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I had been expecting to offer some help with the horses, but right after the ceremony, the maid of honor had let me know Jade said she didn't need me. She was going to be fine. As the couple rode up, I had my doubts.
The image of the two of them was undeniably magnificent. The animals looked beautiful, all groomed and polished up for the day, and the couple holding hands between them was an impactful image.
At least, it was right up until the guests started gasping and clapping. The sound and sudden onslaught of so many people spooked the horse Jade was riding, and he reared up. This frightened the other horse, and soon both were panicking.
"Oh, no," I said, shoving my drink into Mark's hand and rushing to help as quickly as I could on crutches.
Camden ran toward them from the other direction, and we struggled to get the horses under control. Jade was panicking, which only made the situation worse. When she yanked too hard on the reins and smacked the horse's sides with her heels, it was the end. The animal lifted up again, this time shaking and bucking her off.
Jade screamed dramatically as she tumbled to the ground, landing in a puff of white satin and tulle as her gown billowed up around her. She wasn't hurt, and I couldn't help but laugh as she rolled around trying to get up and the horses sauntered off to snack on the cupcakes sitting on a nearby dessert table.
Guests swarmed to try to help, and Mark and Camden did their best to try to ward them off, telling them it was only going to cause more trouble. Finally, Jade got to her feet. She whipped around to look at me, her face red and streaked with makeup. Her teeth were gritted, and her fists clenched as she stormed at me.
"This is your fault!" she screamed. "You did this on purpose!"
"I did this on purpose?" I asked incredulously. "I was across the room. Your guests are the ones who scared the horses, then you yanked on him and pissed him off. That's on you."
"Don't you dare try to make me look like I did something wrong here," she shouted. "This is you. You've been planning this from the very beginning, haven't you? You've wanted to sabotage my wedding because you are so envious you just can't stand it. From the second I showed up to take lessons, you were so wrapped up in your jealousy you couldn't take it, so you purposely didn't teach me to ride well so something like this would happen."
"Jade," I said, holding up my hands to try to settle her down, "you need to calm down. This is not my fault. The horse got upset. That happens. He is a living creature, not a prop. He's going to respond to the things happening around him, and unfortunately, he got spooked by everything going on. But I in no way did it on purpose. I taught you just like I would teach anyone else. First and foremost because I would never do anything that might put the horses at risk. They could get seriously hurt in a situation like that, and I would never want that to happen to them. Especially not just to amuse myself."
Jade let out a bitter scoff. "Bullshit. You did this. You gave them some sort of signal or something to buck me off like that because you wanted to humiliate me. It's so obvious you aren't over Trevor and just can't deal with the fact that he chose me. But what's really sad is just how far you would go to make yourself look good at my wedding. You are so pathetic that you made up a fake fiancé. Your darling lover boy here would never try to get with you in real life. " She smirked at me, crossing her arms over her chest as if in victory. "I heard him say it myself."
I looked at Mark, then over at my brother. All around me, people were laughing and whispering. Humiliation burned my cheeks and stung my eyes. I couldn't even speak. Pushing past the people in front of me, I stumbled away from the reception.
"Carmela!" Mark called after me, but I didn't stop. "Carmela, slow down."
When I was far enough away from the party that I couldn't hear the laughter anymore, I stopped and turned around to face him.
"I guess that's what you wanted to talk to me about," I said. "You would never try to get with me in real life? Is that what you wanted to say?”
"Carmela, listen to me," he said, trying to take a step closer to me.
I shook my head. "Just stop. Don't. I don't want to hear it. This was a bad idea to begin with." I looked around, the tears starting to spill over now. "I guess I got what I deserved."
