Chapter 2: The Second Message
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Andre could hear water dripping from the hem of his mother's dress onto the marble floor.
One drop.
Then another.
His wedding day had become so quiet that those tiny sounds seemed louder than the microphone.
He looked down at Evelyn.
"What second message?""
She shook her head.
"Please, Andre. Not here.""
"Mom, what are you talking about?""
Her fingers closed around his wrist.
"There's something I should have told you a long time ago.""
Charles lowered the printed page.
"Then tell him, Evelyn.""
She looked at her husband.
"You promised me.""
"I promised you I'd protect our son.""
"By humiliating him in front of everyone he loves?""
Charles flinched.
For a moment, the sternness left his face.
Then he glanced at Andre.
"No," he said.
"By making sure he knows who has been lying to him.""
Vanessa stepped between them.
"This is unbelievable.""
She lifted the skirt of her gown slightly and walked toward Charles, her white heels clicking sharply against the marble.
"You cannot stand there and accuse me of something without explaining what it is.""
Charles held up the printed message.
"Would you like me to read it?""
Vanessa's jaw tightened.
"Read whatever you want.""
"Are you sure?""
"Yes.""
The answer came too quickly.
Charles looked at Andre.
"Your mother received a message four days ago telling her not to attend this wedding.""
Andre's gaze moved between them.
"From whom?""
Charles looked at the page again.
"Someone who claimed to be speaking for you.""
Andre turned to Vanessa.
"Did you send my mother a message telling her not to come?""
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
"Andre, I was trying to protect you.""
"That's not an answer.""
She reached for his hand.
He didn't take it.
"I asked you a question.""
Vanessa looked around the room. Her bridesmaids stood near the head table, frozen. Her older sister, Simone, had risen from her chair and was watching with her lips pressed together.
"Your mother and I had a disagreement," Vanessa said.
"It was private.""
"About what?""
"About our relationship.""
"Your relationship with my mother?""
"Yes!""
Her voice cracked across the hall.
Several guests looked away.
Vanessa took a breath and lowered her tone.
"She said things about me that were deeply hurtful. She questioned whether I loved you. She questioned whether I was marrying you for the right reasons. I was upset, and I said things I shouldn't have said.""
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Andre stared at his bride.
"Mom, did you say those things?""
Evelyn slowly shook her head.
"I asked her one question.""
"What question?""
She looked at Vanessa.
"Why she wanted you to sign those papers before the wedding.""
The room seemed to tilt.
Andre turned back to Vanessa.
"What papers?""
Vanessa's lips parted.
For the first time since the ceremony began, she looked genuinely unprepared.
Charles unfolded the letter in his hand.
"Maybe this will help.""
"Don't," Vanessa snapped.
The word burst out of her before she could stop it.
Charles looked at her.
"Why not?""
"Because it's a private letter!""
"Then why did you send a message telling Evelyn to stay away?""
"I didn't tell her to stay away!""
Charles lifted the printed page.
"Do you want me to read it?""
Vanessa's breathing grew shallow.
Andre held up one hand.
"Everybody stop.""
His voice wasn't loud, but the command cut through the room.
He looked at his father.
"Give me the paper.""
Charles hesitated.
Then he walked down from the microphone and handed it to his son.
Andre studied the screenshot.
The message had been sent from an unfamiliar number, but the name displayed above it was unmistakable.
*Andre Mitchell.*
The message read:
I don't want you at the wedding. You've caused enough problems between Vanessa and me. If you love me, stay away and let me start my life without your interference.
Andre read it twice.
Then a third time.
"I never sent this.""
"I know," Charles said.
Andre looked at him sharply.
"How?""
"Because I was with your mother when it arrived.""
Evelyn's shoulders shook.
Charles continued, his voice roughening.
"She called me after reading it. She asked whether you were serious. I told her I'd speak to you, but she begged me not to interfere. She said you deserved a peaceful wedding, even if she had to suffer through it alone.""
Andre looked down at the soaked dress beneath his jacket.
"You thought I sent that?""
Evelyn couldn't meet his eyes.
"I thought you were angry with me.""
"For what?""
"For not telling you everything.""
He knelt in front of her.
"Mom, look at me.""
She lifted her face.
"I have never asked you to disappear from my life.""
"I know that now.""
"No. I need you to understand something."" He swallowed hard.
"You could call me at three in the morning and tell me the house was on fire, and I'd come running. There is nothing you could do that would make me send you a message like that.""
