Chapter 133

EMILY

“Emily?”

Hazel’s voice barely registered in my ears.

I kept staring at the phone lying beside the car while my chest tightened painfully with every breath I took. My fingers twitched slightly at my sides, but I couldn’t force myself to bend down and pick the phone back up because the moment I did, those pictures would still be there waiting for me.

Ryan.

Miranda.

That bed.

Those sheets.

His hands on her body.

Hazel rushed toward me immediately and grabbed my arm tightly. “Emily, what happened? Talk to me.”

I still couldn’t answer her.

The workers standing outside the bridal store had already started staring awkwardly in our direction while my grandmother slowly stepped closer with narrowed eyes.

“What exactly is going on here?”

One of the guards bent down quickly, picked up the phone from the ground, and handed it over respectfully. The second my grandmother looked at the screen, her expression changed into something cold and almost satisfied.

Then she scoffed quietly.

“I knew it,” she muttered. “Any offspring of Cecelia eventually amounts to no good.”

That snapped something inside me instantly.

I turned toward her so fast that Hazel actually stepped back.

“Did you do this?”

My grandmother lifted one brow calmly. “Excuse me?”

“These pictures!” I shouted while pointing toward the phone in her hand. “Was this part of your plan too?”

Hazel tightened her grip on my arm immediately. “Emily, calm down—”

“No!” I snapped while jerking away from her. “Everybody in this family keeps manipulating me, so let her answer the question.”

The people near the entrance had gone completely silent now. Even the workers inside the bridal store were openly staring at us.

My grandmother, however, remained perfectly calm, standing there with the phone still in her hand like none of this affected her at all.

“I could have done something like this,” she admitted smoothly. “But I didn’t.”

I laughed bitterly and wiped my face angrily. “Oh please.”

“I’m serious,” she continued without raising her voice. “This one is entirely onyour ex.”

The words landed heavily in my chest because deep down, some pathetic part of me had still hoped there was another explanation. I wanted somebody to tell me the pictures were fake or edited or manipulated somehow.

But my grandmother only kept watching me carefully.

“He made his choice,” she said quietly. “Now you need to make yours.”

I stared at her for another second before turning away completely.

“Emily!” Hazel called after me.

But I was already walking toward the bridal store.

Fast.

Then faster.

I shoved through the glass doors and ignored the confused greetings from the workers as I rushed deeper inside the building.

“Miss Cavendish?”

“Are you alright?”

“Ma’am?”

I ignored all of them because my breathing had become uneven now, and the pressure inside my chest felt unbearable.

I just needed somewhere private before I completely lost it in front of everybody.

One of the attendants hurried after me quickly. “Miss, the fitting rooms are this way—”

“The restroom,” I interrupted immediately. “Where’s the restroom?”

The woman pointed down the hallway at once. “Last door on the left.”

I didn’t wait for anything else before heading there.

The second I got inside the restroom, I pushed open the farthest stall and locked it behind me before finally breaking apart completely.

A broken sound escaped my throat as I bent forward sharply and covered my mouth with my hand.

The tears came immediately.

The kind that made breathing difficult.

The kind that burned through your chest.

I pressed both hands against my face while trying to steady myself, but every image kept replaying over and over inside my head.

Ryan in that bed.

Miranda smiling beside him.

His bare chest.

The way he suddenly stopped answering my calls.

The way he blocked me completely.

“Oh my God…”

My voice cracked badly.

I slid down slowly until I was sitting on the closed toilet seat while crying into my hands.

Everything hurt so badly that even breathing felt painful.

And somehow the worst part wasn’t even the betrayal itself.

It was the hope.

Was this his way of taking revenge?

A knock suddenly sounded outside the restroom.

“Emily?”

Hazel.

I stayed silent immediately.

Another knock followed quickly. “Emily, please open the door.”

I wiped my face roughly and pressed my lips together tightly.

No.

I didn’t want anybody seeing me like this right now.

Especially not Hazel.

Another knock came.

Then silence followed for a few seconds before I finally heard my grandmother’s voice outside.

“Emily.”

My jaw tightened immediately.

“Go away.”

Her voice remained calm. “I know I’m the last person you want to speak to right now.”

“You think?”

“Open the door.”

“No.”

A brief silence followed before she sighed softly.

“There are things you need to know.”

I laughed bitterly through the tears. “I honestly do not care about anything you have to say right now.”

“You should.”

“I said leave me alone!”

Her voice hardened slightly after that.

“You are angry at the wrong person.”

I wiped my face aggressively before standing up slowly inside the stall.

“I’m angry at everybody.”

Another silence followed.

Then my grandmother finally spoke again, slowly and carefully this time.

“Cecelia switched you at birth.”

Everything inside me froze instantly.

I stopped moving completely.

For one second, I genuinely thought I heard her wrong.

The crying stopped.

Even my breathing paused.

Outside the stall, my grandmother remained silent now like she was waiting for the words to settle properly.

I stared blankly at the door in front of me.

“No,” I whispered automatically.

My hand slowly dropped away from my face.

Ryan disappeared from my thoughts.

So did Miranda.

The wedding.

Everything.

Because suddenly only one sentence remained inside my head.

Cecelia switched you at birth.

I unlocked the stall slowly before pulling the door open.

My grandmother stood outside alone, calm and perfectly composed like she had waited years for this exact moment.

I stared directly at her while my chest rose unevenly.

Then I spoke carefully.

“What did you just say?”

My grandmother looked straight into my eyes before repeating it once more.

“Cecelia was the one who switched you at birth.”