After a long moment, I looked down at my phone.
There was only one person who knew what was happening. Mary.
My hands shook as I dialed her number. She answered almost immediately.
“Monica?” she said.
“You knew,” I whispered.
There was a pause.
Then she said softly, “Yes.”
“We need to talk.”
“You knew,” I whispered.
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***
The hotel lobby was almost empty when I entered.
It was close to midnight. A few tired guests sat on couches with drinks in their hands, talking softly.
My MIL stood near the entrance. For the first time since I had met her, she didn’t look composed or judgmental. She looked exhausted.
When she saw me walking toward her, her expression softened.
“Monica,” she said quietly.
“Mary. So, you sent that message because you found the envelope?”
She nodded slowly.
She looked exhausted.
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Mary glanced around before answering.
“Earlier that day, before the ceremony, Daniel went to change at the venue. I went looking for him because the photographer was asking where the groom was. His garment bag was open on the chair. The envelope was sticking out.”
“So you opened it?”
Her expression tightened.
“At first, I didn’t understand what I was seeing. Then I saw the passport. And the paperwork with your name.”
She met my eyes.
“So you opened it?”
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“I confronted him immediately,” Mary continued. “But he told me to stay out of it.”
I let out a bitter laugh.
“That sounds like him.”
She shook her head slowly.
“I begged him to explain. But he laughed and said, ‘It’s not like you ever liked Monica, anyway. Don’t play innocent now.'”
The words stung because they were true.
“I asked him why he’d do something so cruel,” she continued. “And that’s when he told me everything.”
I held my breath.
“I begged him to explain.”
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Mary explained, “He said that years ago, he signed business agreements with the wrong people while trying to start a company. But things went wrong.”
She looked down at the marble floor.
“The pressure kept growing. The debts became impossible to manage.”
I frowned.
“So his solution was to steal from me?”
Her eyes lifted again.
“He said the wedding would give him access to your financial stability. And then he’d disappear.”
I felt sick.
“But things went wrong.”
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“Daniel said he planned to start over somewhere else with Sarah, and he’d been organizing it for months.”
A cold feeling crept over me.
Mary must have seen my confused look, because she explained, “Sarah is the woman he’s been with long before you, it seems. She’s the woman who danced with him during your reception.”
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then Mary said quietly, “He told me he loved her.”
“He planned to start over.”
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I remembered the dance routine again.
The way Sarah had moved beside him so easily.
The way they looked at each other.
The whole thing suddenly made sense.
“So the entire night was a performance.”
“I’m afraid so,” Mary said softly.
I remembered the dance routine again.
“Why didn’t you tell me right away?” I asked.
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