Chapter 1 - The Four Words

Ten minutes before I was supposed to walk down the aisle, my fiancé’s grandmother pulled me aside, squeezed my hand, and whispered something that instantly unsettled me.

“If he says those four words to you, don’t believe him.”

I stared at her.

“What four words?”

Evelyn Mercer’s lips parted, but before she could answer, my future mother-in-law appeared in the doorway.

“Mom? Why are you back here?”

Diane Mercer wore pale silver silk and the expression of a woman who had spent the entire morning making sure nothing happened outside her control.

The older woman immediately went quiet.

“I was just talking to Claire.”

“Well, the ceremony is about to start.”

Diane took her by the arm and guided her toward the hallway.

Just before they disappeared, Evelyn looked back at me.

There was no happiness in her expression.

No excitement.

Only fear.

I stood there in my wedding dress, trying to convince myself I was imagining things.

Maybe she was emotional.

Maybe the stress of the wedding had confused her.

Maybe those mysterious “four words” meant absolutely nothing.

I needed to believe that.

Because in less than ten minutes, I was supposed to marry Adrian Mercer, the man I had planned my entire future around.

We had been together three years.

He knew I hated cilantro, that I cried during old black-and-white movies, and that I checked the lock twice before bed even when I knew I had already checked it.

He had helped me carry paint samples into my first tiny design studio when I could barely afford rent.

He had sat on the floor with me the night my first major client canceled and said, “Then we find another.”

He was not perfect.

Neither was I.

But until that morning, I had believed the important parts of us were honest.

Then I happened to glance through the window.

And my heart skipped.

Adrian wasn’t inside the chapel.

He was standing outside near one of the side entrances.

With another woman.

A woman I had never seen before.

She looked devastated.

Even from a distance, I could see tears running down her face.

Something in my stomach tightened.

My maid of honor, Leah, came in carrying my bouquet.

“Claire? Why are you by the window?”

“Do you know her?”

“Who?”

I pointed.

Leah looked outside.

“No.”

“That’s Adrian.”

“I know what Adrian looks like.”

“I mean, why is he with her?”

Leah’s smile vanished.

“Do you want me to get your brother?”

“No.”

“Do you want me to get Diane?”

“Definitely not.”

“Then what are you doing?”

I quietly stepped into the hallway.

“Finding out.”

Leah caught my wrist.

“In a wedding dress?”

“I don’t think the dress makes me deaf.”

“Claire.”

“If I come back in thirty seconds and tell you I overreacted, you’re allowed to say I told you so for the rest of my life.”

“I was already planning to.”

I moved closer to the partially open side door.

That was when I heard the woman.

“You can’t go through with this.”

Adrian glanced nervously toward the chapel.

“Not here.”

“She has a right to know.”

I stopped breathing.

A right to know what?

He tried walking away, but the woman grabbed his arm.

“You promised me this wouldn’t happen.”

That was enough.

I pushed open the door.

Both of them froze.

Adrian’s face drained of color.

The woman immediately released his arm.

“Who is she?” I asked.

He stared at me.

“Claire.”

“That’s my name. Who is she?”

“I’ll explain after the ceremony.”

I almost laughed.

“After?”

He stepped toward me.

“Please, just trust me.”

The words landed strangely.

Four words.

I did not understand why they bothered me yet, but Evelyn’s warning moved through my mind like a draft under a closed door.

“You’re marrying me in ten minutes. If there’s something I need to know, you’re telling me now.”

The woman wiped her cheeks.

She looked directly at me.

For a moment, I could tell she was about to speak.

Then Adrian stepped between us.

“Please,” he told her. “Go.”

She stared at him in disbelief.

Then she looked at me again.

There was something almost apologetic in her expression.

Before leaving, she whispered, “I’m sorry.”

My blood ran cold.

“Sorry for what?”

But she was already walking away.

I turned on Adrian.

“Tell me her name.”

He rubbed his jaw.

“Sarah Cole.”

