PART 4 — The Wedding Became a Crime Scene
Frank was arrested in the driveway before the sun came up.
The same driveway where wedding guests had thrown white petals only hours earlier.
Neighbors opened curtains. Cousins stood frozen on the porch. Caleb watched his uncle being placed in handcuffs, but his face showed no victory.
Only horror.
Because revenge had made him blind.
And Katherine had paid for it.
Grace found her in the garden, sitting beneath the same string lights from the wedding. Her dress was stained at the hem. Her veil lay beside her like something dead.
“I should have told him,” Katherine said.
Grace sat beside her. “You were afraid.”
Katherine nodded. “Beatrice made me promise to protect the evidence until I knew who I could trust. Then Caleb came into my life. I loved him before I understood who he was.”
Grace’s eyes filled.
“And tonight he became the man you feared.”
Katherine looked away.
Caleb appeared at the garden entrance but did not come closer.
For the first time in his life, he looked small.
“Katherine,” he said quietly. “I don’t deserve to ask for forgiveness.”
She stared at him.
“No. You don’t.”
He nodded as if the words cut exactly where they needed to.
“I believed pain gave me the right to hurt you.”
Katherine stood slowly.
“You didn’t just hurt me, Caleb. You married me as punishment.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“I know.”
She removed the wedding ring from her finger.
Grace made a soft sound, but she did not stop her.
Katherine placed the ring on the garden table.
“I loved the man I thought you were,” she said. “But love can’t survive fear.”
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Then she walked past him.
Caleb did not follow.
