Page 81 of The Wedding Wrecker

“I didn’t think it was my place to tell you before he had a chance, Lily. But I promise, I would’ve warned you before the wedding if we couldn’t encourage him to come clean by then.”

Lily was quiet for a few seconds, as if trying to take it all in. “Okay,” she said.

“Okay?”

“It’s okay. Thank you for letting Marcus tell me. And Iknewsomething was weird about you and James. But I can’t believe you’re datingthewedding wrecker. Did you lose your mind?”

“Maybe,” I admitted with a small laugh.

Lily rushed in and hugged me tight, then let go with a heavy breath. “Well, I’m grateful you handled this the way you did. I think it would have been harder to forgive Marcus if it came from you.” She picked at the fabric of her dress, shrugging a little as she leaned against a bathroom sink. “Him coming clean shows me he cares. It shows he’s willing to face the consequences of his actions and learn from it.”

I nodded.

“And I think that’s why we’re still going to work. All I care about is that he stays open and honest with me, and I can understand why he was so scared to tell me the truth about this. Apparently, he’s been trying to find the right time to tell me for weeks."

"Are you sure you’re okay?"

"You know what's crazy?" She stopped pacing to face me. "I'm actually relieved. I knew something was wrong. He's been so stressed lately, always on his phone, having these intense conversations with his father..." She shrugged. "I was starting to wonder if he was having second thoughts about us."

"And now?"

"Now I know he was just scared. Scared I wouldn't want him if I knew his family wasn't what everyone thinks. Scared of disappointing his father." She smiled, and this time it reached her eyes. "But mostly scared of losing me."

"What did you tell him?"

"That he's an idiot," she laughed. "And that I don't care about his family's money. I care about him." She twisted her engagement ring. "I told him we'd figure it out together, but that he had to promise to always be honest with me from now on."

"And?"

"And he promised. He’s going to tell his father to stay out of my business decisions or he'd make sure the whole world knew exactly how broke they really are."

I blinked. "He’s going to say that totheRichard Wellington?”

"You should have seen him talking about it, Em. He was... magnificent." She grinned. "Also kind of hot."

"Gross." But I was smiling too. "So the wedding's still on?"

"Of course it is. If anything, I'm more sure now than ever." She hugged me tight. "I love him. The real him, not some perfect fantasy version. And he loves me enough to risk everything to be honest with me."

I held her close. As happy as I was for Lily and Marcus, I couldn’t help finding my own thoughts drifting to James—about how we both seemed to be holding our real truths locked away because we were too scared of where they might lead. Seeing how happy Lily was now that her and Marcus’ truth was out in the open made it hard not to wonder…

"I'm happy for you," I said, and meant it.

"Speaking of happiness..." Lily pulled back to study my face. "Where are you and James, exactly? It sounds like you’ve got the chemistry down. But what happens after the wedding? Do you two just go your separate ways?”

“I… don’t know,” I admitted.

She gripped my shoulders softly, expression lined with sympathy. “Em. I say this because I love you. You’re being a coward. You want to see where this thing goes with him. So see. Heartbreak is temporary. Regret is forever.”

I snorted. “I’m not sure either of those statements are objectively true.”

“Well, they’re true to me. So you had better take my advice to heart.”

“I’ll try,” I said, giving her another hug before we headed for the door.

I found James waiting in the hallway to the bathrooms, concern clear on his face. "Everything okay?"

I told him what happened—the parts about Lily and Marcus, at least—watching relief spread across his features.

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