Chapter 10: The Lie Begins to Collapse

By the time we returned from the wedding, Camden's post had been deleted.

So had the edited screenshot.

But it was too late.

Hundreds of people had already seen my response. Some had saved it. Others had reposted it. The story Camden had spent months building around himself was beginning to crack.

I didn't celebrate.

I didn't feel victorious.

I just felt tired.

Beck noticed immediately.

"You don't have to read anything tonight," he said.

I looked at him from across the hotel room. "What if they keep talking?"

"Let them."

"What if my mother believes him?"

Beck's expression softened.

"Then that's her choice. You don't have to spend your marriage convincing people who already decided not to understand you."

Marriage.

The word still made me smile.

I looked down at my ring again.

My ring.

Not something I had to share.

Not something someone could demand from me because they thought they deserved it more.

Mine.

Our marriage had barely begun, and already I understood something I had never understood with Camden.

Love wasn't supposed to feel like competition.

There shouldn't be a winner and a loser.

There shouldn't be someone standing outside the circle wondering why everyone else was allowed inside.

My phone vibrated on the table.

I ignored it.

A minute later, Beck glanced at the screen.

"Your mother."

My stomach tightened.

I hadn't heard from her since the wedding.

I didn't want to answer.

But something inside me whispered that if I didn't, I might regret it.

I picked up.

"Hello?"

For several seconds, there was only silence.

Then my mother's voice came through.

"How could you do this to us?"

I closed my eyes.

Of course.

Not congratulations.

Not I'm sorry.

Not even How are you?

"Do what?"

"Humiliate Camden publicly. On your wedding day of all days."

A strange laugh escaped me.

"My wedding day? Mom, Camden posted a lie about me on my wedding day."

"He was hurt."

"So he lied?"

"He was emotional."

"And that makes it okay?"

She sighed heavily.

"Rowan, you know how difficult this whole situation has been. Pepper is carrying his child. He has responsibilities now."

"Those responsibilities aren't mine."

"You could have handled things privately."

"I tried."

My voice became quieter.

"I tried for months."

She didn't answer.

I could hear someone moving around in the background.

Then Pepper's voice floated through the phone.

"Mom, don't waste your time. She doesn't care."

I froze.

My mother spoke again.

"Pepper has been through enough. She doesn't need this stress."

Something in me finally snapped into place.

"And what about me?"

Silence.

I almost laughed at the predictability of it.

That question had followed me my entire life.

What about me?

My mother never had an answer.

Not when I was sixteen.

Not when Camden betrayed me.

Not now.

"I'm married," I said. "My husband is sitting right here. My life is moving forward. I don't want to keep discussing Camden."

"You can't just erase everything."

"I'm not erasing anything."

I looked at Beck.

"I'm putting it where it belongs. In the past."

My mother inhaled sharply.

"Your father would be ashamed of you."

The words landed hard.

For one second, the room seemed to disappear.

Then I remembered the ring she had tried to give Pepper.

I remembered being told that my father's belongings were somehow more valuable on someone else's finger.

I remembered every time my mother had asked me to sacrifice something so everyone else could remain comfortable.

My chest still hurt.

But I wasn't breaking anymore.

"Don't use Dad to make me feel guilty," I said softly.

"You gave away everything you thought belonged to me a long time ago."

"Rowan—"

"I'm done."

I ended the call.

My hands were shaking.

Beck reached for me.

I leaned into him without saying anything.

He held me until my breathing steadied.

The next morning, I woke to dozens of notifications.

My post had spread far beyond our mutual friends.

People had compared the screenshots.

Someone had recovered the original conversation from an old group chat.

Another person had found the property records for the house Camden had proudly called his baby's home.

The house wasn't his.

It belonged to Pepper.

And the purchase had been made months before Camden claimed he had accidentally gotten involved with her.

That detail changed everything.

I stared at the screen.

The timeline didn't make sense anymore.

Beck sat beside me, reading over my shoulder.

"When did they buy the house?"

"Eight months ago."

He frowned.

"And when did Camden tell you Pepper was pregnant?"

"Six months ago."

"So they already had a house together before he told you."

I nodded slowly.

"Exactly."

Another notification appeared.

This one was from someone I hadn't spoken to in years.

A former coworker of Camden's.

The message was short.

"You deserve to know the truth. Camden wasn't planning to marry you. He had been preparing a life with Pepper for months."

My fingers went cold.

There was an attachment.

I opened it.

Screenshots.

Hotel reservations.

Furniture invoices.

Nursery orders.

A private conversation between Camden and Pepper.

Every document was dated before Camden ever told me about the pregnancy.

Before he posted the marriage license.

Before he told me he had only helped Pepper because she needed him.

I felt sick.

Not because I still loved him.

Because I suddenly understood how deliberately I had been deceived.

This wasn't one mistake.

It had been a plan.

Beck read the messages quietly.

"He knew exactly what he was doing."

I nodded.

"He wanted me to stay available while he built another life."

The realization was almost freeing.

For months, I had wondered whether I had been too harsh.

Whether I should have forgiven him.

Whether I had abandoned someone who had simply made a terrible mistake.

Now I knew.

He hadn't made one mistake.

He had made hundreds of choices.

And every single one had been made without me.

My phone rang again.

Camden.

This time, I answered.

There was silence on the line.

Then his voice.

Low.

Angry.

"Where did you get those screenshots?"

I smiled faintly.

"So they're real."

He went quiet.

"Rowan, listen to me."

"No. You listen."

My voice was steady.

"You lied to me. You built a life with Pepper while telling me we were planning a future together. You made me look like the villain when I walked away."

"It wasn't like that."

"Then explain it."

Silence.

"Exactly."

I took a breath.

"You don't have to explain anything to me anymore."

"You married Beck just to hurt me."

I almost laughed.

"No, Camden. I married Beck because he loves me."

"You don't love him."

"That's where you're wrong."

I looked at my husband.

He was standing by the window, giving me space.

"I love him because he never made me beg for a place in his life."

Camden's breathing became uneven.

"Rowan, please."

Please.

The word sounded unfamiliar coming from him.

"You had your chance," I said.

"And you chose someone else."

I ended the call.

This time, I blocked his number.

I thought that would be the end.

It wasn't.

That afternoon, an envelope arrived at our hotel.

No return address.

My name was written across the front.

Inside was a single photograph.

Camden.

Pepper.

My mother.

And another man I didn't recognize.

They were standing together outside a lawyer's office.

On the back of the photograph, someone had written four words.

You were never the plan.

I stared at the photograph.

Beck came to my side.

"Who is that man?"

I shook my head.

"I don't know."

But deep down, I knew one thing.

Whatever Camden and Pepper had been hiding was bigger than a broken engagement.

And someone had just decided it was time for me to find out.