Chapter 1: The Stained Dress
“Relax. It was only three hundred dollars.””
My sister Chloe laughed as black ink dripped from the sleeves of my wedding gown and pooled onto the marble floor of the bridal suite.
For five seconds, I couldn’t understand what I was seeing.
The dress that had taken my breath away an hour earlier—the dress I was supposed to walk down the aisle in—was turning into a nightmare right in front of me.
I thought my wedding morning would be the happiest day of my life.
I thought my sister was there to support me.
I thought the worst thing I would have to worry about was crying too much during my vows.
I was wrong.
The first drop landed near my waist.
The second spread across the silk like a dark bruise.
Then Chloe squeezed the ink bottle harder, watching the stain grow.
“Chloe…” My voice came out weak.
“What did you do?””
She placed the empty bottle on the makeup table like she had just finished applying perfume.
“Don’t be dramatic, Emma.””
My hands started shaking.
“Dramatic? You just poured ink on my wedding dress.””
She rolled her eyes and leaned against the vanity mirror.
“It’s not like it was expensive.””
I stared at her.
The person standing in front of me was my little sister—the girl I used to carry home when she scraped her knee, the girl whose hair I braided before school, the girl I defended when everyone else called her difficult.
But that morning, she looked like a stranger.
“Why?”” I whispered.
Chloe looked away for half a second.
That tiny hesitation told me everything.
Because this wasn’t an accident.
“You’ve always had everything,” she said.
My stomach tightened.
“What are you talking about?””
She laughed quietly.
“You get the perfect boyfriend. The perfect house. The perfect wedding. Everyone looks at you like you’re some kind of angel.””
“That’s what this is about?””
Her expression hardened.
“You don’t even notice it, do you? Mom always compared us. Everyone compared us.””
I looked down at my ruined dress.
“So you destroyed my wedding gown because you’re jealous?””
Chloe shrugged.
“I made a point.””
“A point?””
“Yes.”” She stepped closer.
“I wanted you to know what it feels like when something beautiful gets taken away.””
The cruelty of those words hurt more than the ink.
I backed away from her.
“Get out.””
For the first time, Chloe looked surprised.
“What?””
“Leave this room.””
“Emma—”
“No.”” My voice cracked, but I forced myself to stand straight.
“You don’t get to ruin my wedding morning and then act like I’m the problem.””
She grabbed her purse.
“You’re overreacting.””
I almost laughed.
The absurdity of it was unbelievable.
My wedding dress was covered in black stains, my hands were trembling, and my sister was telling me I was overreacting.
The bridal suite door opened suddenly.
“Emma?””
I turned.
The wedding coordinator, Rachel, stood frozen in the doorway.
Her eyes moved from my face to the dress.
Then they widened.
“Oh my God.””
Chloe immediately changed her expression.
“Rachel, it’s not a big deal.””
Rachel walked closer slowly.
“Not a big deal?””
She reached toward the fabric but stopped herself.
“Do you know what dress this is?””
Chloe crossed her arms.
“A cheap sample dress. Emma told me she didn’t want to spend too much anyway.””
Rachel looked at me.
I shook my head.
“I never bought it. The boutique loaned it to me for the ceremony.””
Rachel’s face turned pale.
“Emma…”
“What?””
She swallowed.
“That gown isn’t worth three hundred dollars.””
Chloe’s confident smile disappeared.
Rachel looked directly at her.
“It’s a forty-thousand-dollar couture sample.””
Silence filled the room.
The kind of silence that makes your ears ring.
Chloe blinked.
“No.””
Rachel pulled out her phone.
“Yes.””
“That’s impossible.””
“It was insured through the boutique.””
Chloe stepped back.
“You’re lying.””
Rachel didn’t answer.
She simply looked upward.
At the tiny black camera in the corner of the ceiling.
“The entire bridal suite is recorded.””
Chloe’s face changed.
Just slightly.
But I saw it.
The confidence disappeared.
The anger disappeared.
For the first time that morning, she looked afraid.
“You can’t prove anything,” she said quickly.
Rachel raised her phone.
“I don’t have to.””
The door opened again.
A woman in a cream-colored suit entered, holding a folder.
“Actually,” she said calmly, “we already have the proof.””
Everyone turned.
Rachel stepped aside.
“Ms. Bennett from the boutique.””
The woman looked at Chloe.
“I watched the footage from the moment you entered this room.””
Chloe’s lips parted.
“No…”
The boutique representative opened the folder.
Inside was a printed image.
A screenshot.
Chloe holding the ink bottle.
Chloe standing beside the dress.
Chloe smiling.
My knees almost gave out.
Not because of the dress.
Because I finally understood.
She didn’t just ruin my wedding gown.
She had planned it.
The woman handed the photo to Rachel.
Then she looked at me.
“Emma, there’s something else you should know.””
I wiped my tears.
“What?””
She hesitated.
Then she pulled another document from the folder.
“It’s about your sister.””
My heart sank.
“What about her?””
The woman lowered her voice.
“She didn’t come here today just to destroy your dress.””
She placed the document in my hand.
“And this proves what she was really planning.””
May you like
I looked down at the paper.
And the name written across the top made my blood run cold.