Ticket for Cheating novel Chapter 31

Chapter 5

I stood next to the board, red fabric still in my hand, staring at their pale faces.

Caspian was the first to move.

He practically ran off the stage, stumbling a little, and grabbed my wrist so hard it hurt.

“Tessa!”

His voice was low and angry.

“This is our wedding. Whatever you wanna say, we can talk about it later. Why are you doing this here?”

I yanked my arm back. There was already a red mark on it.

“Talk later?”

I looked him dead in the eye.

“From the second Marlowe showed up in that dress. To the champagne toast. To that kiss.”

“She turned the most important day of my life into a joke. And you’re taking her side?”

Caspian froze, his face going from white to red.

“Marlowe was messing around! We’re all friends here. What’s wrong with having fun?”

“Cas…”

Marlowe’s voice drifted down from the stage. Shaky, tearful.

She hurried down, holding up her dress, tears streaming.

“I just wanted to make things fun for you guys. I didn’t think she’d take it so seriously…”

She looked at me, eyes red.

“Tessa, if you’re mad, be mad at me. Don’t do this to Cas. This is his wedding too…”

Immediately, Caspian’s friends jumped in.

“Yeah, Tessa, Marlowe’s just being Marlowe. She didn’t mean anything by it!”

“It’s a wedding! Everyone’s supposed to have fun. Why make it weird?”

Jax pushed through the crowd, trying to smooth things over.

“Tessa, there’s a ton of people here. Let’s not do this in front of everyone, yeah? Go back to the dressing room, we’ll start over.”

I looked around at all their faces.

Then I laughed.

10:50

Ticket for Cheating: Keen Shaking That Car. Asshole-My Bodycam Was Rolling!

25.9%

“In front of everyone?”

I repeated the word slowly, eyes moving from Caspian to Marlowe.

“Miss Ashford, you keep saying you and Cas are best friends. Been tight for twenty-something years. So tell me: what kind of best friend wears a wedding dress to her friend’s wedding and then kisses him?”

Marlowe stopped crying for a second.

“That was just a camera angle. We didn’t actually kiss.”

“Camera angle? You believe that?”

I cut her off.

“Want me to pull up every angle? Frame by frame?”

Caspian’s eyes went wide.

I kept going. All the hurt I’d been swallowing came pouring out.

“Back in March, I had a 102-degree fever. I called you. You told me you were in a meeting.”

“But someone posted a group photo. And there you were. With Marlowe. She had her arm around you, head on your shoulder.”

“That’s what you call friendship?”

The ballroom went dead silent.

Marlowe’s face went white.

adies and gentlemen, I’m sorry you all had to witness this. But I didn’t start it.”

k a breath.

So let me be clear. First, I’m calling off my engagement to Caspian Thorne.”

“Second, Sinclair Design is cutting all ties with Thorne Industries. Starting now.”

Mr. Thorne’s face went purple.

“Tessa, you can’t just walk away from our contracts! We have signed agreements! You think you can just leave? You know what this is gonna cost you?”

I stared at him.

Funny how even now, all he cared about was money.

“Mr. Thorne, you mean this clause?”

I flipped open the file and pointed.

“Right here. Says the designs are mine. If I pull out, Sinclair can walk away. No penalty.”

His face froze.

10.50

Ticket for Cheating: Keep Shaking That Car, Asshole-My Bodycam Was Rolling!

26.1%