The Lie In Church

The wedding dissolved into chaos like a dam bursting. Gasps and whispers ricocheted off the high, arched church walls, each echo tightening around my chest like a noose. I could almost hear the moment joy curdled into poison when Adrian Kingston’s outrageous declaration that I was carrying his child turned what should have been a celebration into my public execution.

I stood frozen at the altar, my pulse hammering. The smell of lilies and candle wax, once comforting, now clung to me like suffocating perfume. My mother’s face had gone pale, anger sharpening every line until she looked almost unfamiliar. Lydia, Johanne’s older sister, looked ready to draw blood. Poor Johanne herself was a wreck her pristine white gown stained with tears, mascara streaking like ink down parchment.

I can’t begin to imagine her regret for inviting me on her big day.

“Mom, I swear, I don’t know him! I don’t even know why he’s doing this!” My voice cracked like thin ice beneath a heavy weight. But my desperation didn’t break through the noise. It only seemed to confirm the crowd’s suspicions.

Adrian the man responsible for detonating my life in a single sentence stood only a few steps away. That infuriating smirk curved his lips as if he owned the air we breathed. His eyes stayed locked on mine, daring me to deny him in front of everyone.

“Babe…” he drawled, his voice silk over steel, “you shouldn’t stress yourself. Remember what the doctor said.”

Then he dared to walk right up to me and take my hand, I tried so much to control myself because at this point I was really furious! his palm warm and steady, sending a strange jolt through me I hated myself for noticing. What the hell is wrong with this man?

I yanked my hand free as if his touch burned. I really wanted to kill him at this point.

Don’t listen to him! I’m not pregnant. I don’t even know this man!”

My mother’s cold, red-rimmed eyes cut me down. “Don’t you dare raise your voice at me. This is disgraceful, Alyssa. You’ve humiliated us all.”

“Mom, please!” I reached for her, but she recoiled as though I were something rotten.

The priest attempted to restore calm, his voice swallowed by the rising storm. Whispers sliced through the air, accusations flying, eyes cutting into me from every pew.

And then Michael. His hand landed on my shoulder. Relief surged through me. My fiancé. My safe place.

“Michael, tell them the truth! Tell them I’m innocent!”

But instead of stepping into the fire with me, he hesitated. “I… I don’t know what’s going on, Alyssa. I can’t take your word against…” His gaze swept the judgmental faces, then fell. “Against all this.” And just like that he turned and walked away. “Michael!” My voice cracked, but the heavy church doors closed behind him, sealing my abandonment with a final, echoing thud.

The ground tilted. Lydia’s heels clicked against the marble as she stormed toward me, fury in every step. Her hand shot out, tangling in my hair, yanking so hard my scalp screamed.

“You filthy liar!” she hissed, dragging me forward.

“Stop!” I clawed at her wrist, but she only tightened her grip.

Johanne’s sobs swelled behind her like a cruel soundtrack.

“Mom, help me!” I cried a child’s plea I’d never imagined voicing as an adult.

But my mother’s answer was a sharp, open-handed slap. The crack of it cut through the air, drawing a stunned silence for half a second.

Her voice was ice. “Don’t you ever come back here. You’re not welcome in this family.”

The ache in my cheek was nothing compared to the hollow cavern opening in my chest. And then Marina my sister, my supposed ally stepped up beside our mother, arms crossed.

“Alyssa,” she said, her voice trembling, “I wanted to believe you. But you’ve made your choices.”

“I haven’t—”

“No,” she cut in, her tone flat. “Leave before you make things worse.”

They turned their backs on me like a final verdict. The church spun around me, my ears ringing.

And then I saw him.

Adrian.

Still there. Still watching. His smile now was quieter, sharper.

I forced my voice low, shaking. “Do you enjoy destroying families?”

He didn’t move when I stepped back. His expression shifted the smugness flickering into something unreadable.

“Sit down,” he said, his voice maddeningly calm. “Before you faint.”

The sheer audacity made my blood boil.

My body moved before my mind caught up. My palm cracked against his cheek, loud enough to silence the whispers again.

He didn’t flinch. Just touched the spot and chuckled low, dark. “Didn’t see that coming. But I deserve it.”

He stepped closer, close enough for me to see the flecks of gold in his irises.

“Good,” I bit out. “Now stay away from me.”

His gaze dipped to my lips for a fraction of a second before returning to my eyes. His voice dropped so low it was almost a threat.

“Oh, Alyssa… you have no idea how close you already are.”

My breath caught, my mind grasping at the meaning. But before I could ask he leaned in, his breath warm against my ear.

“By the way… Michael didn’t just leave.” His next words were soft enough that only I could hear them. “He came to me.”

The blood drained from my face. My pulse roared in my ears.

“What… did you say?”

But Adrian only stepped back, that slow, knowing smile curling his lips again the kind that said the worst was yet to come.