Chapter 4

I stood there like I'd been struck by lightning.

The wedding car was sold. The wedding had already happened.

So why was this still happening?

Uncle Theo came storming into the banquet hall, shouting, "Which bastard touched my car?"

The rest of them poured in behind him, crowding around the hall manager and cursing.

"Our cars were all parked in the hotel lot. They were fine when we came in. How are they all out of gas now?"

"If your hotel doesn't give us an explanation today, we'll take this public."

"…"

Seeing the crowd about to erupt, Autumn spun in helpless circles.

"Caspar, go smooth it over. It's our wedding, after all. Don't let it blow up."

I forced myself forward. "Uncle Theo, everyone, please, hear me out—"

"Hear you out about what? The hotel's got a thief inside. Call the police—"

"Right, call the police—"

Just as things were about to break loose, the officers arrived, and they'd even brought a mechanic along.

The mechanic pulled the dipstick, then opened the fuel cap.

His whole face was baffled. "No leak. Doesn't look siphoned either. It's just empty inside."

Uncle Theo boiled over and jabbed a finger at the hotel.

"You people were keeping the cars. Now the gas is gone, so you're paying for it."

The manager was nearly in tears, explaining at the top of his lungs.

"Everyone, please, don't panic. Our hotel has security cameras. We'll get to the bottom of this for you—"

But every person in the room was worked up, and no one was listening to a word he said.

Sweat pouring down his face, the manager begged me for help.

"Mr. James, please, could you help calm this down? Even if the gas is gone, that's fine, our hotel will compensate for it at full value."

Full value? Unless the hotel bought every one of these cars outright.

Still, the hotel was innocent in all this, so I stepped up to smooth things over anyway.

"Everyone, don't rush. Let's give the hotel a little time—"

"Caspar James, why do you keep taking the outsiders' side today?" Uncle Theo snapped. "These people only drove here to come to your wedding."

The moment he said it, the others turned on me too.

"Exactly. You didn't drive yourself, so you're happy to see our cars get siphoned, is that it?"

"Wait a minute… the man getting married didn't drive?"

The instant those words landed, the whole room went dead silent.

Everyone was watching me now, faces dark and unreadable.

Someone folded his arms and looked me up and down. "Caspar, it's your wedding today. How come there's no wedding car out front?"

I choked down the panic.

"That, well… something came up a few days ago. I sold the car."

"Something came up?" Cousin Blake let out a cold laugh. "I saw you making a scene at the gas station half a month ago—"

"A scene?"

Autumn went rigid all at once.

"Didn't you tell me you had appendicitis and had to be hospitalized?"

Every eye was fixed on me, unblinking, and even the hotel manager was studying me now.

The officers pushed through the crowd and squeezed in.

"Mr. James, I'd like you to explain. What appendicitis, what gas station?"

There was nothing I could say.

Was I supposed to tell the officers that I'd already been through this exact thing, gas vanishing out of a car into thin air, and that I'd died over it once already?

The other officer suddenly gave a start. "I remember you. You're the one who got fined for stealing gas."

The crowd blew up on the spot.

They seemed to have found the source of the missing fuel, and every one of them turned the blame on me.

Some pointed and whispered. Some cursed openly.

Others shoved their phones right up in my face.

"Guys, you won't believe this, came to a wedding and the groom turns out to be a gas thief."

The phone light glanced into my eyes, and it was as if I'd gone back to my last life.

In that life, it started when Autumn's younger brother posted online calling me a cheap dog, a scheming man, and the whole internet came after me.

It dragged my parents down with it too, their house splashed with paint, whispers following them every time they went out.

"Caspar James, tell me straight. What is going on here?"

Autumn's eyes brimmed with tears as she stared at me, unable to believe it.

I shut my eyes, heavy, the whispers from the crowd all around me.

I'd tried so hard to break free of my fate. Why did every road just circle back to the same ending?

Was I, Caspar James, simply destined to be hounded to death online?

"Everyone, quiet down. We're going to question Mr. Caspar James and give you all an answer."

The two officers fought to hold order.

The older one watched me the way you'd watch a suspect. "Mr. James, come with us."

Was this just my fate?

Fine.

At this point, there was nothing left but to accept it.

They marched me toward the door, and I let them curse and shove their phones in my face.

Plenty of passersby were peering into the hotel out of curiosity, and even the five cats at the entrance were craning their necks to look inside.

The cats watched for a moment, then rose up together and filed past in front of me in a single line.

In that flash of a moment, I froze where I stood.

So the truth had been right beside me all along.