Chapter 1I found a Bluetooth remote in my husband's bag.
I didn't scream. I didn't make a scene.
Just quietly synced it to my phone.
The next day, at my brother-in-law's wedding, my husband's scream came from under the bride's dress...
...
Garrett was in the shower.
Tomorrow was his younger brother Troy's wedding, and I'd put together a $400 cash gift.
As I reached into Garrett's bag to tuck it inside, my fingers brushed against something hard and smooth.
I unzipped the pocket and pulled out looked like two remotes—
One with rounded edges, the other more angular.
I couldn't say why, but my brain immediately clocked it: one for guys, one for girls.
Each remote had these weird symbols stamped on top.
Flames. Lightning bolts. Water drops.
I figured they were for smart lights or something.
Didn't think much of it—just snapped a pic and ran a reverse image search.
The second the results loaded, my blood went cold.
[Wearable long-distance remote.]
[Auto-lock mode.]
[Stays secure during use.]
These were remotes for couple's toys!
I tore through the rest of the bag. The actual devices? Gone.
Garrett and I hadn't shared a bed in six months. These sure as hell weren't for me.
Was he cheating?
I forced myself to breathe. To think.
I Googled the brand name printed on the remotes and pulled up the digital manual.
Within two minutes, I had both remotes paired to my phone.
Turned out this model was kink-specific.
Once activated, it locks automatically—and you need the app to unlock it.
I'd barely slipped the remotes back into his bag when Garrett walked out of the bathroom, toweling his hair.
His eyes flicked to the bag lying open on the bed, and his face drained of color.
"What are you doing going through my stuff?"
I held up the card, genuinely confused.
"I was putting tomorrow's gift in there. What's your problem? You hiding something?"
I kept my eyes locked on his.
He looked away, his jaw tight. "We're married, not joined at the hip. Ever heard of privacy?"
I didn't say a word. Just stared.
His face flushed. His voice got louder. "Whatever. I'm going to bed."
With that, he grabbed the bag and stormed into the guest room.
The door slammed so hard the frame rattled.
My chest tightened.
The guiltier someone is, the louder they yell.
2 a.m.
Heavy snoring drifted from the guest room.
I slipped out of bed and tiptoed down the hall, my pulse hammering in my ears.
When I tried the door handle, it didn't budge.
He'd locked it.
But Garrett made one mistake—he left the key in the lock.
I turned it slowly, eased the door open, and slid inside.
He was facedown on the bed, his face buried in the pillow, snoring like a freight train. Out cold.
I grabbed his phone from the nightstand and unlocked it with his thumbprint, then scrolled through his messages.
Nothing.
Photos. Call log. Texts. All squeaky clean.
Too clean. Like he'd scrubbed everything.
I was about to give up when a notification banner dropped down from the top of the screen.
A text. From his carrier.
[Dear Customer, your monthly bill is ready...]
I almost swiped it away. But something felt off.
Why would the phone company text at 2 a.m.?
I opened it.
The first few lines were standard—balance, data usage, nothing unusual.
But when I scrolled to the bottom, my stomach dropped.
[Are we really doing this tomorrow? I'm kind of scared.]
Chapter 2
That was NOT from the phone company!
I tapped into the contact details.
Sure enough, the carrier name was just a cover.
Underneath was a real number with a local area code.
I snapped a photo of it.
Right then, Garrett rolled over. The snoring stopped.
I froze. Didn't even breathe.
He smacked his lips a couple times, then went still again.
I marked the text as unread, put the phone back exactly where I'd found it, and got the hell out of there.
The next morning, Garrett was already gone. So was the car.
He'd left me a text.
[Don't bother coming to the wedding. I'll handle it. Stay home and think about your behavior.]
I stared at my screen and almost laughed.
Don't come?
What was he scared of? That I'd ruin his little plan?
Yeah. Not happening.
I got dressed, called an Uber, and headed straight to the venue.
I was done with this marriage.
But I wasn't about to let them off easy.
You wanna play dirty?
