CHAPTER 7: Ava Removes the Veil

Ava reached for her veil with trembling fingers.
The movement was small, but the guests followed it as if she were cutting a wire.
She lifted the veil back from her face, revealing eyes wet with shock and something stronger beneath it.
Caleb turned toward her quickly.
“Ava, don’t make this bigger than it is.”
Noah looked down at the frosting on his vest, then at the destroyed cake behind him.
“It’s already exactly as big as it is,” he said.
Ava stared at Caleb.
She thought of his hand blocking her near the cake table. She thought of all the times he had told her she was too sensitive, too slow, too grateful, too lucky to question him.
She looked at the cake, once perfect, now collapsed under the weight of his anger.
Then she removed the tiara.
It made the softest sound when she set it on the nearest table.
A wedding ending should have sounded louder.
But sometimes a small click is enough.
Caleb stared at the tiara as if it had betrayed him.
Ava realized he was not grieving her pain.
He was grieving the spectacle he was losing.