CHAPTER 2: THE ROOM WHERE EVERY LIE ENDED
Maverick reached for Amy's arm.
She stepped back before he could touch her.
"Don't."
It was only one word.
Yet it carried the weight of eight years together.
The room fell silent except for Penelope's uneven breathing.
Within minutes, footsteps echoed down the hallway.
The elevator doors opened.
Maverick's parents hurried toward Room 237, followed by his younger sister Olivia, his godfather Richard, and two uncles who had already left the wedding venue after receiving Amy's father's call.
Mrs. Bennett smiled as she approached.
"There you are! Everyone is waiting for the—"
Her words died the instant she looked inside.
The crumpled tuxedo.
The bridesmaid dress.
The unmade bed.
Her son standing barefoot with a sheet wrapped around his waist.
Penelope hiding behind him.
Mrs. Bennett's purse slipped from her shoulder and hit the carpet.
"No..."
Maverick stepped forward.
"Mom, please listen—"
She slapped him before he finished.
The sound echoed through the hallway.
"I raised you better than this."
His father didn't say a single word.
He simply removed the gold Bennett family cufflinks from Maverick's tuxedo jacket lying on the floor.
"They don't belong to you today."
Penelope burst into tears.
"It wasn't only him."
Amy looked at her former best friend.
"No."
"It never is."
Penelope wiped her eyes desperately.
"We've been together for almost a year."
The confession sucked every bit of air from the room.
Amy felt strangely calm.
"A year?"
Penelope nodded without looking up.
"We tried to stop..."
"But we couldn't."
Aunt Rose let out a quiet laugh.
"No, dear."
"You simply never wanted to."
Maverick finally spoke.
"I still love you, Amy."
For the first time that afternoon...
Amy smiled.
It wasn't a smile of forgiveness.
It was the smile of someone who had finally stopped believing a lie.
"No."
"You loved having someone loyal while chasing someone exciting."
"That's not love."
"That's selfishness."
No one defended him.
Not even his own family.
Then Amy reached into her purse.
She pulled out two wedding rings.
Without hesitation...
She placed them gently on the bedside table.
"They belong together."
"Just like the two of you."
Then she turned around and walked out of the room.
May you like
This time...
Neither of them followed.
