Chapter 9: The Truth Camden Couldn't Hide

Ten days passed faster than I expected.

By the morning of my wedding, the house no longer felt like the place where my life had fallen apart. It was simply somewhere I had once lived.

My dress hung beside the window, covered in soft white fabric and tiny beads that caught the morning light. I stared at it for a long time before touching the sleeve.

I wasn't nervous.

At least, not about marrying Beck.

I was nervous about everything that came before him. The memories. The questions. The possibility that Camden would find another way to turn my happiest day into another battlefield.

My phone vibrated on the vanity.

I glanced at the screen.

Twenty-three missed calls.

Camden.

I didn't open the messages.

Another notification appeared.

Pepper had posted something.

For a second, my finger hovered over it. Then I locked my phone.

I had spent too many years allowing their chaos to dictate my emotions.

Today, I refused.

A soft knock sounded at the door.

Beck's voice came from the other side.

"Ro? Are you ready?"

I smiled despite myself.

"Almost."

"Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."

Those words should have been ordinary.

Instead, they hit something deep inside me.

I'm not going anywhere.

Camden had once said the same thing.

The difference was that Beck meant it.

When I finally walked downstairs, Beck was waiting near the entrance. He wore a dark suit, his hair neatly combed, but the moment he saw me, every carefully controlled expression disappeared from his face.

He just stared.

"You look beautiful," he whispered.

I laughed softly. "You look terrified."

"I am."

"Why?"

"Because I'm finally getting the girl I've loved since I was fifteen. I'm allowed to be terrified."

My smile faded for a second.

Loved.

The word still felt strange when someone said it without conditions attached.

Beck stepped closer but stopped before touching me.

"If you're having second thoughts, tell me now. I'll still walk you away from this place. No questions asked."

I looked into his eyes.

"I'm not having second thoughts."

"You're sure?"

"I've never been more sure of anything."

His shoulders relaxed.

Then my phone rang again.

Camden.

Beck's eyes dropped to the screen before returning to mine.

"Do you want to answer?"

"No."

"Then don't."

I turned the phone off completely.

For the first time, Camden couldn't reach me.

The ceremony was small. Only the people who genuinely cared about me were there.

My mother's seat remained empty.

So did Pepper's.

Derek wasn't there either.

I thought I would feel hurt.

Instead, I felt strangely light.

When I walked down the aisle, Beck's eyes never left mine.

Not once.

He didn't look over my shoulder.

He didn't compare me to anyone.

He didn't make me wonder whether I was enough.

When I reached him, he took my hand carefully.

"You made it," he whispered.

"So did you."

He smiled.

The ceremony passed in a blur of vows, trembling laughter, and tears I didn't bother hiding.

When the officiant finally pronounced us married, Beck leaned close.

"My wife."

Something inside me broke open.

Not painfully.

Like a locked door finally giving way.

I smiled.

"My husband."

The room erupted in applause.

For a few precious minutes, everything was perfect.

Then my best friend rushed toward me, her expression suddenly serious.

"Rowan, there's something you need to see."

She handed me her phone.

My stomach tightened.

On the screen was Camden's latest post.

A photo of him standing beside Pepper.

She was holding the baby.

The caption read:

"Some people run when life gets difficult. Others stay and take responsibility. I'm choosing my family."

The comments were already exploding.

But beneath the photo was something else.

A screenshot.

It was an old message from me.

Camden had cropped it deliberately so it looked as though I had been begging him not to leave me.

My friend looked furious.

"He's trying to make it seem like you abandoned him."

I stared at the screen.

Then I noticed something in the corner of the screenshot.

The date.

It was from six months ago.

Before Pepper's pregnancy had ever been announced.

My eyes narrowed.

I remembered that conversation.

I remembered exactly what I had written.

Camden had begged me to meet him because he said he needed to tell me something important.

I had refused because I was sick and exhausted.

His response had been a confession.

He had written that he had made a mistake and that Pepper was pregnant.

I had told him that if he chose her, I would never forgive him.

He had deleted the conversation afterward.

But apparently, he hadn't deleted everything.

My friend zoomed in.

"Look at the timestamp."

My blood ran cold.

Someone had edited the screenshot.

The messages had been rearranged.

But whoever did it had missed one detail.

The original date was still visible in the metadata line.

Beck came over.

"What's wrong?"

I handed him the phone.

He read the post silently.

His expression changed.

"He's lying."

"Yes."

"Do you want me to deal with him?"

I shook my head.

"No."

For years, I had tried to prove myself to people who had already decided I was guilty.

I wasn't doing that anymore.

I opened my own account.

My wedding ring caught the light as I typed.

I uploaded the original conversation.

Every message.

Every timestamp.

Every piece of evidence Camden had tried to bury.

Then I added one sentence.

"I didn't abandon my fiancé. I left a man who abandoned me first."

I posted it.

Within seconds, the comments started flooding in.

But this time, I didn't watch.

I handed my phone to Beck and walked outside.

The evening air was cool against my face.

Beck followed me.

He slipped his hand into mine.

"You okay?"

I looked at my wedding ring.

Then I looked at him.

"For the first time, I really am."

Behind us, my phone began ringing again.

Once.

Twice.

Then continuously.

Camden had seen the post.

And judging by the number of calls, he finally understood one thing.

I wasn't coming back.