Between dresses three and four, Keeley needed to go to the bathroom. She excused herself (though nobody noticed because they were too busy arguing) and wandered around the salon until she found it.
On her way back, she passed another private dressing area that happened to have a bride and her mother in it. The problem was she recognized that mother—it was Pearl Knighton.
Lacy burst out of the dressing room complaining loudly in a ball gown completely decked out in diamonds.
"This one doesn't have enough diamonds on it. I have to be the most dazzling bride our circle has ever seen! Everyone is still talking about Alice Kelly's wedding dress from nearly three years ago. I have to beat her!"
"You will dear," Pearl said soothingly. "You'll be the most ravishing bride there ever was."
Since when was Lacy getting married? In Keeley's first run-through of 2013, she was still hung up on Aaron and trying to break apart their marriage. There was no way that fanatical woman would give up on him when he was single.
The only explanation that made sense from that perspective was that she was marrying Aaron but that was impossible.
Everything Keeley had seen in this life indicated that Aaron despised Lacy. After hearing the truth about how everything really went down, she could tell how deeply rooted that loathing went. There was no way he would ever marry her.
Unless…did Aaron plan to suppress her once she became his wife? He had sucked the very soul out of Keeley, who had loved him deeply, by not giving her the time of day and forcing her to change everything about herself for him. It was feasible.
Lacy was obsessed with him. If he gave her what she wanted in name but treated her terribly, it would be quite cruel. Would he really go that far for revenge?
Lost in thought, Keeley didn't realize she was spotted until her worst enemy was yelling her name. "Keeley Hall! What do you think you are doing here?!"
She instantly put on her falsest smile and deadpanned, "Lacy, how nice to see you. It's been what, six, seven years now?"
"Answer the question," Lacy hissed, looking rather ferocious despite the gaudy dress she was wearing.
"I'm the maid of honor for my friend and she brought me along to help her pick out a dress."
She scoffed rudely. "As if any friend of yours could afford to shop here."
"Lacy," Pearl said warningly but she chose to ignore her mother.
She really had become so careless when it came to her image where Keeley was concerned in this life. The first time around she had held her act together until after they got married.
"My friend's fiancé is footing the bill. I assume you've heard of Cameron Singleton?" In her obsession with Aaron she had to know who was close to him.
Lacy's eyes narrowed. "The one who is a member of the board at Hale Investments?"
Keeley nodded. "Now if you'll excuse me, I should be getting back to them."
She turned to leave but the other woman grabbed her arm in a vicious grip. "Wait! There's something you should know first—I'm here picking out my wedding dress for when I marry Aaron Hale. You lose."
She looked at her one-time enemy with disgust and snorted. "Why would I care? I never liked him; he was the one who kept clinging onto me. I haven't even seen him since high school. If you must know, I have a boyfriend now who is far superior to Aaron Hale."
The lies were necessary. She had fallen off this madwoman's radar already and didn't want to get back on it. Lacy would flip if she knew her fiancé was still pursuing her.
Her expression grew ugly but Keeley was able to break free and scurry back to her group. Jennica was trying on the fifth dress and swishing the skirt back and forth in front of the mirror to admire it better.
It also had a sweetheart neckline but with a ruched bodice and the skirt flared out with a moderate amount of ruffles. It was much subtler than the ruffled monstrosity she tried on before.
"I want this one," she announced before frowning slightly. "But I feel like it's missing something."
The attendant seemed relieved she liked it, showing a tiny crack of emotion in her professionalism. "It's very popular this season to add a thick belt with one of the wedding colors to add a pop for dresses like this."
Jennica's eyes sparkled with interest. "My colors are red, orange, and hot pink."
"I'll bring out a selection of accessories in those colors. Please allow me one moment."
She bowed slightly before walking primly out of the room. Jennica continued admiring herself in all of the mirrors. Even her mother couldn't find anything to fault; it was a beautiful dress, if less princessy than she originally expected.
Keeley was relieved. Her part in this was over. She could sit back and relax, oohing and awwing when appropriate until it was time to leave and she could return to her ever increasing homework load.
The problem with sitting back was that it gave her time to think about what she just learned. It was a bit insulting to discover that a man who professed his love to you only two months ago was marrying someone else, even if that man was one you wanted nothing to do with.
More than that, she experienced a sour feeling in the pit of her stomach at the idea that Lacy would win in the end. She would become Mrs. Hale just like she spent so many years scheming to do.
Why did it matter now? Before finding out the truth, hadn't Keeley expected things to end up this way? At one point she even hoped for it so Aaron would leave her alone.
The truth changed everything. No one should have to marry someone they don't love, even if that someone is a heartless robot like Aaron Hale.
No, he wasn't a heartless robot…he was different than she originally thought. He clearly had feelings but didn't know how to express them properly. That made it worse.
He claimed to be in love with Keeley but he was marrying the woman who not only killed his only child but later had his wife killed as well. Some way to show his love. Even if it was for revenge, it was inexcusable.
It was stupid that she even cared about this at all. Aaron was always meant to marry a socialite. He could do whatever he wanted.
But…she didn't want to be construed as the other woman. She needed to tell him to stop delivering her food. If he was getting married, it was time to make a clean break.