“Jaime says he loves me more than my own daughter.”
Mallory read that sentence at 11:47 p.m., sitting inside her mother’s Ford in the nearly empty parking lot of a Phoenix hotel. Twelve hours remained before she would walk down the aisle and marry the man who, according to that notebook, had been sleeping with her own mother for months.
The brown leather notebook had fallen out of Evelyn’s bag when Mallory reached for her keys to look for a phone charger. At first, she thought it was just a regular daily planner. Then she saw her own name.
“March 15th. Jaime kissed me while Mallory went to the bathroom. I know it’s wrong, but it makes me feel alive.”
Mallory felt the air disappear completely from the small car.
She turned the page with trembling hands, staring at the sloppy handwriting.
“March 22. She almost caught us. She called to talk about the wedding flowers while Jaime was at my house. He was kissing my neck and I was pretending everything was normal.”
Dates and details matched up perfectly in her mind. There were the afternoons Jaime claimed to have late meetings with clients. There were the times Evelyn insisted he accompany her to buy furniture, check suppliers, or fix a leak in her kitchen. For eight months, her mother had participated in every dress fitting, cake tasting, and wedding planning meeting. Mallory had thought it was pure maternal love. Now she understood that Evelyn was only looking for excuses to have her daughter’s fiancé around.
She continued reading, her eyes burning.
“April 12th. We made love at my house. Jaime says that Mallory is too practical, that he feels passion with me.”
Mallory covered her mouth with both hands to keep from screaming out loud.
She vividly remembered the nights when Jaime would leave her apartment early because he supposedly had to get up early for work. She remembered his cell phone always face down on the table, his short answers, and the lack of privacy that she had simply attributed to the stress of the wedding.
It wasn’t a temporary mistake, but a long relationship sustained by terrible lies.
“May 3rd. He says he wants to cancel the wedding to stay with me.”
“May 10th. I feel monstrous when Mallory hugs me and thanks me for everything I do for her.”
The last entry was dated that very same day.
“May 18th. Tonight will be the last time. After the wedding, we’ll try to make her happy. I don’t know if I’ll be able to see her marry the man I love.”
Mallory dropped the notebook onto the passenger seat. While she was having dinner with her bridesmaids celebrating her bachelorette party, Jaime and Evelyn had been together one last time.
Her cell phone suddenly vibrated in her palm.
“Sleep, my love. Tomorrow our life begins. I love you,” Jaime wrote.
Mallory stared at the glowing message until the tears stopped falling. Then she picked up the notebook, started the car, and drove back to the hotel entrance.
In the room, the white dress hung beautifully in front of the bed. Her friends slept peacefully beside her. Outside, the city was still brightly lit up.
Mallory opened her laptop, photographed each page of the notebook, and began printing copies at the reception desk downstairs. She wasn’t going to cancel the wedding over a phone call. She wouldn’t let them invent another version of events or portray her as a hysterical bride.
At two in the morning, she called her sister Hailey, who lived in Salt Lake City.
“Did you ever notice anything strange between Mom and Jaime?” Mallory asked.
After a long silence, Hailey replied in a hesitant voice.
“At Christmas they seemed too close. I thought it was just my imagination.”
Mallory closed her eyes tightly.
“There won’t be a wedding today,” Mallory said. “But there will be a ceremony.”
She hung up, put the fresh copies in a black folder, and looked at her dress.
Yes, she would walk down the aisle.
But what she planned to do in front of three hundred people was so brutal that no one could have believed it.
PART 2
At six in the morning, Paige, her best friend, opened the hotel door singing loudly.
“Up, bride! Today is the big day.”
Mallory smiled with a calmness that even frightened her own soul.
“Yes. Today everything will become clear.”
The suite was quickly filled with makeup artists, flowers, champagne, and loud laughter. No one knew that, hidden among the green stems of her bouquet, Mallory had concealed several pages with fragments of her mother’s diary.
Jaime called her phone at eight o’clock.
“I didn’t sleep because of the excitement,” he said.
Mallory thought that he probably hadn’t slept because he had been busy with Evelyn.
“Promise me something,” he replied. “That today you will speak honestly.”
There was a heavy pause on the line.
“Of course. Honesty is the foundation of every marriage.”
Mallory squeezed the phone tightly against her ear.
“See you at the altar.”
At ten thirty, Evelyn arrived in a navy blue dress, her hair and makeup done perfectly like the proud mother everyone expected to see. She warmly hugged Mallory and gave her a sapphire bracelet that had belonged to her grandmother.
“I wore it at my wedding. I want you to wear it today.”
Mallory felt that the family gift was a cruel mockery.
“Put it on for me, Mom.”
Evelyn fastened the metal clasp without her hands trembling even a little bit.
“Jaime is very lucky.”
“More than you imagine,” Mallory replied.
The photographer captured mother and daughter smiling, embracing, and looking perfect. None of the images revealed the hatred, the guilt, or the secret that hung between them.
At noon they arrived at the grand parish of Saint Jude. There were white roses, lit candles, and almost three hundred guests consisting of colleagues, family, neighbors, and old friends.
Jaime waited by the altar in an impeccable black suit. When he saw Mallory, he smiled with apparent tenderness. However, during the family photos, his eyes searched for Evelyn more than once.
Mallory noticed every single movement.
“You look beautiful,” he whispered to her.
“You too. You seem like a man without secrets.”
Jaime frowned at her words, but before he could ask, the photographer asked for another happy smile.
At 1:45 the music began to play. Paige walked first down the carpeted path. Then the other bridesmaids followed. Evelyn took Mallory’s arm to lead her down the aisle, since her father had abandoned the family when she was a teenager.
“Ready, daughter?” Evelyn asked softly.
“I’ve never been so ready.”
The heavy doors opened wide. Everyone in the church stood up.
Mallory walked slowly forward, holding the bouquet and feeling that with each step she buried the naive woman she had once been. Jaime watched her proudly from the altar. Evelyn squeezed her arm tightly. The two people who had betrayed her the most were right there beside her.
Upon arriving, Evelyn kissed her daughter’s cheek and placed her hand on Jaime’s.
“Take care of her,” Evelyn murmured.
“Always,” he replied.
The priest began to speak about commitment, fidelity, and mutual respect. Mallory watched Jaime. He was sweating under the lights.
“If anyone knows a reason why this couple should not be joined in marriage,” said the priest, “let them speak now or forever hold their peace.”
An absolute silence filled the church.
The priest opened his mouth to continue the traditional service.
Then Mallory let go of Jaime’s hand, took a giant step back, and spoke out.
“I have a reason,” she said in a firm voice.
