Ethan was prepared to marry the love of his life, until he found out the truth. With only 72 hours until the wedding, he created a plan for the biggest revenge. As Sofia walked down the aisle, she anticipated the dreamy wedding she organized. But Ethan was about to turn their wedding into a showdown.
Everything was perfect.
The venue was filled with golden light, the floral arrangements were gorgeous, and the guests were all smiling, talking, and sipping champagne.
Everything was exactly as it was supposed to be. It was the kind of wedding people longed for, the kind Sofia had spent months working hard on.
She had arranged every single detail, down to the little bag of snacks to keep guests content if they were hungry during the ceremony.
But as much as my fiancée had planned her dream wedding, I had carefully set up my moment too.
I stood at the front, hands clasped, calming my breath. The music rose, the signal for the bridesmaids to get set to enter.
I glanced around, noticing the expectant faces of our guests, the thoughtfully chosen decorations, and the warm glow of the candlelight. It was the perfect romantic wedding scene.
Everything felt exactly as it needed to.
And yet, I wasn’t nervous. Not even a bit.
Not anymore.
Three Days Before
I don’t remember sitting down.
One minute, I was standing by the window of my apartment, looking at the city skyline. The next, I was on the couch, head in my hands, trying to breathe.
Elena sat across from me, silent, waiting. Her words still rang in my head. Over and over, like a song I just couldn’t stop.
“I saw her, Ethan. With him. I wasn’t searching for it, I swear! But I saw them.”
“And you’re sure? Elena, I need you to be certain.” My voice sounded weak and strange to me.
“Ethan, I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t sure,” she said.
The room felt too cramped. My apartment, once packed with wedding gifts and seating charts and joy, now felt like a trap. I wanted to flee, to escape this conversation.
How could Sofia betray me?
“Tell me everything,” I said.
Elena paused for a moment. Then, she straightened her shoulders, meeting my eyes with a look of sadness.
“I was at that new coffee shop that focuses on being vegan. I was grabbing a coffee when I saw Sofia sitting at a corner table.”
She stopped.
“She wasn’t alone, Ethan.”
“Who?” I asked.
“I don’t know his name, but he looked so familiar. He could be one of her friends. I know I’ve seen him before. But I know how he stared at her, Ethan. And I know how she gazed back at him.”
“That doesn’t mean much, Elena,” I said.
“Sofia touched his face, murmured something, and then she leaned in first, Ethan. And then they kissed.”
For a short, pathetic second, I almost convinced myself that it was a mix-up. A mistake. But Sofia wasn’t reckless. She was careful.
She wouldn’t have let a man kiss her in public unless she knew she wouldn’t get caught. Unless she thought she had all the control and nobody who knew either of us would spot her.
“Ethan, I know this stings,” Elena said. “But I took a photo. I knew you’d need proof.”
“Show me,” I said, feeling my heart break as I glanced at Elena’s phone.
I blinked, staring down at my hands. They felt different. Detached from me.
“She said she loved me,” I whispered. “Our wedding is in 72 hours, Elena. What am I supposed to do now? Cancel the wedding?”
“No way!” Elena said. “Teach her a lesson!”
I lifted my head, and for the first time since the conversation started, I met Elena’s gaze with clear, steady anger.
“She’s not getting away with this.”
Elena didn’t look surprised.
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
Something cold settled in my chest. I stood up and walked to the window. A deep, sharp clarity. I adjusted my tie like I had already made my decision.
“I’m going to let her have her big day,” I said. “But not in the way she expected.”
A slow smirk curled at the edge of Elena’s lips.
“Tell me what you need, brother,” she said. “I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”
The Present
The music got louder, announcing the first bridesmaid.
As they stepped into view, one after the other, a ripple of unease moved through the crowd. The room, once full of quiet conversation, changed completely.
The bridesmaids were dressed in black, as if in sorrow. Some of them had taken some convincing, but when they saw the proof that Elena and I had shared, none of them wanted to stand behind a liar.
They weren’t wearing the soft sky blue that Sofia had wanted. Not the carefully picked pastel shades that matched the invitations and the floral centerpieces.
Nope.
They were in black.
One by one, they moved forward, their faces unreadable. Their dark dresses stood out sharply against the delicate white petals scattered along the aisle.
That’s when the whispers started. Both Sofia and I came from traditional families, so the bridesmaids wearing black was a big deal. A few heads turned to each other with confused frowns.
“It’s so unlucky, Ethan!” I could almost hear my mother yelling.
“Oh, it’s a bad omen,” I imagined my grandmother saying.
I kept my gaze steady, watching as my sister, Elena, reached her spot at the front. She met my eyes and, so subtly that no one else would notice, winked.
I exhaled slowly.
Yes.
Everything was just as I planned.
Then, the doors at the back of the hall opened.
Sofia stepped forward, glowing. I’ll admit, she looked absolutely beautiful. A vision in white.
She took one step into the room, then froze.
For a moment, she didn’t understand. Her smile stayed on her lips as she scanned the crowd, expecting to see joy, happiness, and the warmth of celebration.
Instead, she saw the black dresses.
