The Third Wheel Bride Chapter 05
By my second week in Boston, I officially took over the new project. The workload was heavier than I’d expected. Most nights, I didn’t leave the office until well past midnight.
That was fine by me. No time to think meant no time to feel.
Caleb finally came looking for me.
The man who never went anywhere without a tailored suit and a fresh shave was standing outside my office building, unshaven, hollow-eyed, looking like he hadn’t slept in a week.
“Brianna, please.” He caught my wrist, his voice rough. “Just talk to me.”
I pulled free. “Not here. My place.”
I took him back to my apartment.
“I know I messed up, Brianna.” He couldn’t look at me.
“Emma was just a distraction. It meant nothing. You’re the one I’m marrying.”
“Nothing?” My voice was quiet. “Caleb, do you think I’m stupid?”
I pulled up Emma’s anonymous account on my phone and held the screen up for him to see. It was all there: the first secret meeting, every date that followed, the flirty DMs, the photos of them together.
Caleb went pale.
“That’s… that’s not real.” The words came out broken. “She made it all up…”
“Made it up?” I let myself smile.
“Caleb. Do you remember our first trip to Montauk?”
He froze.
“You told me you’d take me to the coast every anniversary.”
“Last year you told me there was a Family crisis, so we didn’t go.”
“You took Emma to the Amalfi Coast instead. I saw the pictures.”
Caleb said nothing.
“And my birthday? You said you had to work through the night and had your assistant wire money to my account for a gift.”
“You were with her that night. Weren’t you?”
“No… Bri, that’s not…”
“Explain what?” I cut him off.
“How you were planning our wedding and running off on a farewell tour with her at the same time?”
Caleb buried his face in his hands.
“I didn’t think… I never thought she’d put all of it out there…”
“So it’s not the cheating you regret. It’s getting caught.”
I looked at him, and for the first time, the whole thing felt absurd.
“We’re done, Caleb. The moment you chose to betray me, there was nothing left to save.”
His head snapped up, eyes red-rimmed. “One mistake, and you’re throwing away ten years? Just like that?”
“It wasn’t once.” I shook my head.
“From the first time you met her behind my back, you were already gone.”
I handed him the legal severance documents. I’d had it drawn up days ago.
“You keep the penthouse. I’m taking the car.
“Wire me my exact cut from our shared legitimate accounts.”
“Consider the sunken wedding costs the price of buying my freedom from the Costello Family.”
Caleb stared at me. “You had this ready?”
“Since the night I found out.” I held his gaze. “Let’s end this clean, Caleb.”
He sat with the paper for a long time. Then he signed it, his mouth twisting into something that almost looked like a smile.
“You’ve changed, Brianna.” He looked up at me. “You never would’ve been this cold before.”
I slid the agreement into my bag.
“And the man I loved wouldn’t have betrayed me either.”
