Chapter 2: Room 237
The elevator climbed with agonizing slowness.
Every passing floor tightened the knot in my chest.
Six.
Seven.
Eight.
No one spoke.
My mother stood beside me, pale and trembling. Emma hugged herself, refusing to meet my eyes, while Linda quietly called hotel security.
Room 237.
The number glowed at the end of the silent hallway like a verdict waiting to be delivered.
Outside the door sat a silver room-service cart.
Two champagne flutes.
One half-empty bottle.
A bouquet of white roses identical to the ones decorating my wedding.
My wedding.
I knocked once.
No answer.
Twice.
Still nothing.
Then I heard it.
A laugh.
Soft.
Familiar.
Penelope.
My entire body went numb.
Before anyone could stop me, I grabbed the handle.
Locked.
Linda stepped forward with a master key.
"Amy... maybe you shouldn't—"
I took the card from her shaking hand.
"If my wedding is ending today," I whispered, "I'm going to watch it happen with my own eyes."
The lock clicked.
Silence swallowed the hallway.
I pushed the door open.
The curtains remained half drawn.
Afternoon sunlight spilled across the king-sized bed.
Maverick stood frozen beside the window.
His tie had been removed.
The top buttons of his dress shirt hung open.
Penelope was only a few feet away.
Still wearing her lavender bridesmaid dress.
Still holding the bouquet ribbon she had carried that morning.
Neither of them spoke.
Neither of them moved.
For several endless seconds, the room felt suspended outside time.
Finally, Maverick broke the silence.
"Amy... this isn't what it looks like."
I almost laughed.
Almost.
"What part?" I asked quietly.
"The champagne?"
"The locked room?"
"Or the fact that my maid of honor disappeared at exactly the same moment as my groom?"
Penelope lowered her head.
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry..."
But something about her voice sounded wrong.
Not guilty.
Terrified.
Then my eyes landed on the folder lying open across the desk.
The hotel logo was stamped across the cover.
On top rested a stack of financial statements.
Property deeds.
Loan documents.
And one page with Maverick's signature beside a transfer agreement.
My name appeared on every line.
May you like
Except...
I had never signed a single page.
