THE VIDEO FROM THE BRIDAL ROOM
CHAPTER 2 —
Nathaniel heard his own heartbeat before he heard the guests.
It thudded hard in his ears while Celeste’s words hung between the chandeliers.
You were supposed to be gone before the ceremony.
The maid stood very still.
Her name, Nathaniel would learn later, was Anna Reyes. She had been working weddings at the Waverly Grand Hall for eight months, mostly weekends, mostly double shifts, mostly invisible.
But she was not invisible now.
Every eye in the room had found her.
Celeste took one step toward the phone.
Nathaniel moved it behind his back.
“Don’t.”
Celeste looked up at him.
For the first time since he had known her, the beautiful mask cracked.
“Nathaniel,” she said softly, “give me the phone.”
He stared at her.
“What was in the glass?”
Her mouth tightened.
“Nothing dangerous.”
A woman near the front row gasped.
Nathaniel’s mother, Margaret Pierce, stood slowly, one hand pressed to her chest.
“Nothing dangerous?” Margaret repeated.
Celeste turned to her with a fragile smile.
“This is being misunderstood.”
Nathaniel laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
“You put a pill in my drink.”
Celeste lowered her voice.
“Because you were going to embarrass me.”
The room shifted again.
Nathaniel looked at her, stunned.
“What?”
Celeste’s eyes flicked toward Anna.
“She told you something, didn’t she?”
Anna’s chin trembled.
Nathaniel turned to her.
“What did she tell me?”
Anna looked terrified.
Not of the crowd.
Of Celeste.
“She saw me outside the study,” Anna said quietly.
Celeste snapped, “Stop talking.”
Nathaniel stepped between them.
“Keep going.”
Anna held both hands together in front of her apron, twisting her fingers.
“I heard Mrs. Waverly and Celeste talking before the ceremony. They said after you drank the juice, you’d feel dizzy. Not enough to hurt you badly. Just enough to delay the vows.”
Margaret whispered, “Why would she delay her own wedding?”
Anna’s eyes filled.
“Because Mr. Pierce was going to sign something at the reception.”
Nathaniel’s face changed.
The prenuptial amendment.
It was supposed to be a small private signing after dinner. Celeste had insisted on it weeks earlier, saying it would “modernize” their agreement before they merged certain family assets.
His attorneys had warned him to wait.
He had almost ignored them.
Celeste stared at Anna with hatred sharp enough to cut glass.
“You stupid girl.”
Nathaniel’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t speak to her.”
Celeste laughed, but it shook.
“You don’t understand. None of you do.”
Then came the first twist.
A man in a gray suit stepped out from the second row.
Nathaniel’s attorney, Robert Hale.
He had been invited out of courtesy. He was not supposed to be part of the ceremony.
“I think I do,” Hale said.
Celeste turned pale.
Hale looked at Nathaniel.
“I advised you not to sign the amendment today because the Waverly family debt structure did not make sense. This morning, Anna found a copy of a second document in the bridal suite trash.”
Anna lowered her eyes.
Celeste whispered, “You had no right.”
Hale continued.
“That second document would have transferred temporary control of Pierce Holdings voting shares to your spouse in the event of medical incapacity.”
The hall erupted in whispers.
Nathaniel stared at Celeste.
“Medical incapacity?”
Celeste’s mother, Evelyn Waverly, rose from the front pew.
“This is outrageous.”
Hale turned toward her.
“Mrs. Waverly, your signature is on the draft.”
Evelyn froze.
Nathaniel looked from mother to daughter.
The air seemed to leave his lungs.
“You were going to drug me, claim I was unstable, and take control of my company?”
Celeste’s eyes flashed.
“For one week,” she snapped. “Just one week. Long enough to save both families.”
That confession landed harder than any denial.
Margaret sat down as if her knees had failed.
Nathaniel looked at Anna.
“You knew all of this?”
Anna shook her head.
“Not all. I only knew the drink was wrong.”
Celeste stepped forward, desperate now.
“She’s not innocent.”
Anna’s face went white.
Celeste turned to the guests.
“You all want a hero? Ask her why she was in my bridal suite. Ask her why she had her phone ready. Ask her who paid her.”
Anna whispered, “Nobody paid me.”
Celeste smiled.
“Then ask her real last name.”
Nathaniel frowned.
Anna looked down.
Hale’s expression sharpened.
Celeste’s voice turned cruel.
“She isn’t just a maid. She’s Anna Waverly.”
Evelyn gasped.
Half the guests turned toward her.
Celeste pointed at Anna.
“My father’s bastard daughter.”
The hall went still.
Anna closed her eyes.
Nathaniel looked at the young woman in the maid uniform, then at Celeste, then at Evelyn Waverly’s trembling face.
May you like
And before anyone could speak, Anna quietly said:
“That’s not the part she’s afraid of.”
