Chapter 2: What the Folder Knew
The photographs landed face-up on the white tablecloth.
Everyone saw them at the same time.
Lacey and Ethan.
Together.
Not just a kiss — dates, hotel receipts, handwritten notes.
Someone had printed everything and sealed it inside our wedding cake.
The room went completely silent.
Ethan grabbed my arm.
"This isn't what it looks like."
"Then what does it look like?" I said quietly.
Lacey stepped forward.
"You were never supposed to see those."
"I know," I said.
"That's the point."
Mama's hand went to her mouth.
My aunt started crying.
A few guests backed away from the table like the photographs might spread.
Ethan's voice dropped low.
"Who did this?"
Nobody answered.
Then I heard a chair scrape near the back of the room.
An older woman stood up slowly.
I didn't recognize her at first.
But Ethan did.
His face went white.
"You need to sit down," he said to her.
"Right now."
She didn't sit down.
She reached into her bag and placed something on the nearest table.
A folder.
"Your guests deserve to know the truth," she said.
"All of it."
May you like
Ethan took one step toward her — and stopped.
Because I was already walking toward the folder first.
