BETRAYED BY LOVE RUINED BY CHOICE

Say I do

Wedding day.

3 days of hell led to this.

The Drayce Estate. 200 people. All white and gold and secrets.

No press. Caelen said.

But there were phones. There were always phones.

I was in the bridal suite. Alone.

Red dress was gone.

I wore white.

Not Maya’s dress. Mine. The simple silk one I picked.

Off-shoulder. Clean. No diamonds.

Caelen’s mother’s ring on my finger.

It didn’t feel like me.

It felt like armor.

“Ms. Vale?” The planner knocked. “5 minutes.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

My phone buzzed.

Unknown.

“Last chance to run.

“ A Friend”

I deleted it.

Then another.

_“White suits you.

See you at the altar.

“ M”

Maya.

The door opened.

Mrs. Drayce. Pearls. Face like stone.

“You look... acceptable,” she said. “Try not to embarrass us.”

“Noted,” I said.

She left.

I took a breath.

One more breath.

Then the doors opened again.

Caelen.

In a black tux. No tie. Hair perfect.

He looked wrecked and devastating all at once.

He stopped when he saw me.

Actually stopped.

“You look” He cut himself off. “You look like mine.”

“Careful,” I said. “Contract’s over. Remember?”

“I know,” he said. “This is different.”

He held out his hand.

I took it.

The aisle was 50 feet of marble and judgment.

200 eyes on me.

I saw Mom in the front row. Crying.

I saw Frank next to her. Holding her hand.

I did NOT see Derek.

I did NOT see Maya.

Yet.

The string quartet was playing something slow.

Caelen’s thumb brushed my knuckles.

“Last chance,” he murmured. “If you want to run, run now.”

“If I run, where would I go?” I murmured back.

“With me,” he said.

We reached the altar.

The officiant started talking. Love. Honor. Forever.

All the words that didn’t mean anything 2 weeks ago.

“Do you, Caelen Drayce, take Seren Vale”

“I do,” he said. No hesitation.

The officiant turned to me.

“Do you, Seren Vale, take Caelen Drayce”

The doors at the back of the hall slammed open.

Derek.

In a suit. Hair wild.

“STOP THE WEDDING!”

Everyone gasped.

Security moved.

Caelen didn’t even turn. “Get him out.”

“WAIT!” Derek yelled. “I have evidence! He’s lying!

He set Seren’s dad up! He killed his own father for the company!”

The room exploded. Whispers. Phones up.

Caelen finally turned. Slow.

“You’re trespassing,” he said. Calm. “And you’re lying.”

“I’m not!” Derek said. “Ask him about the offshore account!

Ask him about the night his dad died!”

Mrs. Drayce stood. “Remove him. Now.”

Two guards grabbed Derek.

“Seren!” he shouted as they dragged him. “Don’t do this!

He doesn’t love you! He’s using you!”

Then he was gone.

Silence.

The officiant cleared her throat. “...Ms. Vale?”

I looked at Caelen.

He looked back. No panic. No guilt.

Just waiting.

“Do you take him?” the officiant tried again.

I thought about the contract.

About the debt.

About the kiss.

About the letter. If you want out, say the word.

“I do,” I said.

The room exhaled.

“Then by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you”

The lights went out.

Total black.

Screams.

Someone grabbed my arm.

Not Caelen. Smaller hand.

“Got you,” a voice whispered. Female.

Maya.

“Let go,” I hissed.

“Shh,” she said. “I’m saving you.”

She pulled me. We were moving. Side door.

I yanked away. “I’m not going with you.”

The lights flickered back on.

Caelen was already there.

He had Maya by the wrist in 2 seconds.

“What did I tell you about touching her?”

“Relax,” Maya said, smiling. “I was just giving her an out.

She looks miserable.”

“You’re done,” Caelen said. He nodded to security.

They took her too.

She looked at me as they dragged her.

“White would’ve looked better, Seren.

Love, A Friend xoxo”

My blood went cold.

The officiant looked traumatized. “...Continue?”

Caelen looked at me. “Your call.”

I nodded.

“...I now pronounce you husband and wife.

You may kiss the bride.”

Caelen turned to me.

