Chapter 2: The Woman Who Came Before Me
“Mom, look at me. What did you just say?””
My voice sounded strangely calm, even to my own ears.
Evelyn's eyes filled with fresh tears. She glanced toward the garden entrance, then back at Marcus.
“He was married before,” she whispered.
“And I don't think the marriage ever ended.””
Marcus reached us before she could say anything else.
“That's enough,” he snapped.
He didn't look at me when he spoke. His eyes were fixed on my mother, and his expression carried a warning I had never seen before.
“Evelyn, you're upset. You're embarrassed. I understand that. But don't make accusations you can't take back.””
My mother stepped behind me.
I felt the movement.
It was small, almost instinctive.
But it terrified me more than his words.
“Why is my mother afraid of you?”” I asked.
Marcus finally looked at me.
“I'm not doing this here.””
“You brought two hundred people here to watch us get married. Where exactly would you prefer to discuss the fact that you might already be married?””
A murmur rippled through the guests.
Vanessa rushed forward, her ruined ponytail hanging unevenly against her neck.
“This is ridiculous,” she said.
“Nia, my brother has been nothing but good to you.””
I stared at her.
“You cut my mother's hair.””
“Oh, my God! Are we still talking about that?””
“Yes, Vanessa. We are.””
She pointed at the scissors lying on the table.
“You cut mine back! You think that makes you some kind of hero?””
“No,” I answered.
“I think it makes me someone who finally stopped letting you get away with everything.””
Her face reddened.
Marcus stepped between us again.
“Can everybody just calm down?””
“Stop telling everybody to calm down,” I said.
“Start telling the truth.””
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he reached for my hand.
“Nia, please. We can talk privately. Your mother has misunderstood something, and this is getting out of control.””
I pulled my hand away.
“What did she misunderstand?””
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
That silence told me more than any explanation could have.
My mother tugged gently at my wrist.
“Let's leave,” she whispered.
“Please.””
I wanted to demand answers. I wanted to grab Marcus by his immaculate black tuxedo and force him to explain every word.
But my mother's fingers were trembling.
So I led her toward the garden entrance.
We had barely passed the marble fountain when a woman's voice called out behind us.
“Is the wedding over?””
The guests turned.
A woman stood beneath the garden entrance, holding the hand of a little girl who looked about six years old.
The woman wore a navy-blue dress and carried a large cream-colored envelope. Her dark hair was pulled into a simple bun, and her face was pale with exhaustion.
She looked directly at Marcus.
Then she looked at the ring box in my hand.
“Good,” she said quietly.
“Because I came to make sure she knew before she said her vows.””
Marcus stopped breathing for a moment.
“Lauren?””
The woman's mouth tightened.
“Hello, Marcus.””
Vanessa rushed toward her.
“What are you doing here?””
Lauren glanced at Vanessa's hair.
“I see you managed to make another woman cry today.””
Vanessa's face twisted.
“Get out. Nobody invited you.””
“I know.”” Lauren lifted the envelope.
“But I was invited to the courthouse three years ago, when your brother promised a judge that he would provide for his family.””
Marcus moved toward her.
“Lauren, this is not the place.””
She stepped back.
“Funny. You didn't think that when you sent me a wedding invitation with the wrong address.””
My stomach tightened.
A wedding invitation?
Lauren looked at me.
“I'm sorry,” she said.
“You don't know me, and I wish we were meeting under different circumstances.””
“Who are you?”” I asked.
She swallowed.
“My name is Lauren Mitchell. Marcus is my husband.””
The garden erupted.
Someone whispered, “Oh, my God.””
A man near the ceremony arch muttered an obscenity. My wedding planner covered her mouth.
I stared at Marcus.
He shook his head immediately.
“She's lying.””
Lauren didn't blink.
“Then tell them when our divorce was finalized.””
Marcus's eyes flicked toward Vanessa.
It was the same movement I'd seen earlier.
A glance.
A warning.
A desperate search for help.
Vanessa grabbed Lauren's arm.
“You don't get to ruin this day because you couldn't keep your marriage together.””
Lauren pulled free.
“You mean the marriage you spent two years helping your brother hide?””
The words silenced even the guests who had been whispering.
Marcus grabbed the envelope.
Lauren fought to hold on, but he ripped it from her hands. Several papers spilled across the stone path.
“Marcus!”” she shouted.
He crouched to gather them.
I saw a document with an official seal.
A photograph of Marcus holding a little girl.
And a folded sheet bearing a courthouse stamp.
I bent down before he could collect everything.
“Don't touch those,” I said.
He looked up at me.
“Nia, please.””
I picked up the folded sheet.
At the top, I could make out the words Marriage Certificate.
The date was three years earlier.
The groom's name was Marcus Reed.
The bride's name was Lauren Mitchell.
His signature sat at the bottom.
I looked from the paper to the man I had planned to marry.
“You told me you'd never been married.””
Marcus stood slowly.
