Page 112 of The Last Saturday In July
Zoe dug her hands into her jeans. ‘It’s all a bit convenient. Like, if the press knew something, why did they leave it until now?’
‘I’ve been thinking the same thing myself.’ Ian scrubbed his face with both hands. ‘So obviously they didn’t know. But somebody did. And they wanted to cause maximum damage by releasing it today to the press.’
‘So, Brandi, right?’ Zoe said.
Jess sighed. ‘Give us a minute, Ian, we’ll get ready.’
As Jess and Zoe helped each other into the Cinderella-style ball gowns, Jess tried to imagine how Chelsea was feeling. It was bad enough to discover on the day of her wedding that her fiancé had cheated with her half-sister, but a hundred times more humiliating to have the world’s media talking about it.
A celebrity wedding was huge, but a celebrity breakup hours beforehand, was even bigger. There was always a chance the rumours weren’t true, but the damage was already done. Right now, she had to get Chelsea and Leo talking.
It was the only possibly way to save this wedding.
Chapter 46
THE LIFT stopped, and Jess and Ian stepped into the south tower’s circular foyer. Ian swept a hand towards the door to the suite.
‘It’s up to you now, Jess. Good luck.’
After he left, Jess sent up a quick prayer.
She knocked loudly. ‘Chelsea? It’s Jess Bradley.’
There was silence for a few minutes, and then Chelsea opened the door just enough to let Jess squeeze in, before locking it behind them.
‘Oh my God, thank you for coming.’
To Jess’s surprise, Chelsea threw her arms around her, giving her a long hug before stepping back.
‘Sorry they made you wear a stupid costume.’
‘It’s fine.’ Jess gave what she hoped was an encouraging smile. ‘It’s all part of the fun.’
Chelsea stared at her, and Jess looked properly at the younger woman for the first time. Her eyes were puffy and red in her pale, makeup-free face, and with her tiny frame hidden under sweatpants and a dark hoodie, the reality TV star looked more like a teenager. One who’d just realised that she was at the wrong party and wanted to go home.
Chelsea caught Jess’s hand, and led her into the suite’s sitting room, a lavishly furnished, curved space, its walls intricately papered and hung with romantic, period paintings. In one corner, a walnut coffee table was laid with champagne, still and sparkling water, fresh and candied fruit and a variety of artisan confectionary, all of which looked untouched.
‘It’s the fairy tale, right?’ Chelsea gave a sad laugh. ‘And I’m just Cinderella after the clock has struck midnight, My fairy godfather has gone, and the prince is screwing around with my half-sister.’
She sat down in one of the large Victorian armchairs, and drewup her legs, hugging them to her chest. Jess sat down in the other armchair, ignoring the corset digging into her ribs, and tried to think.
‘Chelsea, I know this is an awful thing to happen on your wedding day, but it’s a bit of a coincidence, isn’t it? Say if someone is making it up to try to get to you?’
Chelsea swiped at a tear. ‘Yeah, well, they’ve succeeded.’
Jess felt a surge of sympathy for her. ‘I know, I’m sorry. But how do you know it’s true, and not some awful lie to destroy your day?’
Chelsea shook her head. ‘I really liked you when we first met, Jess. I mean, everyone here is lovely, and Ian has been awesome. But I kinda thought we had a real connection, you know?’ Chelsea shrugged a bit shyly, and Jess felt mean for having dismissed the younger woman before.
‘So that’s why you said you’d only talk to me?’
‘I have to trust someone, Jess. And I just get the vibe that you’ll do the right thing here.’
None of this made any sense. ‘Chelsea, maybe you should just talk to Leo, hear what he has to say.’
‘We’ve talked.’ Chelsea’s mouth set in a hard line. ‘He swears he’s done nothing wrong.’
‘And you don’t believe him?’
