"Brae, what was that ?" I heard Bri burst in through the door. I wiped away my tears and walked past her into the kitchen with her following me.

"I want answers, Brae. How can you leave Evan at the altar in front of everyone?" I put the bottle of water down before taking a deep breath. I was already angry at Bri but didn't want to shout at her.

"That was the only option I had." I let out a vague answer. I didn't want to discuss anything at that moment.

"What are you saying? For what reason in the world would you do that to him?" My self-control broke when she shouted at me.

"For you. I did it for you.To save your stupid ass." I yelled back.

"What do you mean?" She looked confused and that was pissing me off even more.

"Why did you sign the contract for a stripper's job ?" I gritted through my teeth and saw the colour fade from her eyes.

"H-how do you..." She was stuttering. Was she asking how did I know when she was the one who should have told me about it?

"What ? How do I know?...... Kate! Kate showed me your signature on it." I snarled. I haven't spoken like that to Brae in my life but I was beyond frustrated to care for any damn thing in the world.

"Brae-" I cut her off.

"Why do you do things from where you can't get out, where you have to shoot someone?" Her face changed into a shocked one.

"What are you saying Brae, I didn't shoot anyone-" I gritted my teeth to control the anger rising in me. I put up my hand to cut her off.

"Don't! Don't lie to me Bri. I have seen the video. I saw you shooting him." Saying this I sat down on the sofa. She made a helpless face and pressed her lips together.

"For God's sake Brae, I didn't- okay you saw me shooting him? Just tell me what did you see in the video?" I looked at her pleading eyes and decided to do as she said. She came and sat down beside me.

"You were there standing opposite to a man and then you suddenly rushed to a chest of drawers and picked up a gun. Pointing it at him, you took an envelope from the desk and shot him before rushing out."

"What the - " Her mouth was hanging open with shock. She shot up out of excitement and started pacing around the room.

"I never shot him. I will tell you what happened." She came and sat down.

"As you know, a few days back I took a part time job at a cafe. The manager has asked me to sign a contract for it. That day whose video you saw, I was called in a smaller office room in the cafe. On entering I saw two men talking to each other. First one gave a gun to the other and from their talks I could make out that the gun was for shooting in the ranches.

The second rough looking man put the gun away in the drawer before the former left the room.

After that he told me that I had to go with him right then and start my job as a stripper at some club. Obviously I refused to believe that I had signed any such contract. He then took out a contract from an envelope and showed me the signature but didn't give me the papers saying that he didn't trust me and he had only the original with him. He convinced me that I was tricked into signing the stripper contract in place of the other one as I didn't read before signing.

I begged him but he wouldn't let me go. So I did what came to my mind. I took that gun out of the drawer and pointed the gun at him. I picked up that envelope but I never pressed the trigger. I walked till the door, keeping the gun pointed at him and once I was out of the door, I threw the gun in and closed the door behind me." There was such a long deafening silence after she completed her story.

"Y-you didn't sh-shoot him?" I stuttered the sentence out. All this was so much to take in.

"No Sis, tell me why will I shoot him once I have the envelope with me?" Her words made sense.

"How can you be so stupid to sign a wrong contract? Why wouldn't you read it before signing it?" I snapped at her, frustration dripping from my tone.

"Okay I agree I didn't read before signing the contract but I didn't sign the wrong contract."

"What do you mean?" I felt like my brain would explode at any moment.

"My signature on the stripper contract was forged." Silence. There was pure silence before realisation slowly sunk in.

"This was a set up? Oh my God, this was all a set up!" I felt like I was robbed of my life.

"Set up ? What are you talking about?" She looked confused, trying to connect the dots inside her head.

"This contract fiasco, this edited video , everything. Everything was set up to ruin our wedding." I ran my hands through my hair as I felt restless.

"Brae , I don't understand. What does this have to do with your wedding?" I looked at Bri and bit my lips trying to calm the turbulence inside my heart.

..............

"Aren't you going to tell Evan everything?" I shook my head disappointedly.I couldn't believe that I just destroyed my happiness with my own stupid brain.

"Why would he believe me? After I hurt him like that, he would never believe me." Sighing, Bri scooted closer to me before placing a hand on my shoulder.

"But you need to try. You can't give up like that assuming things on your own." I looked at her hesitantly in response to which she squeezed my shoulder.

"Go to him once and tell him everything. Let him decide if he wants to believe you." I looked at the clock showing one in the morning. Nodding, I got up. I brushed my hair and grabbed my coat and car keys before leaving the house.

............

"Relax. Everything will be fine. Just press the bell and tell him everything. It will be fine." Prepping myself, I spoke to the security and they let me in.

The door opened and I clenched my eyes shut out of nervousness.

"Listen , before you kick me out I just-" I was cut off.

"What do you need here?" I peeled my eyes open to look at Victoria standing in front of me, her arms folded against her chest. I hadn't seen her expressions this cold ever.

"Uhm Hello Victoria!" I fiddled with my fingers nervously.

"I'm definitely not interested in your pleasantries after you left my son at the altar. Why are you even here?" I flinched when she yelled those harsh words at me.

"I-I wanted to speak to him once." When I raised my head to look at her, she was seething.

"Why ? Haven't you hurt him enough? Or is there more left?" She snarled at me. I was taken aback by her tone because she had been the sweetest lady I have ever seen but nobody could blame her. Maybe this was how much a child's pain can change his mother.

"Victoria, I know you are upset with me but I need to talk to him once , please just let me-" She harshly cut me off.

"No. You aren't meeting him. Not now, not ever. Whom will you talk to huh? Evan who is not even in his senses?" I was confused about that. Not in his senses?

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"He was busy drinking down his pain and came home completely wasted." I gulped hard, my heart clenching for him. He was drinking down his heartbreak.

"I haven't seen him like this ever and all this is just because of you. He loved you and you? You crushed his heart and threw him away." She snarled at me. Every word of her had the power to stab me.

"You have done enough damage. Now you're going to leave and if you have even the slightest bit of humanity in yourself then don't ever show your face to him or us." By the end of it a few tear drops were escaping her eyes. I felt extremely guilty for hurting these people, the only few people who were the closest to a family for me.

"I'm sorry." I hung my head low in shame and without arguing further, left the house. I couldn't wait to see the same hatred in the eyes of William and Ryan too. Only this much was loss was enough for a day.

,

(Something Gained