“She left a phone for you. And a note.”
My fingers barely worked when I opened the envelope.
“Alice, if you’re reading this, then it’s time for the truth to come out. Don’t trust Ryan. Turn on the last video in the gallery on that phone.”
I stopped breathing.
I picked up the phone. My thumb trembled so badly I had to try twice. Then I opened the gallery and hit play.
The screen showed Ryan. Not my Ryan from the altar. A younger Ryan, same voice, same face, and the same smile.
Claire stood in front of him while he slipped a ring onto her finger. Then he kissed her.
A broken breath slipped out of me.
The screen showed Ryan. Not my Ryan from the altar.
The next clip started before I could recover. Ryan in a restaurant booth, leaning too close to another woman. Then another. Then another. Claire’s camera work was shaky, hurried, and furious.
Megan covered her mouth and whispered, “Oh my God.”
For a moment, all I could do was stare at the screen with Claire’s last warning still echoing in my head. Then I grabbed the phone, folded the note, and walked out before I completely came apart in front of Megan.
I cried the whole drive home, pulling over once because I couldn’t see the road through my tears.
***
That evening, Ryan walked through the front door with yellow roses and a box of cupcakes from my favorite bakery.
“Hey,” he said softly. “I thought maybe we could…”
He stopped.
Claire’s camera work was shaky, hurried, and furious.
Both our families were in the living room. My parents sat stiff and pale on the couch. His mother stood near the mantelpiece. And I was standing by the coffee table with Claire’s phone in my hand.
“Sit down,” I said.
Ryan’s eyes moved to the phone as I pressed play.
The room stayed silent except for Claire’s shaky video and Ryan’s own voice coming out of the tiny speaker. When the first clip ended, his face had gone gray. When the second began, his mother sat down without looking for a chair.
When the third ended, my father whispered, “Dear God.”
Ryan finally spoke. “I can explain.”
“Please do.”
When the first clip ended, his face had gone gray.
He dragged a hand through his hair. “I knew Claire before I met you. We dated. It ended badly.”
“Did you love her?”
