THE BRIDE OPENED THE GROUP CHAT—AND DISCOVERED THE REAL REASON THEY FILMED HER

Claire stared at Amélie’s phone.

At first, she couldn’t understand what she was looking at.

It was a group conversation.

The messages went back nearly two weeks.

Her name appeared repeatedly.

Then she saw Hugo’s message:

“It has to happen when she thinks you’re taking the romantic pH๏τo. The more surprised she is, the better the video.”

Claire stopped breathing.

She scrolled.

Another guest had replied:

“Make sure everyone is ready. If she falls completely into the pool, it’ll be perfect.”

Then came Julien’s message.

The man she was supposed to marry.

“She’s going to kill me, but it’ll make an incredible memory.”

Claire lowered the phone.

Her hands were trembling.

“How long have you known?”

Amélie looked ashamed.

“Three days.”

“Three days?”

“Julien told me you knew about the prank. He swore you had agreed to it.”

Claire let out a bitter, almost broken laugh.

“I would never agree to that.”

She picked up the phone again.

There were more messages.

Someone had suggested uploading the video that same night.

Another person mentioned an account with a huge following that specialized in viral wedding disasters.

Then Claire saw a message from Hugo.

She read it twice.

Her stomach twisted.

“If they take the video, we split the money like we planned.”

Claire slowly looked up.

“This wasn’t a joke.”

Amélie said nothing.

Claire’s eyes returned to the screen.

The humiliation had been planned.

The camera had been planned.

The timing had been planned.

And now she understood why Julien had looked so calm after she came out of the pool.

He wasn’t surprised.

He had been waiting for the video.

Claire stood up.

“Where is Julien?”

Amélie grabbed her arm.

“Claire, please. Don’t go back out there.”

But Claire was already walking toward the door.

Her wedding dress was soaked.

Her makeup was ruined.

Her perfect wedding day was over.

And for the first time, Claire wasn’t thinking about saving her marriage.

She was thinking about what else Julien had planned that he hadn’t told her about.

Because if they had been willing to humiliate her for money…

What else had they been hiding?

Claire opened the bedroom door.

The music from the party was still playing.

Everyone downstairs was laughing again.

She looked toward the crowd.

Then toward Julien.

And this time, she didn’t see her future husband.

She saw the man who had been planning her humiliation behind her back.

“Julien,” she said quietly.

The laughter began to fade.

“We need to talk.”