I leaned toward him.
“Will you arrest him today?”
Alvarez chose his words carefully.
“We are coordinating with local authorities and reviewing existing warrants connected to identity and financial fraud.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
I appreciated the honesty.
Then I asked, “If I still go to the venue?”
Rebecca muttered, “Sharon.”
Alvarez frowned.
“You should not confront him privately.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not threaten him.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not accuse him of crimes we cannot substantiate.”
“I won’t.”
“Do not physically prevent him from leaving.”
“I won’t.”
I stood.
“But I am walking into that wedding.”
Ben stared at me.
“Mom.”
I looked at my son.
“Do you know what Nathan believes?”
Nobody answered.
“He believes I am weak because I wanted a family.”
I looked at Grace.
Then the screen where Lily was still watching remotely.
Then Rebecca.
“He believes grief made me easy to control.”
My voice steadied.
“He believes loving my children makes me desperate.”
I looked toward the wedding gown.
“He spent two years creating a stage where he intended to make me promise my life to him.”
Then I smiled.
“I’m keeping the stage.”
At nine, Lily arrived.
By ten, the girls were in pale rose bridesmaid dresses.
Nobody told my mother.
Nobody told my friends.
Nobody told the guests.
The fewer people who knew, the better.
My makeup artist complained that my eyes were swollen.
“Allergies,” I said.
My mother entered while my hair was being pinned.
She looked radiant in navy silk.
“Oh, sweetheart.”
She kissed my forehead.
“Melissa would be so happy today.”
The sentence nearly shattered me.
I stared at myself in the mirror.
Would she?
If Melissa were alive, Nathan might never have gotten within fifty feet of me.
My mother mistook my silence for grief.
“She’s here with you.”
I squeezed her hand.
“Yes.”
In a way, she was.
At eleven thirty, Nathan texted.
Can’t wait to make you mine.
I stared at the message.
Then typed:
Neither can I.
At noon, Elise called.
“The projector is ready.”
“Audio?”
“Ready.”