“I was going to explain.””
“When?””
“When the time was right.””
Lauren laughed bitterly.
“You've been saying that for three years.””
The little girl beside her tugged at her mother's hand.
“Mommy, is that Daddy?””
Nobody answered her.
My chest tightened so sharply I had to remind myself to breathe.
Marcus had told me he wanted to wait until after the wedding to start a family. He said he wanted to enjoy our first year together before having children.
He had told me his relationship with Lauren had ended before it became serious.
He had told me the little girl in an old photograph was his niece.
I had believed him.
I had believed everything.
“Does she know?”” I asked, looking at the little girl.
Lauren's face softened.
“She knows Marcus is her father. What she doesn't know is why he keeps promising to visit and then disappearing.””
Marcus took a step forward.
“That's not fair.””
Lauren stared at him.
“Then explain the last six months of missed birthdays. Explain why your daughter waited outside her school on Father's Day because you promised you'd come.””
His expression hardened.
“I have responsibilities.””
“So do I,” Lauren replied.
“I've been raising your child while you've been planning a wedding.””
Vanessa suddenly stepped forward.
“Lauren, you need to stop. Marcus has been helping you financially.””
Lauren looked at her with disbelief.
“Helping me? You mean sending money when he remembers, then demanding I keep quiet about where it comes from?””
Marcus shot his sister a furious look.
“Vanessa, shut up.””
It was the first time that afternoon he had spoken to her with anything resembling anger.
But Lauren wasn't finished.
She opened her handbag and removed another document.
“This is the court record showing that our divorce was never finalized.””
Marcus lunged for it.
I stepped between them.
“Don't.””
He froze.
For the first time since the ceremony began, he looked at me as if he understood that he might actually lose something.
“Nia, listen to me. Our relationship was over long before I met you. Lauren and I were separated. The paperwork was complicated.””
“Were you divorced?””
He looked at the ground.
“Not officially.””
I felt the last fragile piece of hope collapse inside me.
“You asked me to marry you while you were still married to her.””
“I love you.””
“That's not an answer.””
“I was going to fix it.””
“When?””
He said nothing.
Lauren lowered her eyes, and I realized she wasn't enjoying this. She looked tired. Humiliated. Like someone who had been forced to drag a private wound into public because every quiet attempt to heal it had failed.
I turned toward my mother.
“Mom, how did you find out?””
She looked at Lauren.
Lauren nodded once.
My mother took a shaky breath.
“Vanessa called me this morning,” Evelyn said.
“She told me she wanted to make peace before the wedding.””
Vanessa's face changed.
“Mom, don't.””
Evelyn continued.
“She asked me to meet her near the bridal suite. She said she had something important to tell me about Marcus.””
I looked at Vanessa.
“You invited my mother to meet you?””
Vanessa crossed her arms, but her fingers were trembling.
“I was trying to help.””
“By cutting her hair?””
“That happened afterward!””
“Why?””
She looked toward Marcus.
He shook his head almost imperceptibly.
But my mother had seen it.
“I asked her why Marcus had been hiding his marriage,” Evelyn said.
“She told me I should mind my own business. Then she took the scissors from the styling table and started cutting my hair.””
The guests gasped again.
Vanessa's voice rose.
“She wouldn't stop asking questions!””
“So you humiliated her?”” I asked.
“She needed to learn that she couldn't interfere in our family!””
Our family.
The words hung in the air.
Not Marcus's family.
Not Lauren's family.
Our family.
I looked at Marcus.
He didn't deny it.
Instead, he turned toward the guests and raised both hands.
“This has gotten completely out of hand. Lauren and I have a complicated history, and Evelyn has misunderstood a private conversation. Nia and I need time to work through this.””
He was still trying to manage the story.
Still trying to make the truth sound like an inconvenience.
I closed the velvet ring box in my hand.
“There will be no wedding,” I said.
Marcus's face drained of color.
“Nia—”
“No.””
I turned toward Lauren.
“I'm sorry you had to come here to tell me this.””
She nodded, tears shining in her eyes.
“I tried calling you last week. Marcus answered your phone and told me you'd blocked me.””
My blood ran cold.
I had never received a call from Lauren.
Marcus had been carrying my phone that evening while we were choosing flowers.
I remembered him saying my battery was nearly dead.
I remembered him handing the phone back without mentioning a missed call.
And suddenly, I wondered how many other things he had decided I didn't need to know.
Then Lauren looked at my mother.
“Evelyn,” she said softly, “did you tell her about the money?””
My mother went completely still.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Vanessa whispered, “Oh, no.””
I looked from one face to another.
“What money?””
Lauren held the envelope against her chest.
“The money Marcus and Vanessa have been taking from your wedding account.””
My fingers tightened around the velvet box.
“What did you just say?””
Lauren looked directly at me.
May you like
“Ask your bank how much is left.””
And for the first time that day, Marcus looked genuinely terrified.