Evelyn began to cry.
Andre pulled her into his arms.
For a moment, the wedding hall disappeared. He was a little boy again, standing in the kitchen while his mother wrapped a towel around his shoulders after he fell into the neighborhood swimming pool. She had held him just like this, telling him he was safe.
Now she was the one trembling.
And he had no idea how long she'd been frightened.
When he finally stood, Vanessa was watching him with wet eyes.
"Andre, please.""
He held up the screenshot.
"Did you send this?""
"No.""
"Did you write it?""
She looked at the floor.
"Andre—"
"Did you write it?""
"I didn't send that exact message.""
Charles let out a bitter laugh.
Vanessa rounded on him.
"You have no idea what happened between us!""
"Then explain it," Charles said.
"I was trying to keep this family together!""
Evelyn wiped her face with the edge of the jacket.
"By keeping me away from my son?""
Vanessa looked at her.
"You don't understand what you've done.""
"What have I done?"" Evelyn asked.
"You have spent years making Andre feel responsible for you. Every time he makes a decision, you make him feel guilty for not asking your permission. You call him when he's with me.
You cry when he chooses my advice over yours. You have no idea how exhausting it is to compete with you.""
Andre stared at her.
"Compete?""
Vanessa's voice broke.
"I love you.""
"Then why does my mother believe I don't want her here?""
"Because she doesn't know what it's like to be the person you're supposed to build a life with!""
The words hung between them.
For the first time, Andre saw something beneath Vanessa's polished smile that he had never quite understood.
Resentment.
Not just toward Evelyn.
Toward the place Evelyn occupied in his life.
Andre had always believed Vanessa admired his closeness with his mother. She had once told him that the way he cared for Evelyn was one of the reasons she fell in love with him.
Had that been true?
Or had she been waiting for the day she could become the only person he listened to?
Simone stepped forward from the bridesmaids.
"Vanessa," she said quietly.
"Stop.""
Vanessa spun toward her sister.
"Stay out of this.""
"No.""
Simone's voice trembled, but she held her ground.
"You told me Evelyn had canceled because she didn't want to come. You said she was being difficult.""
Vanessa's face hardened.
"That's what happened.""
"Then why did you ask me to delete the messages you sent from your phone?""
The room erupted in whispers.
Andre slowly turned toward Simone.
"What messages?""
Simone looked at her sister.
Vanessa shook her head almost imperceptibly.
"Don't do this," she whispered.
Simone's eyes filled with tears.
"I kept the screenshots.""
Vanessa took a step toward her.
"You promised me.""
"I promised you I'd give you a chance to fix this.""
Simone pulled her phone from her clutch.
"I didn't promise to help you lie to him.""
Andre felt as if the floor had dropped away beneath his feet.
He looked at Vanessa.
"Your sister has screenshots?""
Vanessa said nothing.
Simone unlocked her phone with shaking fingers.
"There are three messages," she said.
"One to Evelyn. One to me. And one to someone else.""
Charles leaned forward.
"Someone else?""
Simone nodded.
"I wasn't supposed to know about the third one.""
Andre held out his hand.
"Show me.""
Simone glanced at Vanessa, then at Andre.
"It's not just about your mother," she whispered.
She turned her screen toward him.
The first screenshot showed the same message Evelyn had received, sent from a number saved under Andre's name.
The second was a conversation between Vanessa and Simone.
Make sure Evelyn doesn't come. If she appears, everything falls apart.
Andre's stomach tightened.
He read it again.
"Everything falls apart?"" he repeated.
Simone wiped her cheek.
"I asked her what she meant. She wouldn't tell me.""
Andre looked at Vanessa.
"What did you mean?""
Vanessa pressed her lips together.
Charles stepped toward the microphone again.
"There is one more thing you need to see.""
Andre turned.
His father was holding the original envelope, and something else was tucked inside it.
A small folded sheet.
Evelyn saw it and immediately reached for Charles's arm.
"No.""
Charles stopped.
Her voice was barely audible.
"Please. Not that.""
Andre looked from his mother to his father.
"What's on that paper?""
Charles glanced at Evelyn, then at Vanessa.
"It's the reason I didn't let your mother throw that letter away.""
He unfolded the sheet.
There were only two lines.
But when Andre read the first one, he felt his hands go cold.
May you like
It was a message sent to Vanessa from someone who had been dead for six months.
And the second line contained his mother's name.
