Five Minutes Before “I Do”

Logan barked, "You got my daughter pregnant, and now you're trying to walk away? If you don't come up with the money today, I'm calling the police and reporting you for sexual assault!"

He already had his phone out, ready to dial.

My phone buzzed at the same time. The report I had asked for had come in.

I opened it and read through everything. My eyes fell on Sandra, bent over and breathing hard like she was in pain.

I let out a short, quiet laugh. "Five hundred thousand, right? Fine. Then answer me this. Whose kid is it?"

Sandra flicked a glance at Caleb. She cleared her throat and forced herself to stay steady.

"Of course, it's yours. You're not going to deny your own kid, are you? If you don't believe me, we can get a paternity test."

I held her gaze, my voice flat. "Good. Let's go. We'll find out exactly whose it is."

Margaret snapped, jumping to her feet and pointing at me.

"What are you trying to say? My daughter's been with you for ten years! Do you think you can just drag her name through the mud like this?"

Logan's face went red. He stormed over and swung at me. "You piece of trash! You don't get to talk about my daughter like that!"

He grabbed a chair and brought it down toward me.

"I'll knock some sense into you! If you don't come up with 500 thousand and apologize, you're not leaving here!"

My dad was shaking so badly that he could barely stay upright. He braced himself against the wall, trying to step in. With what strength he had left, he grabbed the chair leg and stopped Logan from swinging again.

The room erupted into chaos.

I took the chance to pull up the photos on my phone and held it out.

The first was from the fifth of last month. Sandra had her arm looped through Caleb's as they checked into a hotel. The room number was clear.

The second was her medical report. Eight weeks pregnant.

The third was a video of her messaging a friend.

[Babe, I slept with Caleb and got pregnant. What do I do? Forget it. The wedding's soon, anyway. I'll just tell Asher it's his.]

I swiped through them one by one.

Margaret's mouth fell open. No words came out.

The chair slipped from Logan's hands and hit the floor. He didn't even react when it struck his foot.

Sandra went white, clutching her head as she screamed.

"It's fake. All of it's fake!"

Dad took the phone and stared at it, over and over, his voice low.

"Eight weeks? Then it can't be Asher's. He was out of town during that period. He was gone for a whole month."

A few guests who had drifted back to watch started putting it together, pointing as their voices rose.

"That's low. Showing up pregnant with someone else's kid and still asking for money?"

"Going after his dad's surgery money, too. That's cold."

"The Grays really got unlucky with her."

"If anything, she should be paying him 500 grand."

"I want my wedding gift back. I don't want any part of this."

The accusations came one after another, closing in on Sandra. She looked up through her tears, lips trembling as she turned toward Caleb.

Caleb's expression hardened.

He rushed forward, snatched the phone from my dad, and slammed it onto the floor. The screen shattered on impact.

"It's all fake! He made it up to frame us!"

With the evidence gone, Caleb lifted his chin, trying to sound steady again.

"Don't believe him! He just doesn't want to pay, so he cooked all this up to get out of the wedding."

Sandra clutched her stomach, crying harder.

"Asher, you walk out on me and then try to ruin me. I can't believe I wasted ten years on you! I'll kill myself right here if that's what it takes to prove I'm innocent!"

She gathered her dress and ran straight for the corner of the table.