part 4
PART 4
The wedding looked flawless.
That was the cruelest part.
White roses.
Crystal chandeliers.
A string quartet.
Champagne towers.
Reporters behind velvet ropes.
Victoria Vale greeting guests as if she had personally purchased Audrey’s future.
Dominic stood at the altar with wet eyes.
He looked like every magazine’s idea of a devoted groom.
Audrey walked toward him in a white beaded gown and tiara, hearing the rustle of guests turning to watch.
Her brother, Nathan, escorted her.
Before letting go, he whispered, “Say the word and we leave.”
Audrey squeezed his arm.
“I know.”
Dominic smiled when she reached him.
“Beautiful.”
She looked at him carefully.
“Careful with that word.”
His smile flickered.
Only for a second.
The ceremony continued.
Vows.
Rings.
Applause.
Photos.
Every public gesture was perfect.
Dominic kissed her like a man sealing a contract.
At the reception, he never let her stand alone for long.
Whenever Grace approached, Dominic appeared.
Whenever Nathan came near, Victoria intercepted him.
Whenever Audrey checked her phone, Dominic joked that his bride was already avoiding him.
The guests laughed.
Audrey did not.
At 11:43 p.m., Victoria pulled Audrey aside.
Her voice was honey over steel.
“Tonight matters.”
Audrey looked at her.
“For whom?”
Victoria smiled.
“For the family.”
There it was again.
The family.
Never Audrey.
Never safety.
Never love.
At midnight, Dominic led Audrey to the penthouse suite reserved above the hotel.
The elevator ride was silent.
He still held her hand.
Too tight.
When the doors opened, the room was glowing with warm lamplight.
Rose petals on the bed.
City lights beyond the windows.
A Persian rug deep red beneath their feet.
Audrey placed her pearl clutch on the dresser.
The recorder inside was already running.
Dominic poured champagne.
She did not drink.
He noticed.
“You’re nervous.”
Audrey met his eyes.
“Should I be?”
He smiled.
Then walked to the bedroom door and locked it.
The click was soft.
But Audrey heard everything inside it.
Dominic turned back.
The groom was gone.
May you like
The owner had arrived.
Read the full story 👉 The public wedding was perfect, but the locked bedroom door proved Dominic had waited for privacy to reveal control.