“How do you know Sarah Cole?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Everyone who lies uses that sentence.”

“I’m not lying.”

“You’re not answering.”

He glanced toward the corridor.

“Claire, there are two hundred people inside.”

“I know. I invited half of them.”

“My mother is already looking for me.”

“Then I suggest you answer quickly.”

Someone inside the chapel called my name.

Five minutes.

I looked at Adrian.

“This conversation isn’t finished.”

“I know.”

“Before I stand beside you, I want the truth.”

His eyes flickered away.

That tiny movement hurt more than I expected.

“Everything,” I said.

He nodded.

“Everything.”

I returned to the bridal room, but my hands wouldn’t stop trembling.

Grandma’s warning kept repeating in my mind.

If he says those four words… don’t believe him.

What four words?

And what did that crying woman know?

Leah shut the door behind me.

“You look like you saw a ghost.”

“Her name is Sarah Cole.”

“Okay.”

“He won’t tell me who she is.”

“Then you’re not walking out there.”

I stared at her.

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“I have two hundred guests waiting.”

“They can eat cake.”

“My parents flew in from Arizona.”

“They can eat more cake.”

“Leah.”

She set the bouquet down.

“If you walk into that chapel because you’re embarrassed to cancel, you’re making a permanent decision to avoid a temporary scene.”

I looked at her.

“Since when are you wise?”

“Since I paid for this dress and realized I look excellent in it.”

Despite everything, I laughed once.

Then the bridal-room door suddenly opened.

Adrian stepped inside.

Leah immediately moved between us.

“No.”

He stopped.

“I need to talk to Claire.”

“You had that opportunity outside.”

“Leah.”

“Use my full name and I’ll throw a shoe at you.”

I touched her arm.

“Give us one minute.”

She studied my face.

“One minute.”

When she left, Adrian closed the door.

I immediately asked, “Who was that woman?”

He exhaled slowly.

“It’s complicated.”

“Then uncomplicate it.”

“She’s someone from my past.”

“What kind of someone?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore.”

“She showed up crying ten minutes before our wedding and told you I deserved to know something. It matters to me.”

He remained silent.

That silence frightened me more than any answer could have.

“Tell me the truth.”

He walked closer.

Then he reached for my hands.

I almost pulled away.

But something stopped me.

He looked directly into my eyes.

His expression softened.

And then he said four words.

“Please, just trust me.”

My entire body went still.

Suddenly, I understood why Evelyn had been so desperate to speak to me.

I slowly pulled my hands from his.

“What did you just say?”

He repeated them.

“Please, just trust me.”

This time, I heard something in his voice I hadn’t noticed before.

Not love.

Not reassurance.

Fear.

Then someone knocked loudly on the door.

“Two minutes! Everyone’s ready.”

Adrian glanced toward the hallway.

Then back at me.

“We can discuss everything afterward.”

“No.”

His face changed.

“Claire.”

“No. You keep asking me to trust you while refusing to give me anything to trust.”

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“From what?”

He did not answer.

I stared at the man I had been prepared to marry only minutes earlier.

Then I noticed something sticking slightly out of the inside pocket of his tuxedo.

A folded document.

Adrian noticed my gaze too late.

I reached for it.

He caught my wrist, not hard, but enough to stop me.

“Don’t.”

That single word ended whatever remained of my willingness to be patient.

“Take your hand off me.”

He did.

I pulled the paper free.

Across the top, in clean black letters, was a name.

SARAH COLE.

Below it were the words VOLUNTARY ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF PATERNITY.

I looked down another line.

Child: Noah James Cole.

Date of birth: eight years earlier.

My hearing seemed to disappear.

The room remained bright.

The flowers remained white.

The music outside continued.

But my future had just split into a before and an after.

I looked at Adrian.

“Who is Noah?”

He closed his eyes.

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And that was when I realized Evelyn hadn’t been trying to ruin my wedding.

She had been trying to stop me from making a promise to a man who had arrived at the altar carrying proof of a life he had never told me existed.