Ellie looked stunning in her wedding dress. Everything was exactly as I had dreamed it. Until the priest said: “If anyone objects to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace.” And then — THREE of my groomsmen stepped forward. “WE OBJECT!” Gasps echoed across the room. I froze. My fourth groomsman — my best man, Tyler — stayed silent, his face unreadable. I turned to the three and snapped: “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” “Buddy, you need to see it. LOOK AT HER HAND. HER RING FINGER.” Confused, I grabbed Ellie’s left hand gently. She immediately pulled it back but I still saw.
I still saw it. Underneath her engagement ring, on the same finger, almost hidden by her frantic grip, was another ring. A thin, platinum band, worn smooth, with a tiny, almost invisible etching. My stomach dropped. No. It can’t be. This wasn’t some antique. This looked like… a wedding band.
“What is that?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. The smile had vanished from her face, replaced by pure terror. Her eyes darted from me to the three angry groomsmen, then to Tyler, who still hadn’t moved. The silence in the church was deafening, suffocating.
One of the groomsmen, my childhood friend Mark, stepped forward. His face was red with fury. “She’s already married!” he yelled. The words ripped through the sacred space, through me. A wave of murmurs, then gasps, then outright shocked exclamations swept through the guests. I felt like I’d been punched. Married? This was a lie. A cruel, elaborate joke.
My gaze snapped back to Ellie. “Is it true?” I demanded. My voice was hoarse, raw. She looked at the floor, tears silently streaming down her perfect, made-up face. She shook her head, a pathetic, desperate gesture. “No. Please… it’s… it’s nothing.”
“NOTHING?!” another groomsman, David, roared. “That’s his ring, Ellie! The one you never took off, even when you started dating him!” He pointed at me, then back at her. “Tell him the truth! Tell him about the man you’re still bound to!”
My head spun. His ring? Who were they talking about? I couldn’t process it. My beautiful bride. The woman I was about to spend my life with. A liar. A cheat. I felt a cold, desperate rage building. “WHOSE RING IS IT, ELLIE?!” I screamed. It echoed through the church, each syllable a blow. She sank to her knees, sobbing.
Then Tyler, my best man, finally moved. He walked slowly, deliberately, past the three fuming groomsmen, past the weeping Ellie, and stopped directly in front of me. His eyes, usually full of warmth and laughter, were filled with a deep, bottomless sorrow. He reached out and gently took my hand, then pulled something from his own pocket.
It was a small, velvet box. He opened it. Inside, nestled on white satin, was another ring. An exact replica of the platinum band on Ellie’s finger, even down to the tiny etching. My heart hammered against my ribs. What was happening?
Tyler looked at me, his voice choked with pain. “Ellie isn’t married,” he whispered. “Not anymore.” He took a deep breath, his gaze meeting mine, unwavering. “That ring… it belonged to my mother. She loved it. She never took it off. Until… until she took it.” He nodded towards Ellie, who was now clutching her hands to her face, wracked with silent sobs.
“My mother died in a hit-and-run ten years ago,” Tyler continued, his voice barely audible, but every word resonated like a hammer blow. “The driver was never caught. The police found the car, but nothing else. Until last week, when Mark and David overheard Ellie talking about a trophy from a ‘stupid accident’ that ‘set her up for life’. And then they saw the ring.”
He squeezed my hand. “She was the driver. And that ring… it was the only thing my mother was wearing that day, the only thing they never found at the scene. Ellie was wearing it. My mother’s ring.”
My vision blurred. Ellie. The woman I loved. The woman I was marrying. Killed his mother? And stole her ring? The world tilted. Not a marriage, not an affair. But a cold, calculating, unspeakable crime. And she was standing right there, weeping, as if she was the victim. My best man. My best friend. My bride. The ring. The truth. OH MY GOD.
