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Chapter 3

Author: Fiery Quill
The employee looked at Mabel.

Mabel gripped the skirt.

Jason stepped in front of her. "Nora, it's just a quick shoot. Don't make it a whole thing."

I looked at him.

"So now even the wedding dress is up for grabs?"

His jaw tightened. "Everyone's watching. Do you have to humiliate me?"

The MC stepped in to keep the program moving and announced the thank-you segment.

Then I heard the MC mention the bridal bouquet.

I turned toward the stage.

My bouquet had been torn apart.

Some of the flowers were pinned to Mabel's dress. The rest were scattered across the stage and photo area.

I looked at Jason. "Do you even know I picked that bouquet myself?"

He went quiet for a second.

"It's just flowers. I'll buy you another one."

A relative called to ask if the wedding was off.

Then she asked why social media was blowing up with posts about Jason and Mabel's fan event.

"Stop being so controlling."

Jason heard her.

"See? Everyone thinks you need to grow up."

He reached for my hand.

"Nora, when this is over, I'll go home with you."

"Which home?"

His hand stopped midair.

Right before the fan event started, Mabel's blood sugar dropped.

She leaned against the wall and swore she was fine.

Jason scooped her up in front of everyone and carried her to the lounge.

Someone lifted a phone.

"They're the ones who belong together."

I stayed frozen as my phone buzzed.

[The emergency contact has been notified.]

Then Mom called.

"Nora, they just came looking for me. Right in front of the neighbors." Her voice shook. "Did you mortgage the apartment for Jason?"

"Mom, don't worry. I'm coming right now."

"I don't blame you. My heart just hurts for you."

A nurse spoke in the background.

"Please stay calm. Her blood pressure is climbing again."

I turned to leave.

Jason grabbed my wrist. "Handle what's happening onstage first."

I looked down at his hand.

"My mom's in the hospital."

His grip loosened.

Then tightened again.

"It's not that I don't care about her. We just can't let tonight fall apart." He stared at me. "You don't want your mom lying in a hospital bed, watching everyone online tear you apart, do you?"

I stopped.

Onstage, the MC announced that Jason's fiancée was here.

The crowd exploded into cheers.

Jason grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the stage.

I flashed back to the night he drove through the rain to bring me medicine.

"You were sick. Of course I came."

I tried to yank my hand free.

I couldn't.

The MC asked if the RV loan drama was true.

Jason said, "It's just a misunderstanding between Nora and me. She hasn't been doing well lately, and she's been a little emotionally unstable."

Someone in the crowd laughed.

"She's just a jealous girlfriend having a meltdown."

Mabel took the mic, her eyes glossy.

"Nora doesn't mean any harm. She's just scared Jason will drift too far away."

The crowd murmured in agreement.

Then the big screen lit up with footage from the mountains.

Mabel wore the outdoor jacket I'd sent. She breathed from the oxygen I'd packed.

Jason held up the satellite phone, filming the snowy peaks glowing at sunrise.

The final caption appeared.

[Thank you for staying with me in the backcountry.]

Applause thundered through the room.

Jason handed me a statement and leaned in.

"Read it, and we can put this behind us."

It said I'd interfered with his travels because I was controlling.

It blamed me for the RV loan, the postponed wedding, and Mabel.

The last line told me to apologize to Jason, Mabel, and everyone there.

I looked at him.

"You wrote this?"

"The team did. But yeah, that's basically it."

"So you think this is all my fault too?"

Jason said nothing.

The crowd started chanting for an apology.

They said I was the one holding Jason back.

My phone buzzed again.

A voice message from Mom.

"Nora, I'm okay. Don't worry."

At the end, I heard the doctor.

"Don't upset her again."

I moved to step off the stage.

Jason stopped me.

He held me there and lowered his voice.

"Nora, please. Just read it."

Tears slid down Mabel's face.

"If Nora really doesn't want me here, I'll leave."

The crowd's shouting drowned out everything coming through the speakers.

Jason stared at me, his fingers digging into my wrist. "Don't make this harder for me."

I grabbed the mic. "Jason, that whole backcountry blackout thing—was there really no signal?"

He reached for the microphone.

Mabel froze, one hand clutching her skirt.

I pulled the old dashcam hard drive from my bag.

"The first time you took the RV into the backcountry, I installed a dashcam. When the RV came back for maintenance, I removed the old drive and backed it up. These are the original files."

I held up my phone. "I already sent the audio to my lawyer and saved a copy here. I can play it right now."

Jason gritted his teeth.

"Nora, stop."

"I'm not making a scene. I just want everyone to hear one thing."

The big screen went black.

Then the RV recording started playing.

Jason's laugh echoed through the ballroom.

"Don't answer Nora's calls on the satellite phone. If she thinks I disappeared, she'll definitely borrow more money tonight."

Jason lunged for the cable.

Too late.

"The last time she mortgaged the apartment, isn't that exactly how we did it?"

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