Chapter 9 - Everybody’s Version
The clip was thirty-eight seconds long.
It began with me saying, “You chose this dress.”
It ended with the email on the screen.
The caption read:
Bride exposes controlling mom at luxury Charleston wedding.
My name wasn’t in the caption.
It didn’t need to be.
People in the comments had already supplied it.
I felt cold.
“I asked them not to record.”
“I know,” Nora said.
Ethan watched the clip once.
“Who posted it?”
“My cousin Paige.”
Nora was already scanning the room.
I caught her wrist.
“Wait.”
This was how the day kept changing. Someone crossed a line, and suddenly I was deciding whether to make another scene.
I found Paige near the bar.
She smiled when she saw me.
“Oh, my God. You were incredible.”
“Take it down.”
Her smile slipped.
“I was supporting you.”
“Then take it down.”
“It’s getting so many views.”
I stared at her.
She looked at Ethan, hoping for a softer answer.
He said nothing.
“People are on your side,” she insisted.
“This isn’t a side,” I said. “It’s my wedding.”
Paige lowered her phone.
“Okay.”
“Now, please.”
She deleted the post while I watched.
But the copies had already started.
Someone had shared it to a wedding page. Someone else had cropped the email and added music.
My mother approached before I could put the phone away.
“Are you satisfied?”
I looked at her.
“Paige posted it.”
“You created the opportunity.”
“Yes,” I said.
That stopped her.
“I chose to put those emails on a screen. I knew people would see them. I didn’t agree to have strangers turn it into entertainment.”
“You should have thought of that.”
“I did. I didn’t understand all of it.”
She folded her arms.
“So you admit you were wrong.”
“No. I admit it cost more than I expected.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Lena appeared.
“The photographer is ready for family pictures.”
My mother straightened automatically.
Of course she did.
A camera had always been a place where she knew the rules.
“We’ll discuss this later,” she said, smoothing her skirt. “Come on, Brooke.”
Brooke stood several feet away, staring at her phone.
“What now?” Diane snapped.
My sister looked at me.
Someone had tagged her in the video.
Below her name was a screenshot of her email.
May you like
For the first time that day, Brooke looked less angry than afraid.
And then she said, “There’s something else you need to know.”
