Chapter 1: Stop This Wedding
“Stop this wedding!””
The scream ripped through St. Augustine’s Cathedral just as Daniel Carter reached for Claire Whitmore’s hand.
Nearly three hundred guests turned toward the enormous wooden doors.
A woman stood beneath them, breathless and trembling, with a crying baby pressed against her chest.
Daniel’s face went white.
Claire noticed.
That frightened her more than the interruption.
“Maya?”” Daniel whispered.
The name was barely audible, but Claire heard it.
So did Daniel’s mother in the front pew.
Maya Brooks stepped into the cathedral. Her dark blue dress was wrinkled, one strap of her handbag hung broken against her hip, and tears streaked her face.
The baby in her arms screamed louder.
“Maya, what are you doing here?”” Daniel demanded.
Maya stared at him.
“You know exactly why I’m here.””
Whispers spread through the church.
Claire descended the altar steps, gathering the expensive silk of her wedding gown in one fist.
Her father rose from the front row.
“Claire,” he warned.
She ignored him.
Claire stopped inches from Maya.
“How dare you interrupt my wedding?””
“I’m not here for you,” Maya said.
“I’m here because Daniel wouldn’t answer me.””
Claire’s expression hardened.
“You have thirty seconds to leave.””
“Claire, wait,” Daniel said.
Maya looked past her.
“No. Don’t tell her to wait now, Daniel. You had eight months to tell the truth.””
Claire turned sharply.
“Eight months?””
Maya opened her mouth.
Claire slapped her.
The crack echoed beneath the cathedral ceiling.
Several guests gasped.
Maya stumbled sideways, tightening both arms around the baby.
The child began shrieking.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”” Maya cried.
“Security!”” Claire shouted.
Two ushers hesitated near the doors.
Daniel rushed down from the altar.
For one second, Maya’s expression softened.
“Daniel.””
She sounded almost relieved.
Then Daniel placed both hands against her shoulder and shoved her backward.
“Get out.””
Maya caught herself against a pew.
The baby screamed against her chest.
Maya looked down quickly.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. Mommy’s got you.””
Then she raised her eyes to Daniel.
The hurt disappeared.
Something colder replaced it.
“How could you do this to us, Daniel?””
Daniel glanced toward the guests.
“Stop talking.””
“No.””
“Maya.””
“You abandoned me and your own child just so you could marry her?””
The cathedral went silent.
Claire slowly turned toward Daniel.
Even the baby’s cries seemed to fade beneath the sudden weight of the room.
“What did she just say?””
Daniel loosened his collar.
“Claire, she’s trying to cause a scene.””
“I have a baby in my arms,” Maya snapped.
“This isn’t a scene. This is your daughter.””
Claire stared at the infant.
Then at Daniel.
“You have a child?””
“Claire—”
“You told me you’d never had children.””
Daniel reached for her.
She stepped away.
“Don’t touch me.””
Maya laughed bitterly.
“That’s what he does. He lies until there’s nowhere left to run.””
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“You need to leave.””
“I needed you when she had pneumonia.””
“Maya.””
“I needed you when the hospital asked for her father’s medical history.””
“Enough.””
“I needed you when she cried every night and I had to explain why Daddy stopped coming home.””
Daniel moved toward her.
Maya shifted the baby away from him.
“Don’t.””
Claire’s breathing became shallow.
“When was she born?””
Maya looked at her.
“January seventeenth.””
Claire froze.
She and Daniel had announced their engagement on January twentieth.
Three days later.
Claire slapped Daniel across the chest.
“You proposed to me three days after your daughter was born?””
“It isn’t what you think.””
“What exactly am I supposed to think?””
Maya suddenly stepped forward and slapped Claire across the face.
Claire staggered.
“My child deserved better than both of you.””
Daniel grabbed Maya’s arm.
She jerked free and kicked him hard in the leg.
Daniel stumbled against a pew.
“You promised you would never leave us!”” Maya screamed.
Daniel’s father stood.
“Daniel, is that baby yours?””
Daniel said nothing.
“Answer your father,” Claire demanded.
Daniel looked at the infant.
The baby had stopped crying.
She stared at him with wide brown eyes.
Maya’s voice dropped.
“Look at her.””
Daniel swallowed.
“Tell them.””
“Maya, please.””
“No.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You don’t get to beg me for silence anymore.””
She turned toward the guests.
Cameras were already raised.
Claire’s mother covered her mouth.
Daniel’s best man stared at him as though he no longer recognized him.
Maya lifted her voice.
“Tell them who this child really is!””
Every face turned toward Daniel.
But Daniel didn’t answer.
Instead, he stared toward the back pew.
At an older man in a gray suit.
A man Maya had never seen before.
The stranger slowly stood.
May you like
And Daniel whispered one terrified word.
“Dad?””