And her expression wavered.
Her eyes darted from one bridesmaid to the next, noticing the dark silhouettes, the gloomy energy, and the whispers rippling through the guests.
The color drained from her face.
Her lips parted slightly, as if to ask a question, but no words came out. Her hand gripped the bouquet. She knew something was wrong.
Uncertainty crept into her movements as she resumed walking. The usual confidence in her stride was gone. Each step down the aisle felt shaky.
As she reached me, her hands trembling slightly, she took mine.
Her fingers were cold.
“What’s going on, Ethan? Why did they change their dresses? What the heck? They’ve messed up the entire aesthetic!”
I smiled at her. But there was no warmth in it. I had no feelings for this woman anymore.
“Wait. You mean, you don’t know?” I asked, my voice just loud enough to carry.
A hush fell over the room.
Sofia’s eyes darted around the room. From me to the bridesmaids, to my sister standing tall beside them.
I turned slightly, gesturing toward the line of women dressed for grief.
“This isn’t a wedding, Sofia,” I said, my voice calm.
Too calm. And I was calm. I had days to get my feelings in check.
“It’s a funeral,” I smiled.
There was a collective gasp across the hall. Our guests looked shocked. My mother looked as though she was going to faint.
Sofia’s fingers tightened around mine in a desperate grip.
“What are you talking about?” she gasped.
I let out a small, humorless laugh.
“We’re here to bury what’s left of our love. Or, more accurately,” I said, watching as she began to look nervous, “what you ruined.”
The silence was heavy. Then, a murmur. Someone in the second row covered their mouth with a hand.
Someone else turned to the person sitting next to them, whispering urgently.
Sofia’s face turned red.
The panic in her eyes grew into something else. Anger.
And then, finally, the realization hit her.
She tore her hands from mine and turned, her fury finding a new target.
“You told him?!” she snapped, her voice cutting through the air.
Sofia was looking directly at her bridesmaids now.
No. She was accusing them.
Her face twisted in rage.
“How could you do this?! You girls are my closest people! My closest friends! And this isn’t your business. Not at all. What the heck?”
“We didn’t want to believe Elena at first,” Maddie, Sofia’s best friend, said. “But after she showed us proof… we all knew that Ethan deserved better.”
Elena took a small step forward. I knew that look on my sister’s face. She was trying extremely hard to keep control. But when she spoke, her voice was steady, cold, and final.
“Sofia, it became our business the moment we found out 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 about to spend his life with.”
Sofia clenched her fists.
“You had no right!” she yelled, her voice rising in panic.
I tilted my head.
“No right? Really? To know the truth about the woman I was going to marry?”
She turned back to me, her desperation breaking through her anger now.
“I can explain… Ethan!”
I shook my head. I couldn’t bear to hear her explanation. Or lack thereof. On one hand, I wanted to know everything. On the other hand, I just wanted Sofia to walk out of my life forever.
“No, Sofia,” I said after a moment. My voice was quiet. Controlled. Firm.
“You just don’t like that you got caught.”
A choked sound escaped her lips. A mix of rage, humiliation, and something close to fear. Her eyes darted around the room again, searching for someone, anyone, to take her side.
But no one moved. Nobody dared to make a sound. No one came to her rescue.
The guests sat frozen in their seats, too stunned to react.
Sofia’s own bridesmaids stood in silence, their black dresses making them look more like pallbearers than wedding attendants.
She had never felt more alone. I could see it on her face.
Sofia’s breath faltered.
Then she turned and ran. She whirled, the skirt of her gown billowing behind her. But in her rush, she stepped on the hem.
A gasp shot through the crowd as she stumbled, and she barely caught herself before tripping again. Her hands gripped the fabric of her dress, lifting it just enough to escape down the aisle.
No one stopped her. No one called after her. Not even her parents or her brother.
I exhaled slowly, releasing a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
Then I turned to Elena.
She stepped closer, reaching for my hand. I squeezed it in thanks. Around me, guests remained frozen in shock, their eyes moving between me and the empty space where Sofia had been moments ago.
I looked at my sister, my family, and the bridesmaids who had stood beside me today, not as part of a wedding but as part of something else entirely.
“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 fine.”
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, her white gown spread around her like a ghost of the life she had lost.
Her hands were shaking, her shoulders were slumped, and she wasn’t the glowing bride anymore. She was just a woman who had finally run out of lies.
She looked up as I approached, her mascara smudged, her eyes red-rimmed and pleading. She reached out, fingers brushing my sleeve, then she grabbed my wrist, holding it like a lifeline.
“Ethan,” she said. “Please. I’ll do anything… just don’t let this be over.”
I didn’t respond. Instead, I pulled away.
“I messed up,” she said. “I was scared. I was foolish. But it was never real with him. It was always you, Ethan. It was always you…”
For a moment, I just looked at her.
“If it was always me,” I said quietly, “you wouldn’t have had to say that.”
“Please,” she begged.
“I’ll ask your mother to bring some dinner out for you,” I said.
I turned away and didn’t stop walking. I didn’t look back.
Instead, I went back into the venue and helped myself to the dinner buffet