Chapter 1
On our wedding day, right in the middle of our vows, I felt cold air on my chest. I looked down. The strapless gown my best friend, Sabrina Massey, had given me had slipped, leaving me exposed. Mortified, I clapped my arms across my chest as tears filled my eyes.
Laughing, Sabrina aimed her phone at my neckline and gave my fiancé, Keith Parsons, a playful punch in the chest. "Finally, I've got footage for my video!"
Keith gave a helpless smile and shook his head, then gently pulled me into his arms. "Okay, little crybaby. You've always been timid, even as a kid. Sabrina did this to toughen you up. Don't worry, it was just a prank. Next week, I'll give you a real wedding."
I looked at his earnest face and thought of our earlier weddings. At the first one, Sabrina had said I'd forget my vows, so she poured ink all over my vow card. I was so nervous I went blank in front of everyone, and the wedding was called off.
At the second, Sabrina had said I'd trip, so she poured oil all over the aisle runner. I twisted my ankle before I even knew what was happening. The ceremony was stopped, and I spent three months in a cast.
Every time a wedding fell apart, Keith said the same thing. "Sabrina was just playing around. Can't you take a joke?"
I'd put up with it for eight weddings. Now I was done. I raised my hand and slapped Keith hard across the face. "You said this was to toughen me up? Well, it worked. This wedding is off."
*****
Yvonne's POV:
The slap turned Keith's head. Surprise flickered across his face, but he recovered quickly.
"Did you hurt your hand?" He took my hand and kissed my palm, his voice warm and indulgent. "You can hit me all you want. Just don't hurt yourself."
The room gasped. Only Sabrina walked up, smiling.
"Wow, Yvonne, you've got quite a temper. But I won the bet this time, so the ring is mine."
Keith laughed and handed her the ring he'd had ready. "I'll lend it to you until next week. Give it back at the real wedding."
Sabrina pouted. "Stingy."
He ruffled her hair, then turned and murmured to me, "Yvonne, Sabrina's an influencer. She was only playing games at the wedding to toughen you up. Don't throw a tantrum."
The groomsmen around Keith, all his buddies, laughed and chimed in. "Come on, Yvonne, be the bigger person. You're not really going to begrudge her a ring, are you?"
I pulled my hand out of Keith's and quietly clenched it.
That ring was a diamond I'd spent three full days choosing. It stood for loving one person for life, and only one pair like it had ever been made. The day I bought it, Keith had held me and promised, "Once you put this on, you'll be the only Mrs. Parsons this family will ever have."
But now it was on Sabrina's finger. She even waved it at the camera with a grin. "What do you think? Looks good, right?"
Comments from her viewers kept rolling in.
A: [It fits perfectly. It looks like it was custom-made for her.]
B: [Oh my God, they look so good together. I'm shipping her and the groom now.]
Every comment stung like a needle.
Sabrina's channel had 800,000 subscribers. Every video title was something like "My Best Friend's Wedding Epic Fail" or "99 Challenges to Steal My Best Friend's Wedding Ring." But she never showed Keith on camera. She only pointed the lens at me when I was at my lowest.
Whenever I pushed back, her eyes would go red and teary. "Yvonne, we've been friends for 20 years. You're not seriously going to say no to one tiny favor, are you?" Every time, I had no comeback.
But today, I was done holding back. "Sabrina, if you're that desperate for views, why don't you have a wardrobe malfunction yourself?"
At my cold question, Sabrina's smile faltered. She shrank behind Keith. "Yvonne, how can you say that... I was only trying to help you record your wedding..."
Keith frowned, pulled me aside, and lowered his voice. "Yvonne, that was out of line. Sabrina's family is poor, and being an influencer is her only shot at a better life. Why do you have to hit her where it hurts?"
That hit me hard. I was the one who bought her first camera, scrimping on every penny from my part-time job. When she first said she wanted to be an influencer, I stayed up late for three straight months helping her edit videos and write scripts. Now that same camera was pointed at my face, filming me covering my chest and crying. And the fiancé I'd loved for five whole years was playing along with her the entire time.
Whatever warmth I had left for him died.
"Keith, since you love making videos with her so much, I'll tell you this..." I took off my veil and threw it on the floor. "We're done."
