Max is poised to marry the love of his life—until he discovers the truth. With barely 72 hours to the wedding, he devises the ultimate treachery. As Sofia goes down the aisle, she anticipates the idyllic wedding she has planned. However, Max is going to turn their wedding into a reckoning.

Everything was wonderful. Golden light bathed the site, the floral arrangements were perfect, and the guests were all happy, conversing, and sipping champagne.

Everything was precisely how it should be. Sofia has spent months stressing over this wedding.

She had meticulously arranged every detail, even a small bag of chocolates to keep visitors occupied if they became hungry throughout the ceremony.

But just as my fiancée had prepared her fantasy wedding, I had also planned every aspect of my own.

I stood in the front, hands clasped, taking deep breaths. The music swelled, signaling the bridesmaids to prepare to enter.

I looked about, taking in our guests’ anxious expressions, the carefully chosen decorations, and the soft glow of the candlelight. It was the ideal romantic wedding setting.

Everything felt precisely like it should. Nevertheless, I wasn’t nervous. Not even a little.

Not anymore.

I do not recall sitting down.

One minute, I was standing at my apartment’s window, marveling at the city skyline. The next thing I knew, I was sitting on the couch, my head in my hands, struggling to breathe.

Elena sat across from me, silent and waiting. Her words were still echoing in my thoughts. It was like a song that I couldn’t stop listening to.

“Max, I saw her.” With him. I didn’t look for it, I swear! “But I saw them.”

“And you’re certain?” Elena, I need to be certain. My voice seemed weak and strange to me.

“Max, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t sure,” she said to me.

The room seemed extremely tiny. My flat, once packed with wedding presents, seating charts, and enthusiasm, suddenly resembled a jail cell. I wanted to get away from this debate.

How could Sofia have cheated on me? “Tell me everything,” I asked.

Elena paused for a time. Then she straightened her shoulders and looked at me with pity.

“I was at that new coffee shop that focuses on being vegan. I was picking up a coffee when I noticed Sofia seated at a corner table.

She paused. “She wasn’t alone, Max.” “Who?” I asked.

“I don’t know his name, but he seemed familiar. He may be one of her buddies. I know I have seen him before. But Max, I know how he looked at her. And I remember how she gazed back at him.”

“That doesn’t mean much, Elena,” I told her.

Sofia caressed his face, mumbled something, and then leaned in to kiss Max.

For a tiny, pitiful moment, I nearly convinced myself that it was a misunderstanding. An error. But Sofia was not reckless. She was calculated.

She wouldn’t have consented to a man kissing her in public unless she was confident in her ability to avoid detection. Unless she believed she had complete control and that no one who knew either of us would stop her.

“Max, I know this hurts,” Elena remarked. “But I snapped a picture. “I knew you’d need proof.”

“Show me,” I asked, my heart breaking as I looked at Elena’s phone.

I blinked, looking down at my hands. They felt different. They felt as though they were detached from me. “She said she loved me,” I mumbled. “Elena, our wedding is in 72 hours.”What should I do now? Cancel the wedding?”

“No way!” Elena stated. “Teach her a lesson!”

I raised my head, and for the first time since the conversation began, I met Elena’s stare with unwavering hatred.

“She’s not getting away with this.” Elena didn’t seem surprised.

“What are you going to do?” she inquired. Something chilly sank into my chest. I rose up and approached the window. I experienced a profound and terrifying clarity. I adjusted my tie as if I’d already made a decision.

“I’m going to let her have her big day,” I told her. “But not in the way she planned.”

Elena’s lips formed a slow smirk.

“Tell me what you need, brother,” she asked. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

The music increased in volume, indicating the arrival of the first bridesmaid.

As they appeared one after the other, a wave of uneasiness spread across the audience. The atmosphere, which was previously bustling with calm chatter, changed totally.

The bridesmaids donned black attire, seemingly in mourning. Some of them needed convincing, but once they saw the evidence Elena and I supplied, none of them wanted to stand behind a liar.

They didn’t wear the gentle sky blue that Sofia had requested. Not the carefully chosen pastels that complemented the invites and flower centerpieces.

Nope. They were wearing black.

They went forward one at a time, their expressions inscrutable. Their black outfits stood out against the exquisite white petals spread along the aisle.

That’s when the murmurs began. Sofia and I hailed from conventional households, so the bridesmaids wearing black was a major issue. A few heads turned to each other with bewildered expressions.

“It’s so inauspicious, Max!” I could almost hear my mother scream.

I imagined my grandma saying, “Oh, it’s a bad omen.”

I maintained a steady stare as my sister, Elena, approached her seat at the front. She met my gaze and winked so delicately that no one else saw.

I breathed slowly. Yes. Everything was just as I had intended.

Then the rear doors of the hall opened. Sofia moved forward, beaming. I’ll agree that she looked extremely lovely. A vision in white.

She took one step inside the room and froze.

For a moment, she was perplexed. Her smile remained on her lips as she examined the throng for signs of joy, excitement, and celebration.

Instead, she saw the black outfits. Her expression wavered.

Her gaze shifted from one bridesmaid to the next, soaking in the dark shapes, gloomy mood, and murmurs reverberating among the attendees.

Her face lost its color.

Her lips parted slightly, as if to express an inquiry, but no words emerged. Her hands clasped around the bouquet. She sensed there was something wrong.