This wasn’t a contract kiss.

This wasn’t for cameras.

This was slow. Desperate. Like he’d been holding his breath for 10 years.

When he pulled back, he rested his forehead on mine.

“Mrs. Drayce,” he whispered.

“I hate that name,” I whispered back.

“I know,” he said. “But it’s yours now.”

We walked back down the aisle.

Husband and wife.

While security hauled out my ex and my ex-bestfriend.

The reception was a blur.

Speeches. Toasts.

Mrs. Drayce: “To my son. May this marriage be... profitable.”

Mom crying into a napkin.

Caelen didn’t leave my side.

Hand on my back. Hand in mine.

Like if he let go, I’d disappear.

At 10PM, we did the first dance.

No song. Just us.

“You okay?” he asked.

“No,” I said. “Derek said you killed your dad.”

Caelen went still. “He’s lying.”

“Then why did the lights go out?”

“Because Maya paid someone to cut them,” he said. “We have her on camera.”

“And A Friend?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “But I will.”

The dance ended.

People clapped.

Then my phone buzzed.

New number.

“Congratulations, Mrs. Drayce.

The real wedding starts now.

Basement. Alone.

Or I tell everyone about the contract.

A Friend”

I went cold.

Caelen saw my face. “What?”

I showed him.

His jaw clenched. “No.”

“They have proof of the contract,” I said. “If that gets out,

the board will”

“I don’t care about the board,” he said. “I care about you.”

He took my hand. “We’re going. Together.”

“Alone,” I said, pointing to the text.

“Then we’re both going,” he said.

We slipped out.

Downstairs. Past the party.

To the basement door. Old. Wood.

Locked.

Caelen tried the handle.

It opened.

Dark. Stairs down.

And at the bottom, a single light.

And a table.

And on the table: a folder.

And a phone. Playing a video.

It was us.

In the hallway. The kiss.

But a different angle.

From inside the wall.

Someone had been watching us.

The whole time.

The phone clicked.

A voice. Distorted.

“Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Drayce.

I’ve been waiting.”

The light turned on fully.

Standing there.

In white.

Smiling.

Maya.

But not the Maya from upstairs.

This one had a keycard around her neck.

Drayce Estate Staff.

“You,” Caelen said.

“Me,” Maya said. “Or should I say, Evelyn Drayce?

Your long-lost cousin? The one your dad cut out of the will?”

Caelen went pale. “You’re dead.”

“Nope,” she said. “Just disowned.

And I’ve been planning this for 3 years.

Since you and Seren’s dad ruined my family.”

She picked up the folder.

“The contract. The emails. The proof that this marriage

is for money. Want it to go public?”

She looked at me. “Or do you want to make a new deal?”

My heart was pounding.

Caelen stepped in front of me.

“What do you want, Evelyn?”

“Everything,” she said. “The company. The estate.

And her.” She pointed at me. “She comes with me.

Or I burn both of you.”

The basement was silent.

Just the sound of the video playing.

Our kiss. On loop.

Caelen looked at me.

Then at her.

Then he did something I didn’t expect.

He laughed.

“You think this scares me?” he said. “You think a contract scares me?

I wrote it. I broke it. I married her anyway.”

He pulled me to him. “You want the company? Take it.

You want me? Come and get me.

But you don’t get her.”

Maya’s smile dropped.

“You’ll regret this,” she hissed.

“Probably,” Caelen said. “But not tonight.”

He pulled out his phone. Hit one button.

Footsteps above. Security.

“Get her out,” he said.

They grabbed Maya. She fought. Screamed.

“THIS ISN’T OVER, SEREN!”

Then she was gone.

Silence again.

Just me and Caelen and the video still playing.

He walked over. Turned it off.

Then he turned to me.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “For all of it.”

“For lying? For the contract? For this?”

“For making you choose me,” he said. “Every single time.”

I looked at him. The husband I didn’t want.

The man who chose me back.

“I don’t regret it,” I said. “Any of it.”

He pulled me into a hug. Tight.

And for the first time since this started,

I didn’t feel like collateral.

I felt like his.

Upstairs, the party was still going.

Down here, we were just two people.

Married. Messed up.

And finally honest.