Chapter 3 A Heartbreaking Discovery

Emily's POV

As I loaded dishes into the dishwasher, the doorbell rang, causing me to stop, so I could go check who was at the door.

Before I could even walk out of the kitchen, it rang again, and I couldn't help but huff at the person's impatience.

However, when I opened the door and saw Janine looking like she'd discovered the worst thing on earth, I knew something had happened.

And whatever had happened was really bad.

"Hey, babes," I said, hugging her. "How was your flight? I thought you were coming back tomorrow."

"Yes, I thought so too until I discovered something," She said, as we disengaged from the hug. "Abigail is getting married today."

At her utterance, I burst into a peal of hearty laughter but stopped when Janine didn't laugh along with me.

She was being serious.

"What do you mean Abigail is getting married? Are you sure you heard right?" I asked, knowing fully well that Janine wouldn't have left Los Angeles, without having legit proof that our friend was really getting married.

"Look," She said, handing me her phone which I took. "Apparently, that's her pre wedding shoot. No one knows who her fiancé is and it's said their wedding is to be attended by just their families and friends. I have no idea when we became Abigail's enemies that she decided to hide something this huge from us."

In the picture, Abigail was standing in front of a door, looking at her fiancé, who was hiding a bouquet of dahlias behind him, with his back facing the camera.

His hair was red and long, which further confused me, because Abigail didn't like flashy guys like that.

I mean, I had known her for almost a decade now, so I was certain of her taste in men.

Plus, she wasn't even in any relationship that Janine and I knew about.

"This is utterly insane of Abigail," I said, ire coursing through me as I returned the phone to Janine.

"I'm telling you," Janine said, raking her fingers through her hair furiously. "To think I had to find out about our best friend getting married from my colleague at work. I don't even know what to think at this point."

"You don't think she's being forced, do you?" I asked Janine who frowned. "Come in, so we can talk properly."

"Okay," She said. "What do you mean forced to get married?"

"Well, I don't have any other explanation as to how and why she's getting married secretly," I said with a shrug. "What do you propose we do now?"

"Emily, we are going to attend that wedding and see with our own eyes that she is really getting married,'' Janine uttered, sitting on the sofa arm. "Or what else can we do?"

"I support your suggestion, let's do that," I replied. "You know where the wedding is happening, right?"

"Yes, I do," She replied. "You know that my colleague who told me, her sister happens to be Abigail's coworker."

"Can you imagine?" I asked heatedly. "Her colleagues knew about her wedding and we didn't. Who does that to her best friends? Abigail better have a good reason as to why she did such a stupid thing."

"So are you going to change?" Janine asked, to which I nodded.

"Yes," I said. "Give me a minute."

Thereafter, I went straight into the kitchen to turn off the dishwasher, before heading to my bedroom.

About fifteen minutes later, I was ready in a peach pant suit with a pair of silver kitten heels to match.

"You ready?" Janine asked, as I walked downstairs while putting on my earrings.

Nodding, I responded, "Yes, let's go."

Then, we headed downstairs to the parking lot where Janine's car was parked.

Nearly thirty minutes later, we reached the venueâ€"a garden located inside the amusement park downtownâ€"which was also really strange because Abigail hated outdoor weddings.

Now that I thought of it, there were a lot of things that I probably didn't know about Abigail.

My breath caught in my throat when I saw a photo stand of the couple, just by the entrance to the wedding venue.

I was having a nightmare, I thought to myself as I moved closer to the picture stand, so I could get a clearer view.

That had to be the only reasonable explanation as to why Joe was locked in a romantic pose, with Abigail, on some island, with the three words I never thought I'd see, written in bold fonts beneath the picture.

"Abigail weds Joe"

"C-Can you pinch me, Janine?" I stuttered out.

Fear gripped me instantly when Janine sighed and gave me a look of sympathy instead.

At that moment, it dawned on me that this was very much my reality, and not some bizarre nightmare.

My best friend was really getting married to my ex-boyfriend, barely three days after we broke up.

"Pinch me, Janine! What are you waiting for?" I spat, and she exhaled heavily before trying to hug me, an action which I vehemently resisted before pushing past her into the venue.

On seeing Joe and Abigail, I erupted with mirthless laughter, which drew everyone's attention toward me.

Abigail paled visibly, her eyes widening into the size of saucers, with Joe seeming equally surprised to see me there.

Ignoring the hushed conversation and piercing stares, I made my way to the front, anger coursing through me in wild flames.

"Bastard," I muttered, before my hand delivered a resounding slap to Joe's cheek.

Caressing his reddened cheek, he stammered, "Emily, I-I can explain,"

I decided to pay him no attention as I turned toward Abigail, who looked like she wanted to enter the ground.

"Why would you do this to me, Abigail?" I spat, slapping the bouquet of flowers out of her hand, as she looked at me with remorse.

"I'm sorry, Ems. I never meant for you to find out like this," She began. "I really d-"

"Let this be the last time you'd ever call me Ems, am I clear?" I hurled. "An evil person like you does not deserve to call me that. You two are the worst people on earth, and you deserve each other outrightly. Congratulations on the union."

"Young lady, who are you?" The middle-aged priest asked, and I swallowed harshly as tears hitched my throat, forcing me to remain quiet for a moment.

Abigail's mum shot me a murderous glare which I ignored, as I collected the microphone from the priest.

On the other hand, Joe's dad was having a hushed conversation with Joe's mum.

Throughout our relationship, Joe never took me to meet his parents. He would cite various excuses whenever I asked to see them.

Poor me hadn't known that the scheming scumbag had plans to marry Abigail from the start.

"I used to be the groom's girlfriend up till three days ago," I said, and the attendees gasped as the hushed conversations became louder. "As for the bride, we have been best friends since middle school. But from this moment onward, I don't know either of them anymore."

Exhaling heavily, I shook my head in self pity before turning around to leave.

I nearly stopped breathing when I saw Donovan Coleman, sitting in the front row, his face blank as he stared at me intently.

Great, another embarrassing moment in the bag.

Looking away from him, I walked out of the venue while repressing the urge to cry.

"The both of you disgust me!" I heard Janine holler as my eyes turned misty with tears, that I blinked away.

At that moment, I was beyond tired of everything.

I didn't stop walking until I got to where Janine's car was parked, while she followed behind me closely.

"I'm so sorry, babes. I never knew Abigail was cap-"

"Can we like not speak about it for now?" I cut in.

"Sure, babes. If that's what you want," She replied, unlocking the car. "But we are going to my place and that's final. I have ice cream and marshmallows in the refrigerator, so we can stuff our faces till dawn."

"Okay," I muttered, before getting into the car, inwardly thankful that I still had Janine in my life at least.