Chapter 2: Room 237
Chapter 2: Room 237
Mrs. Bennett arrived first.
She rushed down the hallway, still wearing the elegant emerald dress she'd chosen for her only son's wedding.
Behind her came Mr. Bennett, Maverick's younger sister Claire, his godfather Richard, and several relatives who had left the ballroom after receiving my father's mysterious phone call.
None of them knew what they were about to see.
The hallway outside Room 237 filled with confused whispers.
Mrs. Bennett smiled the moment she spotted me.
"Oh, sweetheart," she said. "Everyone is worried. What happened? Why aren't you at the ceremony?"
I stepped aside without saying a word.
"You should probably ask your son."
She frowned.
Then she walked into the room.
The silence lasted exactly three seconds.
Her eyes landed on Maverick, standing barefoot beside the bed, clutching a hotel sheet around his waist.
Then she saw Penelope.
Still wrapped in another sheet.
Still wearing the necklace I had given her as a bridesmaid gift the night before.
Mrs. Bennett's face turned ghostly white.
"Maverick..."
Her voice cracked.
"What have you done?"
"No, Mom—"
He stepped forward.
"It isn't—"
A loud slap echoed through the suite.
Mrs. Bennett had never struck her son before.
She did now.
Hard enough to leave a red mark across his face.
"You were supposed to marry Amy today."
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
Mr. Bennett stared at his son as though looking at a stranger.
Finally he whispered,
"You've destroyed two families."
Penelope tried to speak.
"I never meant—"
"Stop."
The voice came from Aunt Rose.
The eighty-two-year-old woman walked into the room with more dignity than everyone else combined.
She looked directly at Penelope.
"You don't accidentally end up in bed with your best friend's fiancé on her wedding day."
Penelope burst into tears.
"It wasn't planned."
I laughed.
The sound surprised even me.
"Really?"
I pulled another phone from my purse.
"My old phone."
Everyone looked at me.
"I forgot I still had access to Penelope's tablet."
I opened a folder.
Months of messages appeared on the screen.
Heart emojis.
Hotel reservations.
Photos.
Conversations stretching back nearly a year.
Maverick stared in horror.
"You..."
"You hacked us?"
"No."
I smiled.
"You logged into your account on my Wi-Fi six months ago."
"You forgot to log out."
Mrs. Bennett took the phone with trembling hands.
She scrolled silently.
Every message dug the hole deeper.
I wish Amy would stop talking about the wedding.
Just survive one more month.
After the honeymoon we'll tell her.
She'll get over it eventually.
Claire covered her mouth.
Richard muttered a prayer under his breath.
Mr. Bennett quietly sat down.
He suddenly looked ten years older.
Then Mrs. Bennett handed the phone back to me.
She turned to Penelope.
"You called yourself her sister."
Penelope couldn't answer.
Mrs. Bennett looked at Maverick.
"And you let her spend over two hundred thousand dollars on a wedding you never intended to honor."
His silence became his confession.
I finally removed the engagement ring from my finger.
It slid off effortlessly.
I placed it on the nightstand between them.
"It belongs here."
Then I walked out.
May you like
This time...
Neither of them tried to stop me.
