And yet nothing was the same.
I sat down, folded my hands, and breathed through the roar in my ears. A part of me felt as if I were floating above myself, watching a woman smile politely while inside her a steel door had slammed shut.
Now I knew.
Michael wanted the money to escape with another woman.
Sabrina wanted the money to escape from him, and to erase me along the way.
And both of them, in their own ways, had made their contempt clear.
The church bells began to peal.
The doors opened.
Sabrina entered on her father’s arm, lace and satin and perfect makeup, her smile radiant enough to make strangers sigh. Cameras flashed. Guests murmured.
Michael stood at the altar, handsome in his tuxedo, hands clasped, eyes shining with practiced emotion.
I watched them and felt a strange detachment, like the scene had become a play I had already read the ending to.
The priest spoke. The choir sang. Vows were exchanged with trembling voices that sounded sincere to everyone except me.
“I promise to love you,” Michael said.
“I promise forever,” Sabrina replied.
Their words floated up into the vaulted ceiling and settled among the stained glass like smoke.
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