When Paige’s sister steals her fiancé, she’s not satisfied with the betrayal; she wants to boast about her little victory. A year later, an invitation arrives. Erica is getting married to the man who stole her, and she wants Paige to be there. But what Erica doesn’t know is that Paige has a plan. And before the night is over, the bride’s perfect day will be ruined.
I shouldn’t have been at this wedding.
That was clear from the sidelong glances and whispers that followed me as I walked through the great hall.
A smiling woman at a wedding | Source: Midjourney
I admit the wedding setup was stunning. Erica had taken her time preparing the scene with gold and ivory tones. The guests had arrived in their expensive dresses and tuxedos. Everything was… breathtaking.
But no amount of elegance could hide the rot that lay beneath the surface.
It wasn’t just any wedding. It was their wedding.
Erica.
People at a wedding | Source: Midjourney
My little sister. My parents’ golden girl. The one who had everything handed to her on a silver platter while I scraped and clawed for every scrap of success I had.
And now?
He had taken the only thing that was supposed to be mine.
Stan.
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
Stan had been my fiancé. He had been my future. He was the man I loved and trusted, until one night I came home early from work and found them tangled up in our bed.
I still remember how he froze, his face twisted with guilt. And my sister? She just smiled, her voice dripping with satisfaction.
“I won, Paige,” he had said simply. “Checkmate.”
A woman in shock | Source: Midjourney
A month later, the wedding I’d spent over a year planning was canceled, and all the vendors tried to keep my deposits. And what about Erica and Stan? They didn’t have to sneak around anymore. They were finally an official couple.
After that, I left the city for a few weeks, staying in hotels while working remotely. I tried to leave everything behind, and eventually, I did. When I was ready, I moved again and got a kitten.
A ginger kitten | Source: Midjourney
Then the invitation arrived.
And now, a year after that whole fiasco, here I was, in the middle of their celebration, invited as a mere spectator of their supposed victory.
I’m sure it was my parents who forced her to invite me. If Erica had had her way, she never would have invited me. Or maybe she would have… just to gloat. She was as unpleasant as they come.
A wedding invitation | Source: Midjourney
But what Erica didn’t know, what nobody knew, was that tonight I wasn’t here to mourn my loss.
I was there to make sure Erica never forgot what she’d done to me. And with that, she’d never forget the surprise I’d planned for her wedding reception.
The ceremony was a blur. I stood near the back, barely listening to the officiant speak of love and devotion. Honestly, they were words that meant nothing.
A woman standing at a wedding venue | Source: Midjourney
Stan, dressed in an elegant black tuxedo, gazed at Erica with an adoring look that I knew was fake. She, in turn, smiled back at him as if she had won the greatest prize.
I almost laughed.
Enjoy it while you can, darling , I thought as I sipped my champagne.
A smiling couple | Source: Midjourney
When the reception began, the room was buzzing with laughter and clinking glasses. A huge screen behind the dance floor displayed a slideshow of their engagement photos, in which Stan lifted Erica into the air and their foreheads touched as they smiled at each other.
Honestly, if you didn’t know the story of their relationship, you would think they were really happy.
And perhaps they were. Perhaps that was how things were meant to be.
Champagne glasses on a table | Source: Midjourney
But I wasn’t going to give up that easily. I wasn’t going to let it go.
Why would Erica ever be happy, especially after all the pain and betrayal she had experienced?
No. Absolutely not.
Soon, her perfect little fairy tale was about to take a turn.
I blended into the crowd, my elegant black dress clinging to my body. I wasn’t dressed like a guest. I was dressed for a reckoning, and I felt confident, more confident than I had felt in a long time.
A woman walking through a wedding banquet | Source: Midjourney
When I got to the laptop connected to the projector, I inserted my USB drive. A few clicks, I took a deep breath and…
Let the show begin.
The first few seconds went by unnoticed. The guests continued sipping champagne and nibbling on canapés, lost in conversation. The newlyweds made their way through the crowd, stopping to talk and hug people as they passed.
Then Stan’s voice filled the room.
“Please don’t leave me!”
A man sitting on a bed | Source: Midjourney
The video played on the enormous screen, the grainy footage from the security camera in my bedroom. Stan was in bed, his face streaked with tears. I was on the other side, listening to him try to “explain” what had happened between him and my sister.
