All the Lies - Charlotte Byrd Page 0,25

me. “I really appreciate seeing you all and the effort that you put into coming here to celebrate us.”

I realize that I'm repeating myself, but I need to gather the strength. My eyes focus on Liam again and suddenly I start to feel better.

He gives me a nod of support and I let out a sigh of relief. It washes over me like a wave, wrapping me in a cocoon of comfort.

“The thing is that despite how much I wish I could be a part of your family and that we could join our families together, I can’t do that at this point. Alex did something terrible. I just found out earlier today and the wedding is off. We're not engaged and we are not getting married. Please enjoy the party and the cake. My mom and sister have worked really hard to organize everything.”

15

Liam

I watch her walk over to the mic with Alex holding her hand, waiting to see what’s going to happen. The girl that I met out back was broken and disappointed.

That’s exactly the woman who I see before me in the front of the room. You don't have to be a psychologist to figure out that she's not very comfortable with getting praise or having nice things said about her.

She stands with her shoulders slumped down cowering behind the man who I'd heard hurt her to her very core.

After Alex’s father speaks, telling stories about a child who doesn’t seem at all like the kid that I remember, Alex takes the mic. I expect him to say something as flat and insincere as his father, but he doesn't. He uses the time to give her a failed apology.

Perhaps she had made it clear to him that they will not be getting married and he's just trying to do one last thing to convince her to stay.

I wonder if it will work.

Suddenly, the mousy, timid woman who was standing next to her fiancé comes alive. She takes the microphone, clears her throat into it, and tells him to fuck himself.

Everyone else in the room is shocked, but I tilt my head back and laugh with my whole body.

Then I clap.

Finally, Emma has done what is right by her.

Alex is an asshole. We all know that. The only way he and men like him will start acting the right way is if the women in their lives demand it.

Instead of covering up for him and being embarrassed over her supposed humiliation, Emma takes the microphone and tells everyone in the room that the wedding is off.

A few minutes later, I find her at the bar.

Everyone else is avoiding her, trying to pretend that she’s invisible. The couple next to Emma even have their backs turned, probably hoping that she doesn’t talk to them. It’s not like they’re not curious. But they’d rather just gossip among themselves.

I don’t have the same problem.

“To think,” I say, walking up to Emma. “To think that I was going to miss this engagement party. I would have never forgiven myself.”

I extend my hand and she shakes it, looking at the bottom of her cocktail.

“You were… Marvelous.” I look down and realize that we are still shaking hands. She pulls hers away and laughs uncomfortably.

“Listen, I know that was hard but that was the right thing to do.”

“Yeah,” Emma says, looking around the room. “It certainly doesn’t feel like it. You're the only one here congratulating me.”

“Doesn't matter,” I say, shaking my head. “They can all go fuck themselves.”

An older woman standing next to me glares at us and I shrug my shoulders, refusing to apologize.

“What Alex did was terrible and he deserved to be called out,” I say. “They forced you to have this engagement party.”

I glance over at her and see her staring at her sisters and her mom near the kitchen.

“Yeah, it was the right thing to do, but then why do I feel like such an asshole?”

“Maybe that's how you know it's the right thing to do,” I say.

We stand here for a few moments and when I get up to walk away, she stops me.

“Don't leave,” Emma whispers. “I have a feeling that no one's going to talk to me if you do.”

“Do you want them to?” I ask.

“No, I don't, but the fact that they don't want to makes it that much more awkward.”

I give her nod a and stand by her side for a few moments.

“Hey, smooth move.” A woman who looks a lot like Emma walks