The acoustic guitar cut out. Two hundred guests stared at me in dead silence.
“I have three announcements to make,” I said, my voice echoing over the speakers.
Valerie crossed her arms, looking incredibly smug. She was waiting for me to surrender.
“First,” I said, locking eyes with her. “There won’t be a wedding today.”
Valerie’s smile widened.
“Because,” I continued, signaling the AV coordinator in the back row. “Before anyone goes home, you all need to see what Valerie was doing in the bridal suite yesterday afternoon.”
The color instantly drained from Valerie’s face as the massive white projector screen hummed to life.
The crowd went completely silent as the hidden camera footage played, and my jaw dropped when I saw what she was holding in her hands.
It was a small, ornate silver box. My grandmother’s jewelry box.
She was prying it open with a letter opener, her movements frantic and greedy.
