At Her Sister’s Wedding, My Best Friend Caught the Bouquet… Then Walked Straight to My Table!
Chapter 2
Emily barely remembered the rest of the wedding.
She smiled for photographs.
She hugged Claire.
She congratulated Daniel.
She even danced once.
But her mind kept returning to the same sentence.
“I love you.”
Sophie had left twenty minutes earlier.
She said she needed air.
Emily wanted to follow.
Instead, she sat alone at the table and opened the envelope again.
The photograph showed her and Sophie at seventeen.
They were standing beside the football field after graduation practice.
Emily remembered that afternoon.
She had been crying because her father was leaving again.
Sophie had hugged her.
She had promised:
“I’ll never leave you.”
Emily had thought it was simply something best friends said.
Now she wondered.
She turned the photograph over.
There was another line beneath the first.
You thought I was promising friendship.
Emily closed her eyes.
Claire sat beside her.
“You okay?”
“No.”
Claire nodded.
“I figured.”
Emily looked at her.
“Why did you never tell me?”
“Because it’s not my story to tell.”
“Were you always sure?”
“That Sophie loved you?”
“Yes.”
Claire smiled sadly.
“Completely.”
Emily looked toward the doorway.
“Why didn’t she say anything?”
“Because you were dating Mark.”
Emily frowned.
“Mark?”
Claire nodded.
“You were together for three years.”
“That was different.”
“I know.”
Emily stared at her.
“That relationship was never serious.”
“I know.”
“And I broke up with him.”
“I know.”
Claire touched her hand.
“But Sophie didn’t.”
Emily looked confused.
“What do you mean?”
Claire hesitated.
“She thought if she told you, she’d lose you.”
Emily’s throat tightened.
She remembered the nights when Sophie had stayed awake beside her after Mark cheated.
She remembered Sophie saying:
“Some people are only meant to teach you what you deserve.”
Had she meant herself?
Emily didn’t know.
The ballroom emptied slowly.
Outside, rain began tapping against the windows.
Emily finally found Sophie beneath the covered terrace.
She was alone.
Emily approached.
“Sophie.”
Sophie turned.
“I thought you were going home.”
“I almost did.”
Silence.
Emily stood beside her.
“You love me?”
Sophie laughed quietly.
“I guess the whole room heard that.”
“I need you to say it again.”
Sophie looked at her.
“I love you.”
Emily’s heart raced.
“How long?”
“Seven years.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you were happy.”
“With Mark?”
Sophie nodded.
“I thought that’s what you wanted.”
Emily shook her head.
“Did you ever think I might have wanted something else?”
Sophie looked away.
“I was scared.”
“Of what?”
“Losing you.”
Emily stepped closer.
“You almost did.”
Sophie looked at her.
“I’m sorry.”
Emily didn’t know what to say.
Then she remembered the envelope.
“There was something else.”
Sophie froze.
“What?”
“You said you had a secret.”
Sophie looked down.
“It’s not just a letter.”
She reached into her purse.
This time, she pulled out a small velvet box.
Emily stared.
“Sophie…”
“Open it.”
Inside was a silver key.
Emily looked confused.
“What is this?”
“My parents’ old house.”
“Why would you have that?”
“Because my father left me something there.”
“What?”
Sophie swallowed.
“Something that connects our families.”
Emily frowned.
“What kind of thing?”
Sophie looked toward the dark garden.
“A letter from your mother.”
Emily went still.
“My mother?”
She had died when Emily was nineteen.
Sophie nodded.
“She gave it to my father.”
“When?”
“Two weeks before she died.”
Emily’s hands began trembling.
“What did she say?”
Sophie whispered:
“She asked him to protect you.”
Emily stared.
“From what?”
Sophie shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
She closed her fingers around the key.
“But I think we finally need to find out.”
A lightning flash lit the garden.
Then a message appeared on Sophie’s phone.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
Don’t let Emily open that door.
