CHAPTER 2 — THE KITCHEN DOOR
CHAPTER 2 — THE KITCHEN DOOR
The kitchen doors slammed behind us so hard the glass rattled.
"Keep moving!" Sarah shouted, yanking me between stainless-steel prep tables as shocked chefs scattered out of our way.
"Maya, don't stop!"
Behind us, David's voice exploded through the ballroom.
"Lock every exit!"
The music stopped.
The laughter disappeared.
Then came screams.
Someone shouted that the bride had gone crazy.
Someone else yelled for security.
My wedding had transformed into a manhunt in less than ten seconds.
"What is happening?" I gasped.
"What did you mean he planned something?"
Sarah didn't answer.
She kept running.
We burst through another swinging door into a dim service hallway lined with industrial freezers.
Only then did she stop.
She grabbed my shoulders.
Her hands were shaking so violently I could hear her bracelets clinking.
"You have to listen to me."
"I don't have much time."
"What are you talking about?"
She swallowed hard.
"The cake."
"What about it?"
"It was poisoned."
Everything inside me froze.
"No."
"Yes."
"No!"
"I heard them."
My heartbeat pounded against my ribs.
"He told the pastry chef the frosting only needed to touch one slice."
I stared at her.
She continued before I could interrupt.
"I followed him this morning."
"I thought he was meeting investors."
"He wasn't."
"He met a man wearing latex gloves in the hotel's underground loading dock."
"They carried a silver cooler."
"They opened the cake."
"They injected something into the top layer."
I laughed.
A broken, terrified laugh.
"Sarah..."
"You're imagining things."
"I wish I were."
She reached into her torn dress and pulled out her phone.
The screen was cracked.
"I recorded part of it."
She pressed Play.
David's voice echoed through the tiny hallway.
Cold.
Calm.
Emotionless.
"Only the bride eats the ceremonial slice."
A second man's voice answered.
"The dose?"
"Enough that she'll collapse within fifteen minutes."
"And everyone will think..."
David chuckled.
"...an allergic reaction."
My knees gave out.
Sarah barely caught me.
"No..."
"No..."
"No..."
Every memory from the last year crashed together.
David insisting on choosing every vendor.
David refusing to let me taste the cake beforehand.
David personally approving the dessert table.
David making sure I would eat first.
It hadn't been romance.
It had been planning.
A loud metallic bang echoed from the hallway entrance.
"They're here!" someone yelled.
Flashlights swept across the corridor.
Hotel security.
But Sarah's face became even paler.
"Those aren't hotel guards."
"What?"
"They work for him."
Before I could react, four enormous men in black suits entered the hallway.
Their earpieces gleamed beneath the fluorescent lights.
One smiled.
"There you are."
He wasn't smiling at a runaway bride.
He was smiling at prey.
Sarah whispered,
"Don't trust anyone wearing the gold lapel pin."
I looked closer.
Every one of them wore the same tiny golden phoenix.
The symbol David always wore on his own jacket.
Not hotel security.
His private security team.
The leader raised both hands.
"Miss Maya."
"Mr. Carter is worried."
"He just wants to explain."
Sarah pulled me backward.
"He wants to finish what he started."
The man's smile disappeared.
"Bring them."
The other three rushed forward.
Sarah shoved a metal rack into their path.
It crashed over, sending hundreds of wine glasses exploding across the floor.
The men slipped.
"Run!"
We sprinted deeper into the service tunnels.
Behind us came heavy footsteps.
Closer.
Closer.
Closer.
One hand grabbed the back of my wedding dress.
The fabric stretched.
Then—
RIIIIIP!
Half my designer gown tore away.
I stumbled free, now running barefoot in shredded silk.
Blood streaked across the polished concrete from my cut feet.
But adrenaline drowned the pain.
"Left!" Sarah yelled.
We darted into the laundry department.
Industrial washing machines thundered around us.
Steam filled the room.
Workers screamed and scattered.
One of David's men burst through the doorway.
"I've got them!"
He lunged.
Sarah swung a rolling laundry cart into his knees.
He crashed face-first into the concrete.
The others kept coming.
There were too many.
At the far end of the room stood a red EXIT door.
Hope surged through me.
We threw it open.
Cold night air hit our faces.
Rain poured from the black sky.
We had made it.
Or so I thought.
A black SUV was already waiting outside.
Its headlights blinded us.
The rear door slowly opened.
David stepped out.
His tuxedo was splattered with white frosting.
His polished smile had vanished forever.
Instead, there was only rage.
"You ruined everything," he said quietly.
Rain dripped from his hair.
"I spent two years building tonight."
His voice remained terrifyingly calm.
"You should have eaten the cake."
I backed away.
Sarah stepped in front of me.
"You'll have to kill me first."
David looked at her almost pityingly.
"I already planned to."
He snapped his fingers.
The SUV doors flew open.
Six more armed men climbed out.
There was nowhere left to run.
Then—
A deafening gunshot shattered the night.
Everyone froze.
One of David's bodyguards collapsed onto the pavement.
A red laser sight swept across the remaining men.
Another shot rang out.
Glass exploded beside David's head.
A voice thundered through the darkness.
"FEDERAL AGENTS!"
"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"
David's eyes widened for the first time all night.
May you like
He whispered only one word.
"...Impossible."
