R I V E R

The dress squeezes my chest like a vice, and I grunt, adjusting the stiff fabric. I glare at myself in the mirror, my face flushed and frustrated. Why the hell did I let my mother convince me to go two sizes too small? 'It'll motivate you to lose weight before the big day,' she'd said.

And because it was easier than arguing, I'd nodded and agreed.

But looking at myself now, bound up in this corseted, strapless nightmare with its sweeping skirt and low back, I regret every second of it. The dress is beautiful, but it's choking me, clinging so tightly I wonder if my ribs will still be intact by the end of the night.

Movement catches my eye in the reflection—a dark figure striding across the lawn outside my window, hands shoved in his pockets. Wyatt. My fiancé, pacing in the early evening light. Nervous. Wyatt, who never lets anyone see him sweat, is actually nervous. 

A soft smile spreads across my face. The grooms not supposed to see the dress before the wedding, but we're close enough now, right? I step toward the window, ready to call out—until I see her.

Emily.

My brow furrows and I duck back, heart hammering as I press myself against the wall, listening.

"You have to be kidding me, Wyatt," she says, her voice sharp, a whine to it that never sounded good coming from Emily's mouth. "Why are you still marrying her?"

"You know why, Em," he replies, his voice barely a murmur but laced with irritation.

"You have to," she spits, a bitter edge to her tone. "What about us?"

"Emily, we can't afford to have this on my reputation," Wyatt hisses, his words fraying my last shreds of composure.

"Your reputation?!" Emily's voice climbs higher. "What about mine? I'm carrying your baby, Wyatt." Her sob hits the air, "Once everyone finds out, I'll be ruined. My career will be over before it even starts!"

My breath catches. My heart stumbles.

"Keep your voice down," he snaps. "I have a plan."

"Oh, a plan?" she hisses. "Well, it better not include me watching you marry someone else."

"Emily, listen," he says. "We can say River gave birth to the baby, she can raise it, and you can live with us to help, I'll say River had a difficult pregnancy, so we kept it silent." He hushes, "You'll look like a helpful sister, everyone will love you."

She scoffs. "She will not agree to that." 

"She will once we're married," he says, his voice cold. "She'll fall in line. We'd be doing her a favor."

"You know she can't have kids, Wyatt." Emily whispers. "She'll hate us."

"And that's exactly why she'll love it. We'll be giving her something she can't have."

My body goes numb as their words bleed into each other, circling in my mind. I stagger back, pulling myself out of the whirlwind of their plan, the vicious cruelty of it all.

They think they know me, that they can twist my desperation, my deepest longing into something they can exploit. They think I'll just fall in line.

The thought electrifies me, jolts me awake, and before I can think twice, I stride out of the room, grabbing my phone as I go. As I step into the open, I swipe to Instagram and start the live feed and keep the phone by my side. 

I round the corner and there they are: Wyatt and Emily, my fiancé and my sister, tangled in each other, oblivious.

Emily's the first to see me, her eyes widening as she stumbles away from him. "River—" Her hand falling to her stomach. 

Her hands fall to her stomach, and I scoff, "I guess congratulations are in order."

She looks down, face ashen. 

"River, babe-" 

I say nothing. Just slip the ring off my finger and throw it at Wyatt's feet.

He steps forward. "Wait, babe, please, let's talk."

"Talk?" I laugh, sharp and mirthless. "You want to talk? Fine. Explain to me how you planned to pass your child - my sister's child off as mine. Or was this whole marriage just a cover for your dirty little secrets?"

"River, you've always wanted a baby. It could've been perfect for you—"

"Oh, you thought I'd be grateful?" I cut him off, voice rising. "The infertile woman's miracle? That's what you were counting on, right?"

"River, calm down. Let's think this through—"

"Think it through?" I laugh bitterly, shaking my head. "No. I've thought enough. I'm done."

I turn to Emily, anger boiling over. "And you—you're my sister. My sister. We were up all night, talking about today, and the whole time you knew. Why, Emily? Why would you do this?"

"It just happened," she whispers, her voice barely audible.

"'Just happened'?" I repeat, my voice cracking. "What he tripped and fell into your vagina?" I spit disgustingly. "You threw away everything for 'just happened'? You're both the most selfish people I've ever known."

"River," she chokes out.

"No," I say. "Don't 'River' me. I trusted you because you're my fucking sister. I loved you, and you did this. You both did."

I turn to Wyatt one last time, my voice hollow. "And you. You're a coward and a liar, and I never want to see you again."

He tries to say my name, but I shake my head. "Don't."

I look to my sister once more, "What will mum think when you tell her? She is going to be so disappointed in you." 

"She already knows." Emily mumbles and I feel my heart crack that little bit more. 

"I'm done." I mumble, feeling lost, like I'm on autopilot. "I never want to see either of you again." 

With that, I turn on my heel, my live feed still recording every step as I walk away from them both, from the ruins they left behind.