Chương 9
“Dad.”
He looked away.
Madison focused on Ben.
“What do you know?”
Ben rubbed his palms against his tuxedo pants.
“Not much.”
“How much?”
“He told me there was someone.”
Elena’s face went still.
Madison asked, “When?”
“May.”
Daniel said, “Ben.”
Madison turned.
“If you interrupt again, you leave.”
Daniel stared at her.
She looked back at Ben.
“Did he tell you who?”
“No.”
“Did you ask?”
“Yes.”
“What did he say?”
“That it was complicated.”
Madison almost smiled.
Every coward’s favorite adjective.
“Did you know it was someone close to me?”
Ben hesitated.
That was enough.
“How close?”
“I guessed.”
“Who?”
Ben glanced at Elena.
Madison felt sick.
“You guessed Elena.”
Ben nodded.
Elena sat down.
Richard turned toward the window again.
Madison asked, “Why?”
Ben looked miserable.
“The lake house.”
Claire had been right.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Ben.”
“He watched her.”
Daniel said, “This is insane.”
Ben snapped toward him.
“You asked me if I thought she was happy with Richard.”
Silence.
Daniel’s face hardened.
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
Ben laughed without humor.
“Man, come on.”
Madison watched them.
For five years, Daniel had talked about Ben as if he were proof of Daniel’s loyalty.
College roommates.
Best friends.
The kind of friendship people admired because neither man seemed embarrassed by affection. Ben was supposed to be the godfather of their first child.
Now he looked at Daniel with something close to disgust.
Madison said, “Last night.”
Ben rubbed the back of his neck.
“He left the hospitality suite around ten.”
“Did he say where he was going?”
“He said he needed air.”
“Did he come back?”
“Around midnight.”
“What was he wearing?”
“The tux from rehearsal.”
“Bracelet?”
Ben frowned.
“I don’t know.”
Madison held up the broken pearls.
Ben’s face changed.
“I haven’t seen that in a while.”
“How long?”
“Months.”
Daniel scoffed.
Madison ignored him.
Ben continued.
“He used to wear it because you gave it to him.”
Madison nodded.
“Did Daniel ever tell you Elena wanted him to leave me?”
Ben looked at Daniel.
“No.”
“Did he tell you they slept together?”
“No.”
Daniel said, “Because it was private.”
Ben stared at him.
“You were getting married.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
Madison almost felt sorry for him then.
Almost.
Not because he deserved it.
Because he had clearly spent months arranging the truth into separate rooms in his head.
The affair in one.
The wedding in another.
His friendship with Ben in another.
Madison somewhere else entirely.
Now all the doors were open.
Daniel looked at her.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“After the wedding.”
Elena laughed.
Madison did not.
“After.”
“I wanted to start clean.”
Richard turned slowly.
Madison lifted a hand.
Her father stayed quiet.
Daniel stepped closer.
“I know how it sounds.”
“No,” Madison said. “I don’t think you do.”
“I was terrified you’d leave.”
“So you married me first?”
“I thought if we got through today—”
“What?”
Daniel stopped.
Madison waited.
He looked suddenly young.
Not thirty.
Seventeen, maybe.
A boy caught with damage already done.
“If we got through today,” he said, “I thought I could fix myself.”
Elena looked at him.
Something like grief crossed her face.
Madison understood then that Elena had loved him.
Maybe not wisely.
Maybe not honorably.
But enough for his weakness to hurt her separately from what it had done to Madison.
That made everything uglier.
Richard saw it too.
His shoulders dropped.
He sat.
Nobody had won anything.
Madison walked to the coffee table and placed the broken bracelet beside the tiara and hotel sleeve.
“Did you go to Elena’s room to stop her from telling me?”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“Yes.”
“Did you grab her?”
“Yes.”
“Did you try to take her phone?”
“Yes.”
“Did the bracelet break during that?”
He stared at it.
“Yes.”
Elena closed her eyes.
Madison asked, “Did you leave because she screamed?”
Daniel looked at Elena.
“No.”
Elena opened her eyes.
“You left because I told you Richard was coming.”
Richard turned.
Madison looked at Elena.
“Was he?”
“No.”
Daniel stared at her.
For the first time all day, Elena looked almost amused.
“I lied.”
Richard gave a quiet breath that might have become a laugh under different circumstances.
Daniel stared at Elena.
“You lied.”
“Yes.”
Madison almost said something cruel about the obviousness of his surprise.
She did not have the energy.
Elena continued.
“When he left, I locked the door. The bracelet was on the carpet. The hotel sleeve was under the chair.”
“Why hide the bracelet in your dress?” Madison asked.
Elena looked down at the torn seam.
“Because at five this morning he texted me.”
Daniel’s head lifted.
Elena looked at Madison.
“He said, ‘Give me back what belongs to me before today.’”
Madison felt the room change again.
“Do you have it?”
“My phone.”
Daniel said quickly, “That could mean anything.”
Madison looked at him.
“Yes.”
He seemed surprised.
Madison continued.
“It could.”
Elena looked at her.
Madison shook her head.
“I’m not going to pretend one message proves everything because I’m angry.”
Richard watched her carefully.
Daniel nodded.
“Exactly.”
Madison turned toward him.
“But you admitted you were there. You admitted you grabbed her. You admitted you tried to take her phone. You admitted the bracelet broke in the room. The message doesn’t need to prove those things.”
Daniel’s expression collapsed again.
Madison looked at Elena.
“Why the dress?”
“I didn’t want it in my purse.”
“Because?”
“I thought he might try to get it back.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I wouldn’t have searched your bag.”
Elena looked at him.
“You tried to pick it up off the ballroom floor.”
Nobody spoke.
Madison sat.
Her legs had started trembling.
Not dramatically.
Just enough that she no longer trusted them.
Claire moved beside her.
Madison leaned against her shoulder for three seconds.
Then sat upright.
“Okay.”
Everyone looked at her.
“The wedding is canceled.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
May you like
Madison watched him hear it.
Until that moment, some part of him had apparently believed there was still a wedding to save.
