Seeing Is Believing

by Jill Ferraro

  “How are you holding up, sweetie?”

  “You know?”

  Stacey nodded. “I do. I’m so sorry. I promise I had no idea.”

  Brielle buried her face in her hands. “Stacey, I’m so embarrassed! How did I not realize it was Seth?”

  She pulled her into a tight hug. “They hid it well. You knowing would have ruined the ‘surprise’. Mark and Abigail did everything they could to keep it from you.”

  “Thanks. Still, so much makes sense now.” She searched around for her shoes. “So we’re rehearsing now, right?”

  “Unless you’re calling off the wedding?”

  “I don’t know what I’m going to do yet.”

  “Then I guess we go rehearse. Hopefully, this will help you clear your head. Maybe put some things into perspective.”

  “Maybe.”

  They traveled down to the lobby together, Brielle hoping desperately that Abigail and Mark wouldn’t be anywhere near the rehearsal. She was relieved to see the lobby was empty sans Laura and James filming from the corner.

  Despite having the chairs lined up on either side of a makeshift aisle and a podium waiting for her at the end of the lobby to practice her vows at, Brielle was more distracted than excited during her rehearsal. She’d waited her whole life for this day and it seemed tainted, ruined. What bride wanted to choose between a man who lied to her and a man who tricked her?

  Stacey tried her best to get her excited. She piped in the ceremony music, had an app that clapped and cheered, but nothing worked. Brielle walked down the aisle to the beat of the music with a tear rolling slowly down her cheek.

  Brielle listened as Stacey explained the role of the officiant and then asked her to practice her vows. She looked up from the patch of ground she had been staring at and shook her head.

  “Did you not write vows yet?”

  Brielle gulped back more tears. “No, I did. They just mean nothing to me now. I wrote a set of vows for Carl, who doesn’t even exist. And Asher lied to me. About something really important. How am I supposed to profess my love to him now? And my commitment? In front of friends and family?”

  Stacey nodded understandingly. “We can skip that part. Once we’re done up here, you’re married. So you’ll walk back down the aisle with your new husband and out the door.”

  Brielle nodded, walked to the nearest chair, and sat down, slumped as far into the cushions as she could get. “I don’t think I can do this, Stacey. You put in so much hard work, my family tried so hard to accept this decision...but I don’t think I can do this.”

  Stacey sat down beside her and took her by the hand. “First of all, don’t worry about me. Second, you don’t have to get married tomorrow. No one can force you to marry either of these guys. Will there be tremendous pressure? Yes. But you can say no.”

  “And I want to. Say no. But there’s something about Asher that stops me every time. Our date today was amazing and I don’t know if I’ll find another guy like him.”

  “So you do want to marry Asher.”

  “Well...I don’t know. Because despite the lies Seth’s told this week, maybe he has a point and we are destined to be together. Maybe this is his way of making some large romantic gesture. Obviously, it was a terrible choice. But maybe he really does love me”

  Stacey nodded. “I’ll reserve sharing my thoughts until after I meet the other potential groom. Can I stop by later? We can do fun pre-wedding things like face masks and chick flicks. Really celebrate your last night as a single woman, potentially.”

  “That would be great.” Brielle stood up and gave Stacey a tight squeeze. “I don’t know what I would do without you. This week has been insane but you’ve definitely kept me grounded.”

  “I’m glad. Let’s get you upstairs. Maybe you can take another nap.”

  “That sounds wonderful.”

  The two women made their way back to the elevator. Brielle was so grateful for Stacey, at least she had one person in her corner.

  When she got back to the apartment she laid in bed for a long time but sleep wouldn’t come. She just replayed the day over and over in her mind.

  What was she going to do?

  Chapter Eight

  Seth

  Seth: brielle just tlk 2 me

  Seth: we can wrk this out !!

  ◆◆◆

  Seth was growing worried. He hadn’t heard from Brielle in hours and didn’t know what else to do. He tried ignoring her, texting her constantly, begging her to hear him out. But nothing worked. She hadn’t responded and he was starting to get more and more annoyed.

  What did she want from him? Brielle always begged him for attention when they were together. And now, here he was, giving her his utmost attention and she couldn’t care less. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough.

  Despite his waning confidence, the next day was the day he’d been waiting for all week. The day that would make everything worth it, hopefully. He would marry Brielle and could bring his prize home to his family and friends. His mom would be so happy to have Brielle in the family and Seth would be happy she was right back in his life, where she belonged.

  The only thing standing in his way was the silence. He thought about messaging her again but stopped himself. If she wanted him, she could reach out. He didn’t care what Mark and Abigail had to say about it.

  As if they could read his mind, the phone rang from the kitchen. Seth made his way down the hallway to answer it.

  “Hello?”

  “You need to go to the lobby.” Abigail was short and her voice high.

  “Why?”

  “Wedding rehearsal.”

  Seth stood up a little straighter. “Does that mean she picked me?”

  Abigail’s laugh was cruel. “No, you idiot. Asher went this morning. You’re going now.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Be in the lobby in the next 10 minutes or we’ll have a problem.”

