PROLOGUE / Chapter 1
Becky can hardly believe it, she is getting married today.
What began as a spur-of-the-moment decision has spun her life into a whirlwind she never saw coming. The dress, the vows, the new last name… everything feels surreal. Yet beneath the excitement humming in her chest, a quiet storm gathers, one she cannot see, but one that is already circling her new world.
Because with this unexpected wedding, Becky’s life is not just changing… it is turning upside down.
There are secrets she has never heard, betrayals she has never imagined, and lies woven so tightly around her new beginning that they are destined to unravel.
And when they do, Becky will learn one thing:
Love can be beautiful.
But it can also be dangerous.
Will she survive what is coming?
Or will this marriage, her happiest moment, be the very thing that breaks her?
BECKY
I still cannot believe it, I got married just an hour ago. My heart keeps skipping in disbelief. Everything about Leroy, my husband, feels like a dream. He is kind, caring, handsome… and when it comes to love, well, he loves me. That alone feels like enough to melt me on the spot.
“Honey, all is set. You can leave now,” Myra says, brushing back my hair with the ease of someone who has known me forever.
“Yes, I’ll be gone in a few. And you are going to miss me,” I tease, holding her hands. But her expression shifts, and I pause. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I was wondering if you told Becca that you were getting married.”
“I didn’t,” I admit. “Things happened so fast. I don’t think she’ll make a fuss about it.”
“Becky, she’s your sister. You should have told her.” Myra’s tone softens but hits its mark. “I’d be mad if my sister got married without informing me.”
“I know, but Mom mentioned she was having her final exams, and I didn’t want to distract her. Becca would have wanted to come, and if she did… I don’t know what would’ve happened to her exams.”
“You don’t know that,” Myra says firmly, pulling my suitcase outside. “All you had to do was tell her so she wouldn’t feel left out.”
Leroy is talking to his younger brother, Oli, but they stop when they see us approaching. “Ready?” he asks, and I nod. Oli lifts my suitcase into the trunk while Leroy opens the door for me. We are officially set to leave for our honeymoon.
“Have a wonderful time, lovebirds!” Oli shouts as the car pulls away.
But even with the excitement of what’s ahead, Myra’s words cling to me. Becca. My sister. The guilt presses in, tightening its hold. I stare out the window, wondering if I made the right choice.
Leroy places a warm hand on my thigh, snapping me from my thoughts.
“You okay?”
“Yes. Just… thinking of my sister.”
“Speaking of, was she at the wedding?” he asks casually.
“No, not at all. I didn’t even tell her I was getting married.”
He laughs lightly. “Now that’s bad.”
I slap his hand away playfully. “Concentrate on driving.”
He does, but I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve made a mistake.
A small one, maybe.
But sometimes it’s the smallest secrets that grow teeth.
