Chapter 1: Three Minutes Before Disaster
The silver scissors slipped from Victoria's fingers and struck the marble floor.
My wedding gown lay in pieces.
The magnificent cathedral train had been severed.
The embroidered outer skirt hung in ruined folds, and a long tear ran down the back.
Claire, my younger sister, stood frozen beside the vanity.
“You did that!” she shouted.
Victoria turned slowly.
“Excuse me?”
“I saw you!
You deliberately cut Emma’s dress!”
Victoria’s expression hardened.
“Young lady, you should learn to control your imagination.”
Then she looked at me.
“Oh, Emma.
I’m terribly sorry.
Perhaps the fabric caught on something.”
I stared at her.
The woman was holding scissors.
The dress had been cut in six separate places.
And she wanted me to believe it was an accident.
“Why?”
I whispered.
Victoria sighed dramatically.
“Honestly, darling, sometimes these things happen.”
Claire stepped toward her.
“You horrible—”
“Claire,” I interrupted.
My sister looked at me in disbelief.
“Emma!”
I raised my hand.
“Please.”
Victoria smiled triumphantly.
She thought I was surrendering.
Then she added, “Perhaps we should inform the guests you’ve become emotionally overwhelmed.
Adrian will understand eventually.”
My stomach tightened.
There it was.
The plan behind her cruelty.
If I missed the ceremony, Victoria could tell Manhattan society that a poor Brooklyn girl had panicked before marrying into wealth.
She could portray herself as the concerned mother trying to rescue her son from humiliation.
And I would spend years defending myself.
I looked down at the torn silk.
Then I smiled.
“Thank you, Victoria.”
Her smile faltered.
“What?”
“I said thank you.”
I gathered the damaged fabric.
“Claire, help me behind the dressing screen.”
Victoria watched us suspiciously.
“What are you doing?”
I looked over my shoulder.
“Getting married.”