  The line went dead. Seth really wasn’t in the mood for a wedding rehearsal, especially if he wasn’t guaranteed a wedding. Still, Abigail seemed more uptight than she usually was and he wasn’t going to risk pissing her off more. It could jeopardize his payment later on.

  He slipped on his shoes and made his way to the lobby. Someone had moved the chairs around to make it look more like a wedding venue but it still looked like a crappy hotel lobby. Seth rolled his eyes as he looked around. He hoped the venue tomorrow would be classier.

  When Abigail and Mark initially called him to be on the show, they promised him the wedding of the century in addition to the $50,000 bonus for making it to the end. If this rehearsal was any indication, they were going to fall short on at least one of their promises.

  A small woman was flipping through a notebook at the podium. She smiled widely at Seth when she heard him approach. “You must be Seth! I’m so happy to meet you.”

  “Great. Can we get this over with?”

  She gave him an odd look. “I’m Stacey. I’m the wedding planner. I’ve been working with Brielle all week to plan what is hopefully your special day.”

  Seth walked to the podium. “So I start here? Smile? Pretend to cry? And then what?”

  “I was hoping to get to know you a little bit better but if this is how you want to do this, fine.” She pointed to the ground where he stood. “There will be a small ‘x’ on the ground where you need to stand. You will watch Brielle walk down the aisle, shake her father’s hand if he lets you, and repeat after the minister. When he’s done, you give her a kiss and walk back down the aisle. Any questions?”

  “None.”

  “Great. Well, I’d say I hope to see you tomorrow but honestly, I hope I never see you again.”

  Seth stopped. He turned to face her. “What did you just say?” His voice came out a low growl.

  “You heard me. Put a different way, I have no idea why a wonderful girl like Brielle was ever with such an awful person. I was waiting until I met you to finalize my opinion of you and you’ve failed
to meet my very low expectations.”

  “Listen, lady. I don’t have time-”

  “I won’t keep you any longer. Goodbye, Seth.”

  She waved him off and Seth stomped to the elevator, punching the button to head back upstairs. Where did she get off insulting him like that? Why did she care?

  When Seth arrived back at the apartment, dinner was already on the table. Asher sat on the couch, glancing nervously at his phone every few seconds, before turning his attention back to the TV. Seth grabbed a burger from the table and went to his room. He was so heated, he didn’t even care to mess with Asher. The fun was lost.

  It was possibly his last meal as a single man and he was wasting it on a cold hamburger in bed. For the first time, Seth truly regretted his decision to come on the show. Not only was he possibly giving away his freedom, but the cameras in every room were recording his pathetic final days as a bachelor.

  He picked up his phone to send Brielle one last message.

  Seth: r u in or out? I don’t have time 4 games

  Brielle: I guess you’ll find out tomorrow, Seth.

  He was happy she texted him back but her message was unsettling. Would he be getting married tomorrow?

  Or would he be heading home, utterly humiliated?

  Chapter Nine

  Brielle

  Asher: I don’t want to bother you but I do want to make sure you’re ok.

  Brielle: I will be. I will see you tomorrow.

  ◆◆◆

  Her clothes were scattered around the room. Brielle hadn’t realized how settled in she was until it came time to pack. It felt like she’d lived in that apartment for years, not days. There were earrings scattered in every corner, makeup brushes were strewn from the bedroom to the bathroom, and she couldn’t remember how she had fit everything into one suitcase.

  Packing was good for Brielle. It distracted her from the life-altering decision she was about to make and the complete betrayal she’d suffered earlier that day, at the hands of two men who claimed to love her no less. The entire situation was almost comical to Brielle, everything was so out of control she could do nothing else but laugh at that point. Her tears had dried up a few hours prior.

  Someone delivered her dinner around 7 PM. Shrimp tacos with chips and salsa. It wasn’t the best meal she’d had during her stay but it would hold her over until the morning. She sat down to eat and wait for Stacey to arrive.

  Brielle had just finished her tacos when she heard Stacey knocking at the door. She was holding a basket of movies, candy, wine, and a crown. Brielle teared up looking at her.

  “Oh, Stacey! This is too much!”

  “You’ve been such a trooper, I needed to do something nice for you. Just don’t tell my other brides.” She gave Brielle a wink.

  The two women set up the goodies on the coffee table. Brielle was excited to have what was potentially her final single girl’s night with her new friend. It helped ease her anxiety about the next day and made her start to really feel like a bride.

  They poured the wine, put on their floral robes, and applied the face mask Stacey had brought which promised to make Brielle glow on her wedding day. It felt like a real pre-wedding sleepover with a close friend.

  Stacey hesitated before she spoke. “We don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to. But any ideas about tomorrow?”

  “I’m still not sure. I love Asher. I know he cares about me. And I know he didn’t have much of a choice in all of this. I mean what were his options? Lie or leave? But I still feel betrayed by him.” Brielle took a sip of her wine.

  “And Seth?”

