge set of double doors that lead to the busy sidewalk and the limo I ordered, idling in front of the church, I pull my hand from Dean’s grasp.
“What—” Looking down at me, Dean’s forehead crumples into a frown before he aims a quick look at the sanctuary like he’s worried someone is coming after us.
Before he can finish, I yank off my engagement ring and jam it into the collection box.
It barely fits through the slot. When I finally manage to force it in, Dean lets out a laugh.
“You’re a fuckin’ savage, Mint Julup,” he tells me before he takes my hand again and we run.