his hips and his eyes practically bugging out of their sockets, is Oliver.
“I warned you people not to attend that bitch’s wedding.” He hisses his statement at points a finger directly at me.
I’m too shocked for words.
Callum has a face like thunder and the next thing I know he’s charging down the aisle headed straight for Oliver.
“You’re going to wish you never said that.” I can see Callum’s fists as he clenches and releases them repeatedly. When he reaches Oliver and is about to strike a great rumbling of floor occurs.
From behind Oliver a darkness fills the entrance as his massive robot of three full metres rolls into the room.
***
Callum backs away from Oliver and his big bot. I stand rooted to the spot not quite believing what’s happening. This is our bloody wedding. What business does Oliver have crashing our ceremony like this?
Suddenly, I’m enraged. I rush down the aisle, but someone leaps up from their seat and stops me.
It’s Kirsten. “Just wait a second, please Emily.”
I look at her, dumbfounded.
“I told you all not to come.” Oliver practically spits his words. I look up to see he looks quite angry. It doesn’t matter though, the redness of his face probably pales to my own incensed features.
“I suggest you leave while you have the opportunity.” Callum places his hand on Oliver’s chest.
The moment is tense. No one says a word. The only sounds are coming from the slight low buzz of the huge robot.
“And I suggest you step away before I’m inclined to say things that everyone here would regret.”
“Everyone?” Paige has risen from her seat.
“You as well?” Lara rises and I look at her as she questions Paige.
Something clicks in my mind and it’s as though the world around me grinds to a halt. I can see so clearly now that I’m watching my fiancé make a stance. Why didn’t I figure this out before? The robots always seemed to malfunction around me. The way everyone kept taking their bots out of my presence recently. And then… then I’d discovered Oliver’s underground robotics facility.
“I wasn’t supposed to find your secret lair, was I?” My voice rises in pitch as I lift my head and look directly at Oliver.
He scoffs in reply and pushes Callum’s hand away. “Secret lair? You’ve always had a flare for the dramatic, Emily.”
“Well it’s true!” How dare he mock me at my own wedding? Not that this farce of a day is anything like what a normal wedding should be.
Callum walks toward me as I rush forward. “Just leave it for a bit, honey. Trust me, help is on the way.”
What’s this now? “But he’s been blackmailing my friends!”
My fiancé looks surprised and his confused expression mirrors my own inner sentiments.
“Isn’t that why you’re here?” I raise my voice feeling slightly on the verge of insanity. “You’ve got something on everyone, don’t you?”
“Are you suddenly a clever girl?” Oliver smirks.
“Keep talking to my fiancée like that and—”
“It’s your robots!” I cut Callum off with shout. “You’ve been keeping an eye on everyone with your bloody bots!”
“Oh my god, Em.” Lara whispers. “You’re right.”
“You’ve been prying into my friend’s lives with robot spy cams or something!”
“Is that how you knew?” It’s Kirsten’s time for an outburst.
It’s all coming together now. Everyone is realising what I know must be true. Oliver really does have spy cameras in his robots. He gave them to everyone and has been stealing secrets from them.
I remember back to the day when I’d seen Oliver speaking with Kirsten at her Zumba class. She’d seemed so on edge. He must have been threatening her right there and then.
“That’s why you’ve all been avoiding me!” Whirling, I free myself from my fiancé’s arms. “Is that… is he the reason you all cancelled on me yesterday?” I point directly at the man with a giant robot behind him.
“You what…? Cancelled?” Callum looks stunned.
“Yes!” Oliver steps forward. “And your stupid little wedding was supposed to stay cancelled. But I guess everyone here just doesn’t value their businesses enough—”
“I value my friendship with Emily.” Lara steps up. “You have been keeping my secret, Oliver. And you know what? I don’t care anymore.”
“Neither do I.” Paige joins Lara.
Oliver looks enraged. “So you don’t care if I reveal to everyone that you—”
“Stop!” Lara shouts. “You don’t get to out me, I will.” She addresses everyone in the room as she points an accusatory finger at Oliver. “This man has been blackmailing me for months. I didn’t know how