I stood in front of the mirror, adjusting my veil for what felt like the hundredth time. Today was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, the day I married the love of my life. But little did I know, things were about to take a wild turn that would test my marriage and unravel dark family secrets.
The ceremony was perfect. Finn looked stunning in his tuxedo, and I felt like a princess in my dress. We exchanged vows, kissed, and just like that, we were officially married.
At the reception, everything seemed magical. We cut the cake together, laughing as we fed each other bites, getting frosting on our faces. It was like a dream come true.
But then, Mike, our videographer, tapped me on the shoulder.
“Nora, can I talk to you for a sec?” he asked, his expression unusually serious.
Curious, I nodded and followed him to a quiet corner of the reception hall. “What’s up?”
Mike looked uneasy as he fiddled with his camera. “There’s something you need to see.”
He turned the camera around and showed me the small screen on the back. As I watched the footage, my heart skipped a beat.
On the screen, I saw my new father-in-law, Gerald, sneaking up to the gift table. He glanced around suspiciously, then grabbed a box and quickly walked out of the room.
“Is he… stealing our wedding presents?” I gasped, shocked by what I was seeing.
Mike shrugged, looking just as confused. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I thought you should see it.”
I thanked him, my mind racing. Why would Gerald steal from us? This didn’t make any sense.
I scanned the room and spotted Gerald near the bar, casually sipping a drink and chatting with some relatives. I needed to get to the bottom of this.
“Gerald, can I talk to you for a moment? It’s important,” I said as I approached him.
Gerald looked surprised but nodded. “Of course, Nora. What’s on your mind?”
I led him to a quiet spot, trying to keep my voice steady. “Gerald, I just saw something strange on the wedding video.”
His face turned pale. “Oh? What did you see?”
“I saw you taking one of our gifts and leaving with it. What’s going on?” I asked, my heart pounding.
Gerald glanced around nervously, then leaned in close. “Nora, I can explain. It’s not what you think.”
“Then what is it?” I demanded. “Because it looks like you’re stealing from us.”
He sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I wasn’t stealing, I swear. I was trying to protect you.”
“Protect me? From what?” I asked, completely baffled.
Gerald’s voice dropped to a whisper. “From Vivian. She’s up to something terrible.”
I frowned, trying to make sense of his words. “What do you mean?”
“Earlier today, I overheard her talking to herself in the dressing room. She was drunk and rambling about some plan,” Gerald explained.
“What plan?” I pressed, feeling a knot forming in my stomach.
“She packed that gift box with silverware she’d rubbed with orange peels. She knows you’re allergic to oranges.”
I gasped, suddenly feeling light-headed. My orange allergy wasn’t life-threatening, but it caused a horrible rash that couldn’t be exposed to sunlight. If I had touched that silverware…
“But why would she do that?” I asked, struggling to process everything.
Gerald’s expression was grim. “She wanted to ruin your honeymoon. She figured if you got a rash, you’d have to cancel the trip. And since the tickets are non-refundable…”
“She and you would get to go instead,” I finished, feeling sick to my stomach.
“Exactly. I couldn’t let that happen. I was just trying to get the silverware out, clean it, and put it back before anyone noticed,” Gerald said, his voice full of regret.
I leaned against the wall, trying to steady myself. “Gerald, I don’t know what to say.”
“I’m so sorry, Nora. I know how bad this looks. I just didn’t want to cause a scene at the wedding,” he said, looking genuinely sorry.
I nodded slowly, still trying to wrap my head around it all. “I understand. Thank you for telling me the truth.”
“What are you going to do?” Gerald asked, looking concerned.
I took a deep breath. “I need to talk to Finn. We’ll figure this out together.”
After leaving Gerald, I searched for my new husband. He was laughing and chatting with some college friends, but his smile faded when he saw the look on my face.
“Nora? What’s wrong?” Finn asked, quickly excusing himself from the group.
“We need to talk,” I said, pulling him aside. “It’s about your mom.”
Finn’s brow furrowed. “What about her?”
I explained everything Gerald had told me, watching as Finn’s expression shifted from confusion to anger and then to hurt.
“I can’t believe she’d do something like that,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief.
“What should we do?” I asked, gripping his hand tightly.
“We can’t confront her here. It would ruin the wedding,” Finn said after a moment.
I nodded in agreement. “Your dad already cleaned the silverware. Maybe we should just… pretend we don’t know?”
“For now,” Finn agreed. “But we’ll have to deal with this eventually.”
We rejoined the reception, trying to act normal, but I couldn’t shake the tension. Every time I saw Vivian laughing and dancing, my stomach turned.
At one point, she came over to hug us both. “I’m so happy for you two,” she gushed.
“Thanks, Vivian,” I forced myself to say, my smile feeling more like a grimace.
She patted my arm, completely oblivious. “You’re going to have such an amazing honeymoon. I can’t wait to hear all about it when you get back.”
I caught Finn’s eye over her shoulder. He looked just as uneasy as I felt.
“We’re really looking forward to it,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
As the night went on, I found myself watching Vivian closely. She seemed so normal, so kind. How could someone like her be capable of something so cruel?
Later, she cornered me by the bar. “Nora, darling, have you opened any of your gifts yet?”
I shook my head. “No, we’re waiting until after the honeymoon.”
“Oh, you simply must open mine,” she insisted with a smile. “I found the most beautiful silverware set. I know how much you love to cook.”
My heart raced as I forced a smile. “That’s so thoughtful. We’ll be sure to use it when we get back.”
Vivian beamed, clearly pleased with herself. “Wonderful! I can’t wait to see how you like it.”
As she walked away, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Gerald again.
“You okay?” he asked quietly.
I nodded. “Yeah. Thanks again for… you know.”
He squeezed my shoulder reassuringly. “Of course. I’m just glad I caught it in time.”
The rest of the reception passed in a blur. Finn and I danced, laughed with our friends, and tried to act like everything was normal. But underneath it all, there was a tension I couldn’t shake.
As we were getting ready to leave, I saw Gerald quietly slip back into the reception hall with a familiar-looking box. He carefully placed it back on the gift table before blending into the crowd again.
Finn came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “Ready to go?”
I leaned back into him, feeling exhausted. “More than ready.”
As we ran through the shower of rice and confetti to our waiting car, I caught one last glimpse of Vivian. She was waving and smiling, looking every bit the proud mother of the groom.
I waved back, a mix of anger and sadness swirling inside me. How were we supposed to move forward from this?
In the car, Finn took my hand. “Hey, you okay?”
I squeezed his fingers. “Yeah, just… processing everything.”
He nodded, looking serious. “We’ll figure it out together, okay? Whatever happens with my mom, we’re a team now.”
I smiled, feeling a rush of love for my new husband. “A team. I like the sound of that.”
As we drove off into the night, I tried to focus on the positives. We were married. We had a beautiful wedding. And thanks to Gerald’s quick thinking, our honeymoon was saved.
But I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just the beginning of a much bigger problem. How do you move forward when someone you’re supposed to love and trust tries to hurt you? I didn’t have the answers yet. But as I looked at Finn, I knew that whatever came next, we’d face it together. For better or for worse, right?
