My Cheating Girlfriend

Chapter 4 The Rehearsal of Betrayal

At the Grand Cathedral, Elena placed me in a secluded back pew to “observe how the jewelry refracts in the sacred light.” It also kept her assistant out of the photographs.

I could see the whole aisle. From the other pews, I was nearly invisible. My job began and ended with checking the jewelry whenever Elena called me forward.

She walked down the aisle on Julian’s arm in a white silk gown. Her smile stayed fixed as the photographer moved around them.

The necklace I had once designed for our wedding rested at her throat in Julian’s heavier setting. She turned when the photographer asked and let each added diamond catch the light.

Whispers carried from the pews ahead, where a handful of their elite friends were scattered.

“That’s her assistant, the one who designs everything.”

“Poor boy. He looks like a lost puppy.”

“Elena has him wrapped around her little finger. It’s almost cruel.”

I looked down at the portfolio on my knees.

Each whisperer wore jewelry launched from pages like the ones on my knees. None of them used my name.

At the altar, they joined hands and repeated their vows for the officiant. Their voices carried all the way to the back pew.

Elena missed one cue and laughed. Julian corrected her, and they began the line again while the wedding planner checked tomorrow’s schedule.

During a break, while Elena argued with the florist over the altar arrangements, Julian crossed the aisle toward me.

He stopped at my pew, blocking the light. He held up his hand, flexing his fingers so the diamond on his wedding band caught a sunbeam.

The thick band fit the measurement I had taken the previous afternoon. He turned it once to make sure I noticed.

Julian tapped his ring against the pew. “She tells me you worked all night to get these finished. A real workhorse, aren't you?”

He leaned over the pew. “Your hard work builds a lovely pedestal for men like me. Remember that. It's the most you'll ever be.”

I looked from *my* ring to his face. “It looks magnificent on you, Mr. Sterling. I hope you enjoy wearing it just as much at the real wedding tomorrow.”

His smile paused. Then he laughed and walked away.

He took it as the compliment he expected from an assistant.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. A text message.

It was from Elena.

Elena stood fifty meters away beside the altar, talking to the wedding planner with her phone held by her side.

I opened the message.

[Elena]: Hey, honey. I’m stuck in Chicago until tomorrow night, so I’ll be home a day late. Don’t be mad. I’ll bring your favorite cheesecake from The Willow Bakery. xx

The Willow Bakery had been our place for years. She had remembered the cheesecake while standing in her wedding gown beside another man.

Tomorrow night. She had timed her return for after the ceremony and invented a flight from Chicago.

I saved a screenshot, then watched her approve the flowers for tomorrow’s ceremony.

Her wedding gift was already packed.