Fine. Let's play.
When I walked into the venue, Troy looked up and blinked in surprise.
"Hey, didn't Garrett say you weren't feeling well?"
I smiled, swallowing the bitterness rising in my throat. "I'm fine. Just needed a little rest. Wouldn't miss your big day."
I patted his arm. "Need help with anything?"
Before he could answer, my mother-in-law appeared out of nowhere, crackling with attitude.
"Oh wow, look who decided to grace us with her presence."
She looked me up and down.
"Perfect timing. Everything's already done and you came. What, you think you're royalty or something?"
A few relatives nearby smirked.
I opened my mouth to respond, but her eyes had already zeroed in on my empty hands.
Her face twisted.
"You came with NOTHING? Unbelievable."
I calmly pulled the card from my purse and handed it to Troy.
"Four hundred bucks—just a little something. Here, take it."
Troy smiled and accepted it with a nod.
My mother-in-law rolled her eyes so hard I thought they'd pop out of her head.
"Four hundred dollars?"
"What is this, a tip?"
"You are his sister-in-law. You should've given at least four thousand. This wouldn't even cover one round of poker!"
"Mom, stop—" Troy's face went red.
He turned to me, apologetic. "Just ignore her. Go sit down, grab something to eat."
But she suddenly grabbed my wrist. Her nails dug into my skin.
"Sit down? We've got a room full of guests and you think you can just kick back? Dream on."
I yanked my arm back. "Where's Garrett? Why isn't he helping?"
She rolled her eyes again: "My son is a man. Men don't do grunt work. That's your job."
I didn't bother responding. Just turned and walked away.
Behind me, her shrill voice echoed through the hall.
"Don't you walk away from me! When you get home, I'm telling Garrett to straighten you out. Women need to know their place!"
"Mom, it's my wedding..."
"She's not even blood! I'm your mother! Whose side are you on?"
"Mom!"
Chapter 3
I searched the entire venue.
Every hallway. Every bathroom. Even peeked into the coat check.
Garrett had vanished.
The ceremony had already started.
The emcee was hyping up the crowd, music thumping so loud my skull throbbed.
I gave up and made my way back to my seat.
The second I sat down, my mother-in-law snorted.
"Gone when there's work to be done. First in line when there's food."
She jabbed a finger inches from my nose.
"My son must've been blind to marry you. Years and you still can't give him a son. You've got some nerve sitting here stuffing your face."
She made sure her voice carried to the nearby tables.
"Not like Sienna. Sweet as pie. Does what she's told. I even had someone check—she's carrying a boy."
Sienna Walsh. Today's bride. My sister-in-law.
The whole thing was a trainwreck from the start.
Troy had been dating someone else—a girl from the city.
They were solid. She didn't even ask for much. But my mother-in-law hated her on principle. Said city girls were spoiled and disobedient.
So she found Sienna.
A girl from a small town. Said she had "healthy body" and would "listen."
Troy refused to go along with it.
So his mom drugged him.
Then Sienna got pregnant.
A few weeks ago, my mother-in-law dragged her to some sketchy back-alley clinic for a gender scan.
It was a boy.
That's how we ended up here.
Word was, my mother-in-law actually coughed up twenty grand for the venue and rings—a total first for her.
Not that it was a fortune or anything, but when I got married?
She didn't give us a dime.
Now, she kept droning in my ear—something about how Sienna was "so helpful" and "not useless like some people."
I wasn't listening.
I only cared about one thing.
Where the hell was Garrett?
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.
I pulled out my phone and dialed the number I'd saved last night.
Ring—
The second it connected, a phone buzzed from inside my mother-in-law's purse.
I hung up instantly, my hand shaking.
She frowned and fished it out. "Weird. Who calls just to hang up?"
I forced my voice to stay level. "Mom... whose phone is that?"
"Sienna's. She can't carry it in that dress, so I'm holding onto it. Why?"
My brain exploded.
I never in a fucking million years would've guessed—
Garrett was sleeping with his brother's wife!
