Chapter 6 - THE BRIDAL FITTING
Four days before the wedding, Maya attended her final dress fitting.
The gown had been designed around fabric from Claire’s wedding veil.
A strip of delicate lace had been sewn along the inside of the bodice where only Maya could see it.
Daniel cried when she stepped out of the fitting room.
“You look like your mother.”
Maya held his hand.
“I wish she were here.”
“She is.”
Vivian arrived twenty minutes late.
She circled Maya slowly.
“The neckline is modest.”
Maya smiled.
“That sounds almost like approval.”
“I said modest, not elegant.”
The seamstress looked uncomfortable.
Ethan’s sister quickly changed the subject.
After the fitting, the dress was sealed inside a garment bag and placed in a locked bridal suite at Whitmore House.
Only four people had access.
Maya.
The wedding planner.
The seamstress.
Vivian.
That evening, Ethan asked again about the marital agreement.
“I’m not signing it.”
“My mother believes Nora is turning you against us.”
“Nora is protecting me.”
“From your future husband?”
“From anyone asking for legal control over my life.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
The warmth disappeared.
“Our family is carrying significant financial obligations. Once we’re married, we need to move as one unit.”
“There it is.”
“What?”
“This isn’t about trust. You need my assets.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Be careful.”
“Is that a warning?”
“It’s advice. You don’t understand what happens if Whitmore House fails.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
He refused.
Instead, he left and did not answer her calls for the rest of the night.
The next morning, Maya received a photograph from an unknown number.
It showed Vivian entering the bridal suite at 2:13 a.m.
She carried a black plastic bottle in one hand.
The message beneath the photograph contained only six words:
May you like
Check your dress before she destroys it.
👉 Maya reached the bridal suite before sunrise, but the damage inside proved Vivian had planned more than a cruel wedding-day prank.
