All the Lies - Charlotte Byrd Page 0,14

head.

She brings her hands over to my face and wipes away my tears.

“Look up and blink. That will make them dry up.”

“I can't stop thinking about this.”

“That's the other secret to not crying,” she jokes. “Not thinking about it.”

“You have to tell people that the wedding is off.”

“No,” Mom says, shaking her head. “The night is almost done. Everyone is having a great time. Why ruin it?”

“This feels like a farce.”

“It is a farce,” she corrects me. “Since when has any party not been that? We are here to celebrate you and Alex. It doesn’t matter if we’re here to celebrate your engagement.”

“What are you even talking about?” I ask, shaking my head.

“You don't have to be so dramatic, honey. You always take things so seriously. Everyone is here to have a good time. We all need a reason for a little party, especially at someone else's expense.”

“So, what's going to happen… afterward?” I ask.

“You and Alex are going to figure things out. If for some reason you do agree to break up, then you can just call all of these guests or even email all of them and tell them that the wedding is off. No big deal. But if you don’t want to wait and want to stop this party tonight, then the microphone is right there. You're welcome to go ahead and use it.”

My mom narrows her eyes. She knows that she's asking me to do the impossible.

I have never been good at public speaking. For everyone else in my family, it seems to come as second nature. They can just take the microphone and make all sorts of statements that make everyone in the room feel good, whether or not they are true.

I can't do that.

I can't even make a basic speech in honor of someone let alone stand up there and tell 200 people why I'm no longer getting married.

Mom walks away and I follow her into the living room.

I take a deep breath. The band is about to start to play and this is the time to do a toast if a toast is going to be done. I know that my mom and my dad probably have something planned. I don't want to hear it.

Cold sweat runs down my spine and I'm thankful for the fact that I'm wearing a black dress that will hide whatever pit stains are inevitably going to appear underneath my arms.

I take a deep breath and take a few steps toward the microphone, but then someone stops me.

It's Alex.

He slips his arm under mine intertwining it just below the elbow.

He then pulls me close to him and whispers, “If you are planning on telling anyone that the engagement is off, then make sure that you remember that all of your parents’ money is invested in our hedge fund.”

I pull away from him, narrowing my eyes.

“Are you threatening me?” I gasp.

“No, of course not. I just want you to remember that our families are already interconnected and I wouldn't want anything bad to happen.”

We both know that it's a threat and I have no idea how to respond to it. Before I can take a moment to decide, Alex grabs the microphone with one hand and pulls me closer with the other.

He clears his throat and calls for everyone to pay attention. When everyone's eyes are up front, the house lights dim and a spotlight focuses on us.

He opens his mouth and starts to tell the audience the story of how we met and what happened the first time he told me that he loved me. The speech is eloquent and punctuated with pauses for laughter and contemplation.

He doesn't make himself look like a saint, but he does make everyone in that room love him because of how much he loves me. Of course, he doesn't tell them about Jen or anything that happened today, but when it's over, I certainly can't.

People are tearing up at his words and his charm and even if I were to suddenly tell them every last dirty secret, I don't think that they would side with me.

The thing is that I don't need them to side with me. The decision is all mine.

I know this. Still, I can’t bring myself to tell everyone the truth.

Luckily, the rest of the speeches are much shorter and more concise. My mom only says a few words and she never says only a few words.

Lindsey passes altogether and Alex's parents just give us a brief congratulations. I