Chapter Five
1305 Words
I don’t remember walking back upstairs.
One moment I was standing behind the kitchen curtain, frozen in shock, and the next I was inside my bedroom with the door quietly closed behind me. My heart was still beating too fast.
I never meant to fall in love with you.
Sipho’s words echoed in my mind like a c***k in glass that kept spreading.
Sipho, the man I was supposed to marry tomorrow.
And Shakira, my best friend since high school.
I sat slowly on the edge of my bed, staring at my phone.
The message on the screen still glowed faintly.
This is only the beginning.
My fingers trembled slightly as I typed back.
Who are you?
For a moment nothing happened.
The room was silent except for the muffled sound of music downstairs.
Then my phone vibrated.
Someone who doesn’t want you to walk blindly into this marriage.
My stomach twisted.
How do you know about Sipho and Shakira?
The typing bubble appeared almost immediately.
Then another message came through.
Because I’ve been watching this for longer than you have.
A chill slid through me.
Watching?
That meant whoever this person was, they had been close enough to see something I hadn’t noticed.
Close enough to know details.
Which meant one terrifying possibility.
They were here tonight, at my house.
I stood up slowly and walked toward the mirror across the room.
For a moment I studied my reflection.
My hair was still perfectly styled for the celebration downstairs.
My makeup was untouched.
To anyone looking at me, I probably looked like a glowing bride-to-be.
But inside I felt like someone had quietly removed the floor beneath my feet.
I typed another message.
If you know so much, tell me the truth. Are they… together?
The reply came after a longer pause this time.
Would you believe me if I said yes?
I swallowed. My chest felt tight.
I want proof.
Three dots appeared again, then the phone buzzed.
Come to the hallway outside the guest bedroom.
My heart jumped.
The guest bedroom was downstairs.
Near the balcony.
Near where Sipho and Shakira had been talking.
Why?
The answer came quickly.
Because you deserve to see more than whispers behind curtains.
I stared at the message for several seconds.
Every instinct inside me told me this situation was dangerous.
But another voice quieter but stronger told me something else.
You already know the truth. You just need to see it clearly.
I slipped my phone into my hand and opened the bedroom door.
The hallway upstairs was empty. Everyone was still celebrating downstairs.
Laughing, drinking and dancing.
The world was moving forward like nothing had changed.
Only my world had cracked open.
I walked down the staircase again, slower this time.
My eyes scanned the room carefully.
Sipho wasn’t in the living room anymore, nor was Shakira.
A strange knot formed in my stomach.
I passed the kitchen again but didn’t stop.
Instead, I continued down the hallway until I reached the guest bedroom door.
The house felt strangely quieter here.
Almost like this, part of the hallway existed outside the celebration.
My phone vibrated again.
Stop there.
I froze.
Where are you? I typed.
Another message appeared.
Look to your left.
My breath caught slightly as I turned my head.
At first, I saw nothing.
Just the hallway wall and a small table with a decorative vase on it.
Then someone stepped out slowly from the shadow near the staircase corner.
My eyes widened.
“Thabo?”
He looked almost as nervous as I felt.
Thabo was Sipho’s cousin.
We had met a few months earlier during a family gathering. He had always been quiet, observant, the type of person who noticed things others missed.
I stared at him in disbelief.
“You?” I whispered.
He nodded slowly.
“I’m the one who’s been texting you.”
My mind struggled to catch up.
“You… you knew about this?” I asked.
Thabo exhaled softly.
“I suspected something,” he said. “Then I saw enough to know it wasn’t just suspicion.”
A wave of anger rose inside me.
“And you waited until the night before my wedding to tell me?”
His expression tightened slightly.
“I tried to tell Sipho to fix it himself,” he said quietly. “But he kept avoiding it.”
I crossed my arms, my voice shaking.
“So you decided to play mysterious messenger instead?”
“I decided to make sure you didn’t marry someone who was lying to you.”
The hallway felt too small suddenly. Too heavy.
“What exactly did you see?” I asked.
Thabo glanced briefly toward the guest bedroom door.
Then he said something that made my stomach drop.
“They’re inside.”
My heart skipped.
“Inside the guest bedroom?” I whispered.
He nodded.
“I followed them after they left the balcony.”
My pulse quickened.
Part of me wanted to turn around and run back upstairs.
To lock myself in my room and pretend none of this was happening.
But another part of me, the stronger part, stepped closer to the door.
“Are you sure?” I asked quietly.
Thabo didn’t answer with words.
Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
He tapped the screen and turned it toward me.
It was a video, Shaky. Clearly recorded secretly.
But the image was unmistakable, Sipho and Shakira.
Standing in the kitchen earlier that evening, too close, whispering and then Sipho brushing a strand of hair away from Shakira’s face.
The same way he sometimes did with me.
My chest tightened painfully, I handed the phone back slowly.
“How long?” I asked.
Thabo hesitated.
“I’m not sure exactly,” he said. “But at least a few weeks.”
A few weeks, that meant while we were planning the wedding.
While I was choosing dresses, I was imagining our future.
I turned toward the guest bedroom door, the light was faintly visible under it. Voices too.
My heartbeat thundered in my ears, Thabo stepped slightly closer.
“You don’t have to open that door,” he said gently.
But I was already reaching for the handle.
My fingers stopped just before touching it.
Because suddenly I realized that if i opened that door now, everything would explode.
The wedding, our families, my entire life.
And I still didn’t know the full story. Slowly, I lowered my hand.
Thabo looked at me with surprise.
“You’re not going to confront them?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Not yet.”
He frowned slightly. “Why?”
I took a slow breath, forcing my emotions to steady.
“Because if they’ve been lying this long,” I said quietly, “I want to know everything.”
My mind was clearer now and for the first time since the messages started, I felt control rising inside me.
“They think I don’t know anything, right?” I continued.
Thabo nodded slowly. “Yes.”
“Good,” I said.
I looked once more at the closed guest bedroom door, thinking of the trust and love I had poured into each one of them.
But they didn’t know that yet and for now…I intended to keep it that way.
I turned back toward the staircase. “Let's go, tomorrow I have a wedding to attend,” I said quietly.
Thabo looked confused. “You’re still going through with it?”
A slow, calm smile touched my lips. “Wait and see,” I said, “I've got to make things less difficult for them.”
But inside that room, the secret that could destroy everything was still growing.
And this time… I was ready for it.
- Writer