  She sighed. “Seth. Seth was my first love, Stacey. He’s the one I always pictured walking down the aisle to. And yeah, he lied. Like in a big way. But I do love him and he’s so familiar. At least I know what I’m getting with him. And we had some good times, it wasn’t all bad. And for Seth to come here and try to win me back, I don’t know. It’s kind of romantic don’t you think? In a weird twisted way?”

  Stacey raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t a romantic comedy, Brielle. This is your life. Your marriage is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make. Is this how you want to start it off?”

  She had a good point. Seth had lied to her, a lot. And he’d hurt her in the past. A lot. “Well, you’ve met both of them. What do you think?”

  “Well, I think sometimes people come into our lives for a reason, that it’s a sign we should be with them. And I think sometimes people put themselves into our lives for selfish reasons. And I think you have two men here that will provide you with very different futures. Which future do you want to become a reality?”

  Brielle got up to rinse the face mask from her face. It was starting to sting near her nose and she didn’t want to be red for her wedding day. She thought about Stacey’s question while she was gone.

  Which future did she want? Her future with Seth could be great but Brielle wasn’t sure she could count on him to change his ways. Would he cheat on her again? Would he leave her and their children to fend for themselves?

  And then there was Asher. He was kind and gentle and his values aligned with hers. But who’s to say he wasn’t just like Seth, deep down? There was so much unknown with Asher, so much could go wrong.

  Finally, there was her third option. To leave the show tomorrow as a single woman and head back out into the wild world of dating once again and try to make it on her own. After the disaster of the past week, it couldn’t be much worse than what she’d already experienced. In fact, it sounded like a vacation.

  Brielle sat back down on the couch and took a sip of her wine. Stacey had queued up a movie and they shared a bowl of popcorn and M&Ms. It wasn’t the perfect way to spend the evening before her possible wedding but it was the best she was going to get.

  They laughed and cried and chatted about their lives as the movie played in the background. After it ended, Stacey cleaned up the snacks and headed to the door. “I forgot to tell you earlier. Your family is settled in at the hotel. I’ll bring them to see you in the morning, they’re all very happy to be here.”

  “I’m very happy to see them. And I’ll be very happy to see you in the morning! Thank you so much, for tonight and for everything. I do feel better.”

  “You’re totally welcome.” Stacey pulled open the door and paused. “Any idea on what dress you’re going to wear tomorrow?”

  Brielle smiled. “I think you know which one I’ll choose.”

  Stacey nodded and shut the door behind her.

  Surprisingly, Brielle fell asleep faster than she thought she would. And as she slept she dreamed of herself dancing with her husband on their wedding day, smiling and laughing and making memories that would last a lifetime.

  Will all of her dreams come true?

  Chapter Ten

  Abigail pulled out the champagne glasses. “I think we can start to celebrate.” She began pouring the bubbly liquid in the glass.

  “I agree. This might work out after all.”

  She stopped mid-pour and glared at Mark. “Might?”

  “It will, it will.” He took his glass from her hand. “Cheers. To you. And your genius.”

  Abigail sat down on the couch next to Mark. She still looked tense, although far more relaxed than she was the previous few days.

  Mark took a sip of his champagne. “It went as perfectly as we could have hoped.”

  “I guess so. Did you see her cry? In the elevator?” Abigail laughed into her flute.

  He smirked. “I did, I did. Seth did very well.”

  “Do you think she’ll marry him?”

  Mark paused before answering. “I’m not sure. He really does have a hold over her. But at the same time, it would be completely insane for her to marry him. This is borderline stalking.”

  “People in love aren’t rational.”

  “You can say that again.” They clinked glasses once more. “Besides, she’s pretty upset with Asher. He did lie to her, even if he
was out of options. And he’s supposed to be the good guy. Seth’s lied so many times before, I doubt she cares much.”

  “True. Let’s hope she picks one of them. If she goes home single, we’re both screwed.”

  The phone rang before Mark could answer. Abigail hopped up to answer it. She knew it was the network calling to finalize the wedding plans.

  “Hello? Yep, everything’s all set. No, I’m not sure who she’s going to choose yet.” Abigail paused. “I’m not sure what you mean, funny business. We can catch up about this tomorrow, big night! Great. Thanks, bye.” She slammed the phone down.

  “They know something’s going on with the wedding.”

  Mark shook his head. “It’s just rumor for right now. Once they see how great this season is, you’ll be promoted for sure.”

  “I hope you’re right.”

  The duo finished off the bottle of champagne. Eventually, Mark turned in for the night. He had lingered, hoping Abigail would join him, but she wanted to be left alone. She needed space. Space to sit, think, and hope the next day’s plans went off without a hitch.

  For everyone’s sake.

  Thank you for purchasing Seeing Is Believing! This is Book Seven in the Sight Unseen Series.

  Book Eight: Only Have Eyes for Him will be released August 3, 2020 (preorder by clicking here)!

  To receive special offers, exclusive content (including the prequel to the Sight Unseen Series, Book Zero: Before the Fall), and news about Jill Ferraro’s latest books, please subscribe to her newsletter!

  Click here to subscribe!