“Erica means nothing to me, Paige! Absolutely nothing!” he sobbed. “She was a mistake! I love you, Paige! I made a huge mistake!”
A heavy silence filled the room.
I turned to look at Erica.
His face had lost all color.
A shocked bride | Source: Midjourney
Stan also froze, his eyes wide. His hands clenched at his sides.
But it wasn’t over yet.
The video showed more security footage. He lived in a quiet neighborhood that was often targeted by burglaries, so he had installed security cameras everywhere and in every room.
Now, the images showed Erica and Stan entering my house together, sneaking into my bedroom when they thought I was working late. Timestamp after timestamp, betrayal after betrayal.
A security camera on a porch | Source: Midjourney
Then, the final nail in the coffin.
Erica, lying on my bed, laughing.
“She’ll never know…” she whispered, her voice light and broken.
“What, Paige?” Stan said, laughing with her.
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. Someone dropped a glass of champagne.
A broken champagne glass | Source: Midjourney
“My God,” murmured a woman.
My mother looked like she was about to faint. My father’s jaw clenched so tightly I could have sworn I heard his teeth grinding.
And then, pure chaos.
Erica stumbled backward, her hands trembling.
“This… this isn’t real!” he stammered.
A woman in shock | Source: Midjourney
But the proof was right there, shining under the glare of the screen.
“Dinner is served,” she said, waving her hands in the air. “Everyone take a seat and enjoy.”
Stan turned to her and his expression transformed into pure rage.
An angry bride | Source: Midjourney
“Erica, you told me you went into Paige’s computer and deleted the pictures.”
“Oh, really?” I muttered, my voice heavy with feigned innocence. “You mean you knew? You knew the security cameras were going to catch you red-handed?”
Her face paled, betraying her.
The guests murmured louder now, judgment and disgust flickering across their faces.
A shocked groom | Source: Midjourney
And then, before Erica could retaliate, a voice cut through the tension.
“Paige”.
I turned around.
Jack stepped forward through the crowd, his white shirt visible beneath the black waistcoat of his waiter’s uniform.
A smiling man with a tray in his hand | Source: Midjourney
Months ago, when I told Jack what I wanted to do, he was adamant that he needed to be with me. He had just arrived home from work, and the first thing he saw was my sister’s wedding invitation on the table.
“I want to go to the wedding,” I told him. “It’s just that I don’t want to be… I don’t know. Jack, Erica is a problem. She’s used to everything revolving around her. I want to teach her a lesson.”
Jack moved around the kitchen, chopping what he was asked to.
“Then I’ll go with you, Paige,” he said.
“But I don’t want to draw attention to you,” I said, handing him a bowl of ramen. “I don’t want Erica to spoil the moment before we even get to him. And if she sees you, that’s exactly what she’ll do.”
“Then I’ll work as a waiter, if necessary!” he said. “But I want to be there. That way, if you need me, I’ll be there.”
In the end, I gave in. I was disconnected from my parents, and it had been a long time since I’d been around my family, so knowing Jack was nearby made me feel better.
A bowl of ramen | Source: Midjourney
Jack placed the tray with the champagne glasses on the table and smiled at me.
Her piercing blue eyes met mine. They were steady and unwavering… and reassuring.
I’ve never been so grateful to see someone in my entire life. As much as I was surrounded by family, having Jack around was the only thing that kept me grounded throughout the ceremony. I despised Erica and Stan, but watching them get married touched my heart.
And now? Watching Jack?
It comforted me.
“Shall we go?” I asked.
Jack shook his head and came closer to me.
A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
He exclaimed from the crowd as he walked toward me, his steps measured and determined. And then, without hesitating, he knelt down.
The room, already shaken by the scandal on screen, fell into a stunned silence.
Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He opened it, revealing the most impressive ring he had ever seen.
“I’ve waited long enough to ask you this, my love,” he said, his voice strong, clear, and confident. “Paige, will you marry me?”
A beautiful engagement ring | Source: Midjourney
A sharp inhalation swept through the crowd.
Erica made a strangled sound.
“Are you… are you kidding me right now?” she squealed. “Paige! Why? Why? Now? At my wedding?!”
