Chapter 3 - The Photograph That Changed Everything
They gathered near a small sitting room beside the ballroom.
Nia remained close to the doorway.
She didn't want to sit somewhere she couldn't easily leave.
Malcolm noticed but said nothing.
Andre stood several feet away, holding the purse he had finally picked up from the floor.
Nia hadn't asked for it back.
She wasn't ready for him to touch her belongings again.
Amara opened the photographs on her camera.
The first showed Celeste after the ceremony, smiling beside Gabriel.
Her wedding ring was clearly visible.
“The reception began at five thirty,” Amara explained. “These were taken earlier, in the bridal suite.”
She moved to another photograph.
Celeste was seated at her dressing table.
Her left hand rested in her lap.
The ring was gone.
A silver beaded evening clutch lay beside her makeup.
Gabriel leaned closer.
“What time was this?”
“Five twelve.”
Andre frowned.
“Nia and I hadn't even entered the reception room at that point. We were still in the parking garage.”
Nia remembered.
She had felt nauseated and needed several minutes before going upstairs.
They hadn't reached the ballroom until nearly five thirty.
Amara showed another photograph.
Celeste held a small ivory-colored tissue between her fingers.
Beside her stood Tessa, her maid of honor.
Nia recognized the woman immediately.
Earlier that evening, Tessa had admired her baby bump and asked when she was due.
“What's that in her hand?” Gabriel asked.
Celeste moved forward.
“Enough.”
Amara looked up.
“I haven't accused anyone of anything.”
“Then stop acting like you're investigating me!”
Gabriel turned toward his new wife.
“Celeste, please.”
She took a breath.
“My ring was tight. I took it off for a minute. That doesn't mean it wasn't stolen later.”
“That could be true,” Malcolm said. “But there's still no evidence that my daughter touched it.”
Celeste glared at him.
Tessa had been standing silently behind the group.
She looked at the photograph.
Then at the silver clutch Celeste was holding.
Nia noticed her expression.
“Tessa?”
The woman looked startled.
“Did you see what happened to the ring?”
Celeste answered before Tessa could speak.
“She doesn't remember.”
Tessa's fingers tightened around her phone.
Gabriel turned toward her.
“Tessa, just tell us what you saw.”
For several seconds, she remained quiet.
Then she whispered, “Celeste said the ring was hurting her finger.”
Celeste's face tightened.
“Tessa.”
“She asked me for a tissue.”
“Tessa, stop.”
“I watched her take it off.”
Nia felt her heartbeat quicken.
“What did she do with it?”
Tessa looked toward the silver clutch.
“She wrapped it up.”
Gabriel stared at his wife.
“Celeste?”
Tessa continued.
“And she put it in her evening bag.”
Nobody moved.
Celeste took one step backward.
“That doesn't prove anything. I could have lost it after that.”
Gabriel rubbed his forehead.
“Then why didn't you tell us you had taken it off?”
Celeste opened her mouth.
No answer came.
For the first time since the accusation, Nia felt that someone besides her father was finally paying attention to what had happened.
But she wasn't looking at Celeste anymore.
She was looking at Andre.
He met her eyes.
“Nia, I didn't know—”
“You didn't ask.”
His expression faltered.
“I was trying to settle everything quickly.”
“By dumping my things onto the floor?”
“I thought if everyone saw there was nothing in your purse—”
“You thought your sister might be right.”
Andre stopped speaking.
Nia's voice grew softer.
“You believed I might steal from her.”
He shook his head.
“Not exactly.”
“Then what did you believe?”
Andre looked helplessly toward the door.
Nia remembered the day she had told him she was pregnant.
They had been sitting in their little apartment kitchen.
Andre had held the pregnancy test as though it were something precious.
He had promised that whatever happened, they would face it together.
Now, only months later, he couldn't answer a simple question.
Nia lowered her eyes to the ultrasound photograph in her hand.
Its corner had been bent when it fell.
She smoothed it with her thumb.
Andre tried again.
“I didn't want Celeste's wedding ruined.”
Nia looked up.
“And you were willing to ruin me instead.”
The room fell silent.
Across from them, Celeste quietly stepped toward Tessa.
She leaned close enough that only her friend could hear.
But Nia saw Tessa's face change.
The woman's eyes dropped.
Then Celeste straightened and announced, “I want everyone out. This is my wedding.”
May you like
Tessa stared at the floor.
And Nia realized the truth was not going to come out without a fight.
