Introduction

My Charleston dream wedding to Ethan, my fiancé of ten years, was just days away.

Our future together felt set, a lifetime hand-in-hand.

Then, my smart home security feed played a horrifying, silent film.

Ethan, my fiancé, intimately with Chloe, my stepsister, right there in our house.

An undeniable, sickening betrayal.

A decade of devotion shattered, revealing I was merely a placeholder.

Ethan enabled Chloe's every cruel stunt, from public humiliation to outright wedding sabotage.

He dismissed my pain, protected her lies, and left me invisible, even after injury.

My world crumbled.

Grief gave way to a cold, burning rage.

How could I have been so blind?

So carelessly used?

The truth hit hard: I was just a prop in their long, illicit affair.

But the wedding would still proceed.

Only, it wouldn't be their triumph.

It would be my grand exit, a public act of devastating defiance.

I would ensure their world came crashing down around them.

My countdown to liberation had officially begun.