“Your wedding dress has also been cleaned. It is being boxed up and will be shipped to your home per Mr. Wellington’s request.” Dress? What wedding dress? My wedding dress is at home in Alabama waiting for me to do my final fitting.

The young man continued to smile at me waiting for his tip. “I’m sorry I can’t find my purse —”

He immediately cut me off. “Oh your husband has already taken care of my tip, Ma’am. Thank you for your kindness.” Of course Jamieson had tipped him in advance. The man has more money than he knows what to do with.

“Well thank you.” I said attempting to retreat back into the room.

“You’re welcome and congratulations Mrs. Wellington.” he blurted out before I closed the door on him. Mrs. Wellington? I was supposed to be Mrs. Stratford. I needed to get out of here and fast, so that maybe I could try to undo some of this colossal damage.

As soon as I stopped throwing up for the second time that morning I pulled on my freshly cleaned dress from last night and made my way downstairs to the suite I shared with Audrey and Olivia.

I still didn’t know where my purse was so I banged on the door praying that by some miracle someone was inside the room.

“There you are! Where the fuck have you been?” Olivia fumed as she pulled open the door.

I took a steadying breath before I continued through the door. “I was with Jamieson.”

“Obviously.” Livy grumbled as she shut the door.

“What the heck happened last night, Jenna? We were worried sick. You left your purse with your phone in the club.” Audrey questioned me from the corner of the room.

“I honestly don’t know what happened guys. I’m freaking out right now. All I know is I woke up naked in Jamieson’s bed.” I swallowed down another lump of bile as I relayed what bit of information I knew.

“Oh shit. You did what?” Livy screeched.

“Oh no, Jenna, you didn’t.” Audrey whispered sympathetically.

Watching their reactions to my confession was horrible. I knew they wouldn’t judge me for what mistakes I had made. They would walk this painful journey with me because they were my friends and that’s what friends do for one another. This was supposed to be a happy time but I had single-handedly destroyed all of it and I couldn’t be more ashamed.

“It gets worse.” I choked out. I knew I had to tell them. They would surely spot the giant ring on my left hand that wasn’t Cain’s.

“WHAT IS THAT?” Olivia demanded yanking my hand up to her face to examine the shiny bling on my left hand. Busted.

“Apparently we also got married last night.”

“You did what?” Audrey said jumping up from the bed to get a closer look.

“I don’t remember any of it. I guess I blacked-out at some point. The last thing I can remember was dancing with you guys at the club.”

“Do you remember dancing with Jamieson?” Olivia pressed.

“No. When was I dancing with him?”

“You guys danced most of the night.” Audrey offered.

“Did you see me leave with him?” And why didn’t you try to stop me?

“No you two sat down at some point and were talking for a very long time. Audrey and I didn’t want to interrupt because we thought maybe you two were finally getting some closure about the past. I’m so sorry, Jenna, we should have never left you alone with him.” Livy looked distraught.

“It’s not your fault. Regardless of whether I was drunk or sober I made my bed.”

“I knew I shouldn’t have listened to Derrick.” Audrey muttered.

“What are you talking about Audrey?” I asked her quizzically.

“Well, when we all returned to the table after dancing and you were gone I wanted to try to find you but Derrick told me to not interfere with whatever was happening. He told me that Jamieson needed to tell you things before you married Cain. I thought you guys just went somewhere quiet to talk. He said Jamieson had specifically come to Vegas to see you. I should have never listened to him.” She looked up at me with regret woven throughout her face.

“Audrey it’s not your fault at all. I did this.” I felt horrible seeing my friend attempting to shoulder this burden for me.

“So what do you want to do, Jenna?” Livy asked the million dollar question.

“I need to go home so I can sort this all out.” I told them in a somber tone.

“I’ll call the airline and get us tickets.” Audrey grabbed her phone.

I stood there unmoving for a long time listening to Audrey hurriedly chat with a representative from the airline. Olivia began packing items up around the room. I listened to the calm chaos unfolding in the room around me and I willed myself to not get sick again.

“Jenna can I ask you something?” Olivia's voice dragged me back to reality.

“Yeah.” I didn’t look at her; I just kept staring out the window to the busy strip below.

“Where is Jamieson now?”

“I don’t know, Liv. When I woke up he was in the room. I was confused and I asked him to tell me what happened but he didn’t, not really. He just told me to look at my left hand. I got sick after that and locked myself in the bathroom. He left while I was in there.”

“Fucking prick.” Livy muttered as she tossed some clothes at me from my bag. “Go change, we are going to get you home.”

It only took three hours and I was seated in between my two best friends on a flight back home to Huntsville. I had no idea what I was going to do once I returned home but at least I wouldn’t be stuck in Las Vegas with my horrible new husband.

“Okay here’s the way I see it.” Liv said looking at her phone. “We have exactly 87 days to get you unmarried as Mrs. Wellington so you can get remarried as Mrs. Stratford.”

“Liv–”

“No, wait hear me out. We will get your marriage with Jamieson annulled and then you can get married to Cain. No one has to know Jenna. Audrey and I will take this to the grave for you.”

“Of course we will and I have a few favors I could call in to get your annulment pushed forward.” Audrey offered enthusiastically.

I knew they would take this with them to the grave if I asked it of them, but the problem was—I would still have to live with it until I met my grave and that I couldn’t do. I may have my flaws but I am an honest person and I couldn’t live with myself deceiving Cain that way. I had made up my mind sitting in the airport waiting for our plane. I had to tell him and let the chips fall where they may. There was no going back now, there was only forward and forward was going to beyond suck.

“Thanks guys, but I can’t do that. I need to be honest with Cain. It’s the right thing to do.” I told them with determination.

“Well we will be right by your side the entire time.” Liv and Audrey each took one of my hands. I felt a tear slide down my cheek as our plane propelled us forward deeper into my worst nightmare. Dear Lord, please see me through this.

CHAPTER FOUR

July 10, 2009…

It had been almost one month since I first stepped foot in Jamieson Wellington’s house. I have been back several times but regardless, I always got extremely nervous driving down that long private driveway.

Tonight he had invited me to come over to watch a movie with him. I knew for a fact the guys were out. Audrey and Olivia were meeting up with them at Havens for drinks. Tonight we had the house to ourselves. Jamieson and I had been on a total of three dates but he had yet to really make a move. He was taking things painstakingly slow and it was killing me. Every second I was with him I waited; full of anticipation for that moment when he would let go of his carefully crafted boundaries. He had kissed me on several occasions but it was always just a gentle greeting or quick farewell. My mind craved more and my body demanded it. I was so tightly wound I felt like I could explode into flames at any moment of the day.