I adjusted the straps of my satin white bridesmaid dress, trying not to fidget as I stood at the altar. The Lakeside Manor garden looked magical—rose petals, fairy lights, golden sunlight—but I couldn’t shake the knot in my stomach.
“Stop fussing, Kate,” whispered Tina. “You look gorgeous.”
I forced a smile, but my eyes went to Jason—my best friend Aisha’s fiancé. Something was off. His smile looked fake, and he kept rubbing his left wrist.
As the bridal march began and Aisha appeared, radiant in ivory lace, I saw it again—Jason rubbing his wrist. A flash of irritated skin and black ink peeked out under his sleeve. A name. Not Aisha’s.
Cleo ❤️.
Cleo—our old friend. The one Aisha had left out of the bridal party on purpose. And now she sat in the second row, smiling like she knew something we didn’t.
I couldn’t let this happen.
“Wait!” I shouted.
Two hundred heads turned. Aisha looked confused.
“I’m sorry, but you can’t marry him,” I said and yanked up Jason’s sleeve, revealing the fresh tattoo.
Jason stammered. “It’s a joke… henna…”
But I’d seen real ink before.
Cleo stood up. “Let me explain,” she said, revealing her own matching tattoo. “Jason came to me last night. He said he had doubts. We got drunk… and got tattoos. He said Aisha was sweet but boring. That her family’s lake house was the real prize.”
The crowd gasped. Aisha’s face went pale. “Is it true?” she asked Jason.
He stayed silent.
She took off her ring and dropped it. “Turns out you’re not worth a damn thing.”
She turned to the crowd. “There won’t be a wedding today—but there will be a party. Enjoy my freedom.”
Cheers erupted. Jason stood frozen. Aisha’s dad called out, “My money, my choice.”
Later, in the bridal suite, Aisha cried quietly. “I should be devastated.”
“You feel how you feel,” I said.
She sipped champagne. “I think I stopped loving him a while ago. I just didn’t want to admit it.”
“You wanted to believe in him.”
“I wanted not to be alone.”
“That’s not stupid. It’s human.”
We changed her out of the wedding dress and rejoined the party. Laughter returned. Dancing resumed. We kicked off our heels and sat on the dock.
“Thank you,” she said. “For today, and always.”
“You’d do the same for me.”
As for Jason and Cleo? They were stuck with those tattoos—permanent reminders of everything they’d lost in one stupid night.
Aisha, though? She was finally free to start over. And that was worth celebrating.