By the time we arrived, the reception was winding down.
Guests were leaving with small boxes of cake. The musicians were packing their instruments, and the garden was quiet beneath the evening sky.
Vanessa still hadn’t returned.
I found Kendra standing beside Chloe near the entrance.
“She called me,” Kendra said. “She wanted me to tell everyone you had known about Daniel all along and that you were using this situation to destroy her reputation.”
“What did you say?”
“I told her I wouldn’t lie for her anymore.”
Kendra looked down at her hands.
“She said I would regret choosing you.”
I touched her shoulder.
“You made the right choice.”
She began to cry.
“I should have stopped her when I first heard the plan.”
“Yes,” I said gently. “You should have.”
She looked up, surprised by my honesty.
“But you’re telling the truth now. That matters. It doesn’t erase what happened, but it’s a start.”
