Max is ready to marry the love of his life, until he learns the truth. With only 72 hours until the wedding, he creates a plan for the ultimate betrayal. As Sofia walks down the aisle, she expects the fairy tale wedding she had planned. But Max is about to turn their wedding into a reckoning.
The venue was bathed in a golden light, the floral arrangements were impeccable, and the guests were smiling, chatting, and sipping champagne. Everything was exactly as it should be. It was the kind of wedding people dream about, the kind of wedding Sofia had spent months obsessing over.
She had planned every detail, even the little candy bags to keep the guests satisfied during the ceremony. But as much as my fiancée had planned the wedding of her dreams, I had also planned every detail of my moment.
I stood at the front, hands intertwined, holding my breath. The music played, signaling the bridesmaids’ entrance.
I looked around, observing the expectant faces of our guests, the carefully arranged décor, and the warm glow of the candlelight. It was the perfect romantic scene for a wedding. Everything looked exactly as it should.
And yet, I wasn’t nervous. Not even a little.
I don’t remember sitting down. One minute, I was standing by the window of my apartment, gazing out at the city skyline. The next, I was on the couch, head in my hands, trying to breathe.
Elena was sitting across from me, silent, waiting. Her words kept echoing in my head. Over and over, like a song I couldn’t turn off.
“I saw her, Max. With him. I wasn’t looking for her, I swear! But I saw them.”
“Are you sure? Elena, I need you to be sure.” My voice sounded weak and strange to me.
“Max, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t sure.”
The room felt too small. My apartment, once filled with wedding gifts, seating plans, and excitement, now felt like a prison. I wanted to run, escape this conversation.
How could Sofia betray me?
Elena hesitated for a moment. Then, she squared her shoulders and looked me in the eyes with sympathy.
“She was in that new vegan café. It’s always crowded. I was having a coffee when I saw Sofia sitting at a table in the corner.”
“I don’t know the name of the place, but it looked familiar. Could be one of her friends. I’ve seen him before. But I also know how he looked at her, Max. And I know how she looked back at him.”
“That doesn’t mean much, Elena,” I said.
“Sofia touched his face, whispered something, and then she leaned in first, Max. And they kissed.”
For a brief, pathetic second, I almost convinced myself it was a misunderstanding. A mistake. But Sofia wasn’t careless. She was calculating. She wouldn’t have let a man kiss her in public unless she knew she wouldn’t be caught. Unless she thought she had all the power and that no one who knew either of them would see.
“Max, I know this hurts,” Elena said. “But I took a picture. I knew you’d need proof.”
“A picture?” I asked, heartbroken as I looked at Elena’s phone.
“Show it to me,” I said, feeling my heart break as I looked at Elena’s phone.
I blinked and looked at my hands. They felt different. Separated from me.
“She said she loved me,” I murmured. “Our wedding is in 72 hours, Elena. What am I supposed to do now? Cancel the wedding?”
“No way!” Elena said. “Give her a lesson!”
I lifted my head, and for the first time since the conversation started, I met Elena’s gaze with clear, firm rage.
“She won’t get away with it.”
Elena didn’t seem surprised.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
A cold feeling settled in my chest. I stood up and walked to the window. A deep, deadly clarity. I adjusted my tie as if I had already made a decision.
“I’m going to let her have her big day,” I said. “But not the way she had planned.”
A slow smile curled at the edges of Elena’s lips.
“Tell me what you need, brother,” she said. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”
The music grew louder, signaling the first bridesmaid to step forward.
As they appeared, one by one, a wave of unease rippled through the crowd. The room, once filled with calm conversation, changed completely.
The bridesmaids were dressed in black, like mourning. Some of them had been hard to convince, but when they saw the proof that Elena and I had provided, none of them wanted to support a liar.
They weren’t wearing the soft sky blue Sofia had wanted. Nor the carefully chosen pastel tones that matched the invitations and floral centerpieces.
One by one, they walked forward, with unreadable faces. Their dark dresses starkly contrasted with the delicate white petals scattered down the aisle.
That’s when the murmurs started. Both Sofia and I came from traditional families, so the fact that the bridesmaids were dressed in black was a huge issue. A few heads turned, frowning, confused.
“It’s so inappropriate, Max!” I could almost hear my mother screaming.
“It’s a bad omen,” I imagined my grandmother saying.I kept my gaze fixed, watching as my sister, Elena, reached her seat at the front. She looked me in the eye and, so subtly that no one else would notice, winked at me.
Everything was going exactly as planned.Then, the doors at the back of the room opened.
Sofia stepped forward, radiant. I admit, she looked absolutely dazzling. A vision in white.
She took a step into the room and froze.
For a moment, she didn’t get it. Her smile remained on her lips as she surveyed the crowd, expecting to see joy, emotion, and the warmth of celebration.Instead, she saw the black dresses.
Her eyes moved from one bridesmaid to another, taking in the dark silhouettes, the somber energy, and the murmurs running through the guests.
