Chapter 35 - The Vow of Silence
Lily’s POV - The Wedding Day
If Sean Macon asked me if I wanted breakfast one more time, I might throat-punch him.
My dress and the army of people responsible for this circus of a day were already on their way to Holy Trinity Chapel. My father had left hours ago to manage every single detail of this ceremony to a fault. Not that it mattered. This wedding wasn’t happening.
Did anyone here really think I’d marry for convenience and start popping out babies just to sit at home changing diapers and making small talk with other mothers? Please.
I shoved my feet into my slippers, grabbed my suitcase, and walked past Sean.
“Let’s just go to the church,” I said. “I can eat later.”
He watched me for a moment, then picked up his keys and bag and followed me out to his Porsche.
We made it to the chapel in record time. Of course we did, this day was not going to slow down for me. I would have to take this bull squarely by the horns.
I didn’t bother looking for my father. I honestly didn’t want him to know I was here.
I went straight to the bridal suite, where a hairstylist worked through my hair while a chatty makeup artist painted my face.
The three of us talked like old friends.
The stylist, Marnie, was from London; the makeup artist, Tessa, was from Seattle.
When they finished, I thanked them, escorted them out the door, and slipped out of the suite. Upstairs, I found the Eagle’s Nest, a narrow room that overlooked the chapel’s main hall. From there, I could see and hear everything.
And then I saw him.
Matt Taylor.
My heart kicked hard enough to make me step back. The woman with him was Julianne Raines, one of my father’s long-time employees. I think she used to have a little something for my father, but no one gets past that ego, so they probably just fucked and moved on.
Below them, my father’s voice carried from the side entrance. I leaned over the rail and froze. His arms were around none other than Sarah fucking Taylor.
I wanted to jump down there and claw her eyes out for even thinking about touching him. Then he kissed her. Really kissed her. And she kissed him back. I felt bile rising to my throat. No. No, no. This can’t fucking be.
What the hell was she playing at? Better yet, what the hell was my father playing at?
Before I could finish processing that betrayal, I heard Sean’s voice. I turned, and the sight of him nearly broke me. He was standing in the aisle, staring at Julianne as if she’d just gutted him.
Then he saw my father enter with Sarah on his arm.
“So this is who you sent to distract Matt until Lily’s wedding?” Sean’s voice cracked through the hall. “You sent Julianne, Elliott?”
The name hung there. Lily.
Matt and Sarah turned at the same time, startled to see each other, but the real blow arrived when my name echoed through the hall.
Their faces said everything. They had shown up blind.
Did they really not know whose wedding they were attending?
I laughed under my breath. My father had outdone himself.
Only he could weaponize a wedding program.
My father claimed he was saving me. In reality, he just repositioned me like a hostile asset he didn’t want falling into the wrong hands.
A knock at the door behind me cut my thoughts short. I opened it to find exactly who I expected.
Valeria Thompson stood there, elegant, composed, and terrifyingly calm.
Her dark hair was wrapped in a beautiful chignon.
She wore a black jumpsuit and black boots and looked like something out of a fashion magazine.
Her makeup was more perfect than mine. Her big brown eyes were full of excitement and a bit of worry.
“Mom.”
I pulled her into the room and held her tight.
“Lily, sweetheart, are you ready?” she whispered. “We have to move quickly. No one can see us.”
I nodded.
We left the Nest and went back through the bridal suite. I grabbed my suitcase and purse, and together we slipped down a narrow staircase to a side exit where a black Mercedes G-Wagon waited, engine running.
A man well over six feet tall stepped forward, took my bags, and loaded them into the back. My mother guided me into the car before he got behind the wheel.
As the chapel disappeared behind us, the relief hit so hard it burned.
I turned to her, tears blurring everything. “You came.”
Her eyes were already wet. “Of course I did, Lilyth. You’re safe now. They’ll never find you. Trust me.” She pulled me to her, “I’ve missed you Lil. So much.”
I leaned into her arms. For the first time in years, I let myself believe her.
Finally, someone loved me enough to show up.
Sarah’s POV
Had I just heard Lily’s name? I stepped away from Eli and faced him. “Eliott Thompson. Are you Lily’s… “ I didn’t even finish the sentence before Matt did, “Father?” Eli nodded, “Yes, I am. And you were her fuck boy for a while, weren’t you, Matt?”
I didn’t look at Matt. My eyes stayed on Elliott.
He turned to Sean. “Yes, it was Julianne I sent to distract Matt. I couldn’t risk him being available if Lily reached out to him. I didn’t think you’d mind, Sean, since you agreed to this marriage to Lily. Are we having second thoughts now that you see your ex with another man?”
The room went still.
I turned to Matt. Part of me wanted to go to him; another part wanted to clap for karma finally finding its stage.
Matt stepped away from Julianne and toward me. “So this was fake? You were just… ” He dragged a hand through his hair. “Doing a job? I was just an assignment to you?”
I could not believe the look on Julianne’s face.
She was devastated, looking at Matt the way I looked at him a year ago when he told me about Lily.
I looked around to find an exit. I needed to get out of here.
To get away from all of this fucked up drama.
Why in the hell was I attracted to men like this?
Why had this drama found me and attached itself to me?
I turned and ran for the exit on the far side of the chapel.
The crowd thickened immediately, bodies and voices folding around me.
My skirt hit my thighs. My heels kept time.
I shoved through people, palms flat against shoulders, breathing sharp and fast. I wanted to make it hard for anyone to follow. I wanted space.
It didn’t work.
By the time I reached the doors, Matt was there, hand on the frame, hair rumpled, breath steady. Damn it. He was the last person I wanted to talk to.
Before I pushed through the door, a woman’s voice came over the sound system.
“Elliott Thompson, please come to the bridal suite. Lily is gone.”
The air shifted. Conversations dropped to a hum. I paused for half a second, long enough to feel the weight of it, then shoved the door open.
Matt was right behind me until a woman’s voice called out, “Matt, please stop and talk to me.”
I felt him hesitate, the sound of him fading behind me.
I kept going.
Elliott’s POV
All I heard was Lily is gone, and my feet were already moving.
I took the stairs two at a time, cutting through the side hall toward the bridal suite. I hadn’t seen her yet today, but I had confirmation she was inside the chapel. The door was unlocked. I pushed it open in hopes I would find her lounging, behind schedule, and defiant.
Her dress hung on a wall hook, the train pooled on the floor. The rest of the room was still. No sign of Lily.
Sean appeared behind me, eyes scanning the same corners mine had. We didn’t speak. We left the suite and started checking doors. First floor. Second. Nothing.
When we reached the Eagle’s Nest, the door stood wide open. Empty.
I called for security to meet us outside and search the street.
We looked for twenty minutes. Checked every corridor, every exit, every car that wasn’t supposed to be there.
Nothing.
Lily was gone.
And so was Sarah.
The two variables I never wanted in motion at the same time.