CHAPTER 3 — THE SECOND PHOTO
CHAPTER 3 — THE SECOND PHOTO
Claire stood frozen, trembling, watching her wedding collapse in real time.
The waitress stepped closer.
“I wasn’t supposed to get involved,” she whispered.
“But I couldn’t let you eat that.”
Claire’s voice broke. “Why are you helping me?”
The waitress hesitated.
Then turned the phone again.
A second image appeared.
Claire’s breath stopped.
Madison.
Standing in the same dim kitchen.
Beside Adrian.
Watching.
Helping.
Not stopping him.
Claire slowly turned her head toward her Maid of Honor.
Madison’s smile disappeared instantly.
“No,” she whispered. “That’s not—”
But the truth was already in Claire’s eyes.
Everything she believed—friendship, love, loyalty—collapsed in a single heartbeat.
The music in the ballroom had stopped.
The cake stood untouched.
And Claire Whitmore finally understood:
The poison wasn’t only in the frosting.
May you like
It was in everyone she trusted.
CUT TO BLACK.
