Chapter 3

Sarah heard it too. Her face flushed with embarrassment—not for Jake, but for me.

"Emma, please," she whispered urgently. "People are starting to talk. This will follow you forever if you don't do something."

Forever. In a town this size, she's right. This story will define me. The bride who was too selfish to let her fiancé save a life. Except that's not what's really happening.

I noticed several people had their phones out, filming. A teenage girl nearby was clearly streaming live.

"Oh my God, you guys," she was saying to her camera, "there's like this total drama happening at a wedding. This girl was gonna jump off a bridge and the groom is trying to save her but the bride is being like totally psycho about it."

Kelly grabbed my arm. "Emma, people are livestreaming this. It's going to be everywhere."

As if on cue, my phone started buzzing with notifications. Facebook, Instagram, text messages from people who weren't even here but had already seen the videos.

Text from my cousin in Chicago: "OMG Emma what's happening??? Saw ur on TikTok"

Facebook notification: "You've been tagged in 12 posts"

Instagram story mentions: Rising by the second

"This is insane," Kelly breathed, looking at her own phone. "#MillbrookWedding is trending."

Perfect. Now the whole world gets to watch my humiliation. And they're all going to see the same thing—Jake the hero, Chloe the victim, Emma the monster.

Sarah looked at her phone, her face pale. "Emma, there are already news vans coming. Someone called the local TV station."

More townspeople were arriving. Pastor Williams, who was supposed to marry us twenty minutes ago. The country club manager, wondering where the wedding party was. Jake's fellow firefighters, who'd heard about the situation on the scanner.

Everyone had an opinion, and none of them were in my favor.

"That poor child," Mrs. Henderson shook her head. "What could drive someone so young to such desperation?"

"It's drugs, probably," suggested Mr. Morton. "These kids today, they can't handle real problems."

"Well, thank God Jake was here," added Mrs. Patterson. "Can you imagine if..."

They all looked at me when they said it. The unspoken accusation was clear—I would have let her die.

Pastor Williams approached me, his expression kind but concerned.

"Emma, my dear, I know today has been stressful, but perhaps we should pray together? For all involved?"

"I don't think prayer is going to help, Pastor," I replied.

The shock on his face was immediate. In a town like Millbrook, you don't refuse the pastor's offer to pray. Not in public. Not when people are already questioning your moral character.

Sarah looked mortified. "Emma, please..."

Jake had managed to get close enough to Chloe to extend his hand.

"That's it," he encouraged. "Just take my hand. One step at a time."

Chloe looked at his outstretched hand, then at him, then toward where I was standing. Even from this distance, I could see the calculation in her eyes.

"Will you stay with me?" she asked. "I don't want to be alone."

"Of course," Jake replied immediately. "You're not alone anymore."

She took his hand.

The crowd erupted in relieved cheers and applause. People were crying, hugging each other, celebrating Jake's successful negotiation.

And there it is. The happy ending everyone wanted. Jake saves the day, the girl lives, and I'm the villain who tried to stop it. Perfect narrative. Except it's all built on a lie.

Chloe safely stepped down from the railing and immediately collapsed against Jake in what looked like relief but I recognized as something else entirely—triumph.

She'd done it. She'd gotten him holding her, comforting her, being her hero, all while his abandoned bride stood watching from fifty feet away.

As Jake helped Chloe toward the ambulance that had just arrived, people started to disperse. But not without making sure I knew exactly what they thought.

"Unbelievable," I heard someone mutter.

"On her own wedding day, too."

"Poor Jake. Imagine finding out what kind of person you almost married."

Sarah walked back to me, and I could see she'd been crying.

"Emma, I don't know what to say."

"Then don't say anything."

"But I have to. Because I love you, and I love Jake, and I don't understand how we got here."

She still loves me. Even after all this, Sarah still loves me. But I can see the doubt in her eyes, the confusion, the disappointment. I'm losing her too.

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you thought," I said, hating myself for the words even as I said them.

Sarah's face crumpled. "Maybe I don't."

Kelly appeared at my side. "Emma, we need to go. Now. Before the news crews get here."

She was right. I could already see a van with Channel 7 News pulling up.

As we walked back to the wedding cars, I heard someone behind me talking loudly into their phone:

"Yeah, you should totally come film this! It's gonna be all over TikTok anyway. This bride just stood there while some girl almost killed herself! Her own wedding day!"

I turned around and saw it was Brittany Walsh, a girl who'd graduated high school last year. She had her phone pointed right at me.

"And she's giving me dirty looks now!" Brittany continued for her audience. "Like, lady, you're the one who—"

"Brittany," I interrupted. "You might want to be careful what you put online."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. First Amendment, bitch."

This is it. This is how I'll be remembered. Not as Emma the teacher who cared about kids. Not as Emma who volunteers at the shelter. Not as Emma who loved Jake enough to marry him.

As Emma the cold-hearted bride who cared more about her wedding than human life.

Kelly took my arm. "Come on. Let's go home."

As we walked away, I heard Brittany's voice getting louder:

"Oh shit, you guys, this is about to blow up! I'm gonna be TikTok famous!"

We'd barely reached the car when my phone started going crazy. Notification after notification flooded in, the screen lighting up nonstop.

Kelly was checking her phone beside me, her face turning white. "Emma... oh my God."

She turned the screen toward me. Brittany's TikTok livestream already had 150,000 views and climbing fast. Comments were flying by at dozens per second:

"SOMEONE FIND OUT WHO THIS BRIDE IS"

"This woman is EVIL"

"Poor groom deserves better"

"How is she even a teacher??? Fire her!"

Fifteen minutes. In just fifteen minutes, I'd gone from bride-to-be to public enemy number one.

"There are already seven different videos from different angles," Kelly whispered, scrolling frantically. "Emma, #ColdBride is trending."

From the parking lot, we had a perfect view of Jake's rescue operation. He'd managed to get Chloe safely off the railing, and now she was sitting on the bridge walkway, wrapped in a paramedic's blanket.

But she wasn't letting Jake leave.

"Please don't go," I could hear her saying. "I don't have anyone else."

Jake sat beside her, his voice gentle and professional. "Tell me about your family. Is there someone I can call?"