CHAPTER 2 — THE FACE BEHIND THE SILENCE
The ballroom didn’t breathe.
Not after the maid’s words.
Not after the video.
Not after the bride’s mask cracked in front of everyone.
The groom stood frozen, staring at the screen on the maid’s phone. The image kept replaying—frame after frame—showing the bride’s hand calmly dropping the pill into his drink.
His fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
Slowly, he looked up.
At her.
The bride didn’t move.
Not even when every guest shifted away from her like she had become something contagious.
“You’re not going to believe this?” she said softly, tilting her head.
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
The groom swallowed hard.
“Tell me it’s fake.”
A faint smile touched her lips.
But her eyes were empty.
“I wish I could.”
A heavy silence dropped.
Then the groom turned slowly toward the maid.
“Why?” he asked hoarsely. “Why would she do this?”
The maid flinched—but didn’t step back.
“I don’t know everything,” she whispered. “But I know she planned it. And I know she would have succeeded… if I didn’t see it.”
The bride suddenly laughed.
A sharp, broken sound.
“You think she saved you?” she said, looking at the maid. “You have no idea what you interrupted.”
That sentence changed everything.
The groom frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
The bride stepped forward slightly.
And for the first time, fear flickered in her expression—but it wasn’t fear of being caught.
It was fear of something being revealed.
“You weren’t the target,” she said quietly.
The room went still again.
The groom’s face tightened.
“Then who was?”
The bride looked at him for a long moment.
May you like
And whispered:
“You were just the replacement.”