The color drained from her face.She parted her lips slightly, as if to ask a question, but no words came out. Her hand gripped her bouquet. She knew something was wrong.
As she resumed her march, her steps became hesitant. She had lost the usual confidence in her stride. Every step down the aisle felt unsure.
When she reached me, her hands trembled slightly, and she took mine.“What’s going on, Max? Why did they change their dresses? What the hell? They’ve ruined the whole aesthetic.”
I smiled at her. But there was no warmth in my smile. I no longer felt affection for this woman.
“Wait, you mean you don’t know?” I asked, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Silence fell over the room.
Sofia’s eyes swept the room. From me to the bridesmaids, to my sister, who stood next to them.I turned slightly, pointing at the row of women in mourning.
“This isn’t a wedding, Sofia,” I said, my voice calm.
Too calm. And I was calm. I had days to control my feelings.
There was a collective, strangled gasp throughout the room. Our guests looked horrified. My mother seemed about to faint.Sofia’s fingers tightened around mine in desperation.
“What are you talking about?” she gasped.
I let out a small, hollow laugh.
“We’re here to bury what’s left of our love. Or, better yet,” I said, watching as she began to get nervous, “what you killed.”The silence was suffocating. Then, a murmur. Someone in the second row covered their mouth with their hand.
Another turned to the person next to them, whispering urgently.
Sofia’s face flushed.
The panic in her eyes turned into something else. Anger.And then, finally, she realized.
She pulled her hands away from mine and turned, her fury finding a new target.
“Did they tell you?” she spat, her voice ripping through the air.
Sofia looked directly at her bridesmaids.
Her face twisted with rage.
“How could you do this?! You’re my closest people! My best friends! This is none of your business. At all. What the hell?”
“At first, we didn’t want to believe Elena,” said Maddie, Sofia’s best friend. “But after she showed us the proof… we all knew Max deserved better.”Elena took a small step forward. She knew the expression on my sister’s face. She was struggling to keep control. But when she spoke, her voice was firm, cold, and final.
“Sofia, it became our business the moment we discovered what kind of person you really are.”
She lifted her chin slightly.
“It became our business the moment we found out who my brother was going to spend his life with.”
“You had no right!” Sofia screamed, raising her voice hysterically.“No right? Really? To know the truth about the woman I was going to marry?”
She turned to me, her desperation now scratching at her anger.
“I can explain… Max!”
I shook my head. I couldn’t bear to hear her explanation. Or the lack of one. On one hand, I wanted to know everything. On the other, I just wanted Sofia to be out of my life forever.“No, Sofia,” I said after a moment. My voice was calm. Controlled. Deadly.
“You just don’t like being exposed.”
A muffled sound escaped her lips. A mixture of rage, humiliation, and something like fear. Her eyes swept the room again, looking for someone, anyone, to take her side.
But no one moved. No one dared to make a sound. No one came to her aid.
Wedding guests | Source: Midjourney
The guests sat frozen in their seats, too stunned to react.
Sofia’s own bridesmaids remained silent, their black dresses making them seem more like pallbearers than wedding attendants.
She had never felt so alone. I could see it on her face.
Sofia’s breath hitched.
Then she turned and ran. She spun around, the skirt of her dress flowing behind her. But in her haste, she stepped on the hem.
A gasp rippled through the crowd as she stumbled, barely catching herself before tripping again. Her hands clutched at the fabric of her dress, lifting it just enough to flee down the aisle.
No one stopped her. No one chased after her. Not even her parents or her brother.
I let out a long breath, one I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.
Then I turned to Elena.She stepped closer and took my hand. I squeezed it in gratitude. Around me, the guests remained frozen in shock, their eyes shifting between me and the empty space where Sofía had stood just moments before.
I looked at my sister, my family, and the bridesmaids who stood with me today—not as part of a wedding, but as part of something entirely different.
“I know this isn’t what anyone expected,” I said to the crowd. “But I’m done pretending. Go inside. Eat, drink. I’ll be okay.”I walked down the aisle, needing a few moments to myself before going back in.
And then I saw her.
She was sitting on the curb, the white dress pooling around her like a ghost of the life she’d lost.
Her hands trembled, her shoulders hunched—no longer the radiant bride. Just a woman whose lies had finally run out.
She looked up as I approached, mascara smudged, eyes red and pleading. She reached out and brushed my sleeve with her fingers, then grabbed my wrist like a lifeline.“Max,” she said. “Please. I’ll do anything… just don’t let this be over.”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I pulled away.
“I messed up,” she said. “I was scared. I was stupid. But it was never real with him. It was always you, Max. It’s always been you…”
For a moment, I just looked at her.
“If it had always been me,” I said quietly, “you wouldn’t have to say that now.”“I’ll ask your mom to bring you some dinner,” I said.
I turned and didn’t stop walking. I didn’t look back.
Instead, I went back inside and helped myself to the dinner buffet Sofía had planned.It was supposed to be a fairytale.
But fairytales end when the villain reveals their true face.
And Sofía had just written her own ending.