Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 39947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39947 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 200(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 133(@300wpm)
I was the kind of person who gave a crap. Whether it was her business or not.
I knew I was going to say something and hate myself for it.
I knew, before I even got out of the restroom.
Because I was Layla Schmidt, and I always stood against injustice.
Especially when it smiled in front of my face in a five-thousand-dollar suit.
Chapter Three
Layla
By the time I walked back into the venue, the ceremony had already begun. Kellianne stood next to Connor, wearing the most angelic white mermaid dress, her pale-blond hair arranged in an elegant updo. Somehow seeing her like this, all cherubic and virtuous, strengthened my resolution to speak up.
She was exactly who I’d imagined he would end up with. The body of a model, the personality of a saint, and the age of Leonardo DiCaprio’s next girlfriend.
The wedding officiant was droning on about how the couple had met as I slid back into my seat next to Tara.
It took me a second to realize she was bawling her eyes out into a crumbling piece of tissue. I averted my gaze toward her, putting a tentative hand on her shoulder. I’d never been this emotional at a wedding. Even when Mads—my best friend since we were both out of diapers—wedded Chase.
“Hey, you need some water?” I asked.
“No.” She blew her nose loudly into the tissue, drawing alarmed looks from our surroundings. “I’m just . . . this is so . . . unexpected.”
“Unexpected?” I blinked.
“Connor and I dated for two years before he met Kellianne. I always wondered if there was a slight overlap, since . . . since . . .” Pfffft. She blew her nose again. “But he said that I was imagining things. That I needed to let go. Well, now the wedding officiant said they met at Coachella? We were still together in April. I bought him that ticket. I ended up not going because my grandmother passed away.”
“What?” the woman next to her whisper-shouted, whipping her head to us. “He was with you? He was with me up until and including the end of March. For two years.”
Oh boy.
“How long have Connor and Kellianne been together?” I asked Tara, a chill burrowing into my bones.
“Officially since June.” She buried her face in the tissue, then caught herself. “I just need a moment. That’s all. I love them both and wish them all the best.”
Well, I only liked one of them and wished the other genital warts.
The women in my row began talking animatedly about when they’d dated Connor. There seemed to have been an overlap, which didn’t surprise me. Connor definitely had a wandering eye. And dick.
It was utterly ironic that I was sandwiched between Connor’s exes. What bothered me the most was, Why had they been invited here in the first place? Connor was cruel, but not stupid. Not by a long shot.
I got my answer from a sniffling Tara. “I only agreed to come here because he said I meant so much to him. That he still saw me as his good friend.”
“Same,” the others moaned.
What a gaslighter. He broke their hearts, their trusts, and then, to avoid the consequences, placated them by making them feel like they were still a part of his life.
He was still the same old Connor.
Manipulative. Cruel. Cunning.
Anger simmered beneath my skin. I trained my gaze back on the officiant and couple. And when the elderly minister asked if anyone objected to the pairing, that was when I sprang into action and jumped to my feet.
“Yes, actually.” I raised my hand, like a teacher’s pet trying to answer a tricky question. “I object to this wedding.”
The women in my row gasped in unison, horror written all over their faces. It was so tangible I could see it in my periphery, without even paying them any attention.
The entire room was staring at me like I’d spoken in another language. I forced myself to look Connor in the eye to show him I wasn’t scared. I saw the minute it all clicked in his head, and he realized the girl he’d left behind had grown up to be a woman with a spine who wasn’t so easy to bully and tame anymore.
His browns met my blues, and there was a warning there. A threat too.
Don’t cross me, they said. You know what happened the last time you did.
“Kelly, baby.” Connor placed his hand on his soon-to-be-wife’s arm, his stare still glued to mine. “Where did you—”
“Ma’am . . .” The officiant cleared his throat. I was a ma’am now, huh? “If you could please take a sea—”
“No. You asked a question, and now I’m answering it. I object to the wedding on the grounds that the groom is an absolute jackass, and sweet Kellianne over here deserves more. And I’ll elaborate.” I stood straighter.