Someone dropped a champagne glass. “Oh my God,” a woman murmured. My mother looked like she was about to faint.
My father’s jaw clinched so firmly that I swear I could hear his teeth grinding.
Then came complete chaos.
Erica lurched backward, her hands shaking. “This… this isn’t real!” she stammered.
But the proof was right there, blaring under the screen’s strong glare. “Dinner will be served now!” she blurted, waving her hands in the air. “Everyone just take your seats and enjoy!”
Stan turned to her, his expression morphing into pure rage.
“Erica, you told me that you went onto Paige’s computer and deleted the footage.”
“Oh?” I mused, my voice dripping with mock innocence. “You mean you knew about it? You knew that the security cameras were going to catch you in the act?”
His face turned pale, giving himself away.
The guests grumbled loudly, judgment and disdain flashing over their faces. And then, before Erica could respond, a voice broke through the tension. “Paige.”
I turned.
Jack walked forward from the crowd, his clean white shirt showing beneath the black vest of his waiter’s outfit. When I told Jack about my plans a month earlier, he insisted on accompanying me. He had just returned from work, and the first thing he noticed was my sister’s wedding invitation on the table.
“I want to go to the wedding,” I said. “I just don’t want to be… I don’t know. Jack, Erica is a problem.
She’s used to everything being about her. I want to teach her some kind of lesson.”
Jack moved around the kitchen, chopping whatever I asked him for. “Then I’ll come with, Paige,” he said.
“But I don’t want to draw attention to you,” I said, handing him a bowl of ramen. “I don’t want Erica to spoil my moment before I even get to it. And if she sees you, that’s exactly what she’ll do.”
“Then I’ll come in as a waiter, if that’s what it takes!” he said.
“But I want to be there. That way, if you need me, I’ll be right there.”
Finally, I gave in. I was disconnected from my parents, and I hadn’t been close to them in a long time, so knowing Jack was present made me feel better.
Jack smiled at me as he laid down his tray of champagne glasses on a table. His piercing blue eyes met mine. They remained firm and unyielding.
And reassuring. I had never been so grateful to see someone in my entire life. As much as I was surrounded by family, having Jack present was the one thing that kept me grounded during the ceremony.
I loathed Erica and Stan, but seeing them get married touched my heart. But now? Seeing Jack?
I was comforted. “Shall we go?” I asked.
Jack shook his head and stepped up to me.
Gasps echoed across the crowd as he came toward me, each stride measured and determined.
Without hesitation, he sank to one knee. The audience, already horrified by the incident on film, fell silent. Jack reached into his pocket and took out a little velvet box.
He opened it, exposing the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen. “I’ve waited long enough to ask you this, my love,” he said, his voice strong, clear, and certain. “Paige, will you marry me?”
A sharp inhale swept through the crowd.
Erica let out a strangled sound. “Are you… are you kidding me right now?” she screeched. “Paige!
Why? What the hell? Now?
At my wedding?!”
She looked like a deer in headlights, but she also resembled a canon preparing to explode through the room, destroying everything in its path. For a second, I felt guilty. But overall, I felt vindicated.
I grinned, the weight of the previous year lifted off my shoulders. I would have checked on him. But he wasn’t my problem.
Instead, I turned back to Jack, my chest tight with emotion. “Yes!” I said, my voice unwavering. “Yes, Jack!
I will!”
The room erupted. Some attendees, still reeling from the scandal, began to celebrate. This time, my mother brushed away tears of delight rather than shame.
Erica’s face contorted with uncontrolled wrath. Her wrath was strangely unfamiliar. I hadn’t seen her this upset in my life.
Erica was accustomed to getting what she wanted, but on the most crucial day of her life, she had lost control. Her behaviors conveyed no delight. There was no more victory over me.
There was only wrath and hurt. And disappointment. I should have felt awful, correct?
But I could not. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. “This is my day!” she shrieked, stamping her foot and knocking her chair over.
I turned to her, tilting my head. “Oh, honey,” I said, my voice dripping with sweetness. “You stole that fool from me and my wedding.
I just returned the favor and stole the show.”
Then, holding Jack’s hand, I walked out of the hall, leaving my sister embarrassed, betrayed, and devastated at her wedding celebration. My heart was still beating, even though the wedding was well behind us. The sounds of gasps, whispers, and Erica’s shriek lingered at the borders of my mind.
Now, it was just Jack and me.
We sat opposite from each other in a little 24-hour diner, both ridiculously overdressed for a place that served greasy fries and milkshakes in chipped glasses. “Eat,” he commanded. “You’ve had a long day.”
“That’s an understatement,” I laughed, but I picked up a fry anyway.
For a while, we just sat there, the hum of the diner filling the silence. It wasn’t awkward, it was easy. But that had been life since I met Jack.
Finally, I set my drink down and met his gaze. “So… how long were you planning that?”
“The proposal?” he smirked. He exhaled, leaning back against the booth.
“I’ve wanted to ask you for months, Paige. But I knew you weren’t ready. Not just for marriage, but the whole commitment thing?
You needed time to heal. I wasn’t going to rush that.”
His fingers traced patterns on the table and then picked up his milkshake. “But when I found out that she invited you?
That was the final straw. I wasn’t going to let you stand there alone while she flaunted him in front of you.”
“And you got a job in the catering industry, or you snuck in?”
“I called in a favor, honey,” he grinned. “Apparently, I look good holding a tray.”
I laughed, really laughed, for the first time in a long time.
Jack leaned forward, his expression much softer now. “I meant every word, Paige. I love you.
And I’ll wait as long as you need. But this evening felt like the right moment to finally ask.”
“I think,” I said after a moment, “that you chose the perfect moment.”
And for the first time in a long time, I felt like I had won.