It looked like a deer in the headlights, but it also looked like a cannon about to burst into the room, taking everything with it. For a moment, I felt bad. But overall… I felt vindicated.
A screaming bride | Source: Midjourney
I smiled, lifting the weight of the past year off my shoulders.
I had stolen from the wrong man. Stan was nothing compared to Jack. Jack was everything Stan hadn’t been. He was trustworthy and confident in life and in his love for me.
Stan? Stan just wanted to have a good time.
But now that she looked at him, he seemed heartbroken. It was as if everything bad had happened to him and the weight of it all was suffocating. He looked at Erica, who was still fuming. He even tried to take her hand, but she pulled it away so forcefully that he looked shocked.
I would have gone to see him. But it wasn’t my problem.
Side view of a groom | Source: Midjourney
Instead, I turned to Jack, my chest tight with emotion.
“Yes!” I said, in a firm voice. “Yes, Jack! I will!”
The room erupted. Some guests, still shaken by the scandal, were now cheering. My mother wiped away her tears, this time not of shame, but of joy.
An excited woman sitting at a table | Source: Midjourney
Erica’s face twisted with unfiltered rage. There was something strange about her anger. I had never seen her so distraught in my entire life. Erica was used to getting everything she wanted, but now, on the most important day of her life, she had lost control. There was no joy in her actions. There was no victory over me anymore.
There was only… anger and pain. And disappointment. I should have felt bad, right?
But I couldn’t. I didn’t dare.
“This is my day!” he yelled, stamping his foot and knocking the chair over.
A distraught bride holding her head | Source: Midjourney
I turned towards her, tilting my head.
“Oh, darling,” I said, my voice dripping with sweetness. “You stole that fool and my wedding from me. I just returned the favor and stole the show.”
Then, with Jack’s hand firmly gripping mine, I left the hall, leaving my sister standing at her wedding banquet, humiliated, betrayed, and hurt.
A smiling woman | Source: Midjourney
The wedding was long gone, but my heart was still racing. The echoes of Erica’s gasps, whispers, and scream still clung to the edges of my mind.
Now, however, it was just Jack and me.
We were sitting across from each other in a tiny 24-hour café, both absurdly overdressed for a place that served greasy fries and milkshakes in chipped cups. My elegant black dress looked out of place in the cracked leather booth, and Jack looked like he’d just stepped out of a movie scene.
The interior of a coffee shop | Source: Midjourney
However, it was the most comfortable I had felt all night.
Jack brought me a plate of chips.
“Eat,” he ordered me. “You’ve had a very long day.”
“That’s an understatement,” I laughed, but I grabbed a potato anyway.
A plate of French fries | Source: Midjourney
We sat for a while, the hum of the cafeteria filling the silence. It wasn’t awkward, it was peaceful. But that’s how life had been since I met Jack.
Finally, I put down my drink and met his gaze.
“So… how long had you been planning it?”
“The proposition?”, he smiled with satisfaction.
He exhaled and leaned back in his seat.
A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
“I’ve wanted to ask you for months, Paige. But I knew you weren’t ready. Not just to get married, but to commit. You needed time to heal. I wasn’t going to rush things.”
Her fingers traced patterns on the table, then she grabbed her smoothie.
“But when I found out she had invited you? That was the last straw. I wasn’t going to let you stand there alone while she bragged about him in front of you.”
A lime smoothie on a coffee shop table | Source: Midjourney
“And did you get a job in the hospitality industry, or did you sneak in?”
“I asked a favor, darling,” she smiled. “Apparently, I look good holding a tray.”
I laughed, I really laughed, for the first time in a long time.
Jack leaned forward, his expression now much gentler.
A woman sitting in a cafe and laughing | Source: Midjourney
“I meant it, Paige. I love you. And I’ll wait as long as you need. But tonight felt like the right time to finally ask you.”
“I think,” I said after a moment, “that you’ve chosen the perfect moment.”
And for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had won.
A smiling woman sitting outside | Source: Midjourney
What would you have done?
This work is inspired by real events and people, but has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher do not guarantee the accuracy of events or character portrayals, and are not responsible for any misinterpretations. This story is provided “as is,” and the opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
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