As she continued walking, she became more hesitant. Her stride was devoid of confidence. Every stride down the aisle seemed dubious.

As she approached me, her hands quivering slightly, she took mine. Her fingertips felt frigid.

“What is going on, Max?” Why did they alter their dresses? What the hell? “They ruined the entire aesthetic!”

I smiled at her. However, it lacked warmth. I had no feelings for this woman anymore.

“Wait. “You mean you don’t know?” I inquired, my tone barely loud enough to carry.

A silence descended over the room.

Sofia’s gaze flashed over the room. From me to the bridesmaids and my sister standing tall alongside them.

I turned slightly and gestured toward the line of ladies dressed in grief.

“This isn’t a wedding, Sofia,” I responded calmly. Too calm. And I remained calm. I had many days to process my emotions.

“It’s a funeral,” I said, smiling.

There was a collective gasp throughout the hall. Our visitors appeared shocked. My mother looked like she was about to faint.

Sofia curled her fingers around mine in a desperate clasp.

“What are you talking about?” she said. I gave forth a faint, humorless laugh.

“We have come to bury what remains of our love. Or, more precisely,” I replied, noting her apprehensive expression, “what you kil*led.”

The silence was deafening. A mumble was then heard. A person in the second row covered their lips with a hand.

Someone else turned to the person seated next to them and spoke hurriedly.

Sofia’s cheeks turned crimson.

The terror in her eyes intensified into something more. Anger.

Finally, she realized what was going on.

She ripped her hands away from mine and pivoted, her rage finding a new target.

“You told him?!” she said, her voice cutting through the air.

Sofia was now staring straight at her bridesmaids.

No. She accused them. Her face contorted with wrath.

“How could you do it?! You gals are my dearest friends! My dear buddies! And this is not your business. Not at all.” What in the hell?”

“We didn’t want to believe Elena at first,” Sofia’s best friend, Maddie, said. “But after she showed us proof… we all knew that Max deserved better.”

Elena made a modest step forward. I recognized that look on my sister’s face. She worked incredibly hard to maintain control. However, when she spoke, her tone was firm, icy, and definitive.

“Sofia, it became our business the moment we found out what kind of person you really are.”

She raised her chin slightly. “It became our business the moment we found out who my brother was about to spend his life with.”

Sofia clenched her fist. “You had no right!” she said, her voice rising in panic.

I cocked my head. “No, right?” Really? To learn the truth about the woman I was planning to marry?”

She returned my gaze, her desperation piercing her rage.

“I can explain… Max!”

I shake my head. I could not stand to hear her explanation. Her explanation, or the lack thereof, was unbearable to me. On the one hand, I wanted to learn everything. On the other side, I wanted Sofia to leave my life forever.

“No, Sofia,” I said after a time. My voice was quiet. Controlled. Deadly.

“You just don’t like that you got caught.” A strangled sound escaped her lips. She felt a mixture of fury, humiliation, and something close to dread. Her gaze flashed across the room again, looking for someone, anybody, to support her.

But nobody moved. No one dared to make a sound. Nobody came to her rescue.

The visitors sat motionless in their seats, too astonished to respond.

Sofia’s bridesmaids stood silently, their black robes making them appear more like pallbearers than bridal attendants.

She had never felt so alone. I could see it in her face. Sofia’s breath tightened.

Then she turned and ran. She whirled, the skirt of her gown billowing behind her. But in her rush, she stepped on the hem.

A scream erupted from the audience as she slipped, and she barely recovered herself before stumbling again. Her fists fisted the fabric of her dress, raising it just enough to escape down the aisle.

Nobody stopped her. No one came after her. Neither her parents nor her brother.

I exhaled gently, letting out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding. I then turned to Elena.

She moved closer and reached for my hand. I squeezed it with appreciation. Guests around me sat frozen in disbelief, their gazes shifting between me and the vacant place where Sofia had stood minutes before.

I saw my sister, family, and bridesmaids through a different lens than a wedding..

“I know this isn’t what anyone expected,” I said to the audience. But I’ve had enough of pretending. Go inside to eat and drink. “I will be fine.”

I strolled down the aisle, seeking a few moments alone before returning inside. Then I spotted her.

She sat on the sidewalk, her white robe wrapping around her like a phantom of the life she had lost.

Her hands shook, her shoulders bowed, and she was no longer the dazzling bride. She was simply a lady who had run out of lies.

She glanced up as I approached, her mascara streaked, her eyes red-rimmed and begging. She stretched out, fingers brushing across my sleeve, then gripped my wrist, clutching it like a lifeline.

“Max,” she answered. “Please. I will do everything… just don’t let this end.”

I did not react. Instead, I drew away.

“I messed up,” she said. “I felt afraid. I was foolish. But it was never true for him. It was always you, Max. “It was always you.”

For a minute, I only gazed at her.

“If it was always me,” I continued gently, “you wouldn’t have had to say that.”

“Please,” she implored.

“I’ll ask your mother to bring some dinner out for you,” I told you.

I turned away and continued walking. I did not glance back.

Instead, I returned to the site and helped myself to the supper buffet that Sofia had prepared.

This was meant to be a fairytale.

However, fairytales come to an end when the villain reveals his true intentions. Sofia had scripted the finale herself.