You're Invited(63)

And with that, she turned on her heel and stalked down toward the beach.

I tried to steady myself, but I was shaking all over. I leaned against the wall and tried to take a deep breath. It barely worked. I felt my knees give away as I slid down to the floor.

How dare she? How dare she speak to me like that? How dare she say the cruel things she did? She knew how much it would hurt me. All this time I thought, deep down, that she’d still be my friend. That I couldn’t speak to her because she was busy. Because she was preoccupied with the wedding. Because I was a coward. Now I knew she just didn’t care. She had nothing to say to me. Of course she didn’t—what was there to talk about? As far as she was concerned she got her trophy man. Why would she need me?

Why did she even ask me to come here? Was it to rub it in my face that she had the life that I could never have? Why would she do this to me?

I tried another round of deep breathing.

If the ghost of Lady Lavinia was here tonight, I would surely have scared her away. That’s how angry I was.

I could hear footsteps echoing down the corridor. Thank goodness for the wooden floors. I didn’t want to be found like this—a collapsed, defeated lump, crying to myself in a deserted corner of a five-star hotel.

Standing up, I dug in my purse for a tissue and wiped my face.

I would walk out of here with my head held high.

I wouldn’t let Kaavindi Fonseka tear me down a second time.

Pushing my shoulders back, I walked to the lobby where I could sit down for a moment and call myself a taxi. I saw Mahesh’s driver hanging around near the front desk. I briefly wondered why he was there, again, when Mahesh was clearly not invited to the bridal shower, but I didn’t feel like making small talk. I kept my face turned away from him. That’s when I saw the wedding dress. It was still as ethereally beautiful as it had been at the Fonseka house. I couldn’t even bear to look at it.

It had been delivered to the lobby where it now hung, ready to be transported to Kaavi’s bridal suite, on a luggage trolley. It looked even more beautiful than I remembered—the lights in the lobby bouncing off the delicate silver threadwork, making the dress look like it was plucked straight out of a fairy tale.

Well, this was not about to be a happy ending.

“Meka bridal suite ekata nedha?” This is to be delivered to the bridal suite, right? I heard the porter ask.

The idea sizzled in my mind, and I knew I had to act quickly before I lost my nerve.

I turned back around and walked toward the old wing, to where I knew Kaavi’s room was. There was only one room that the hotel used as the bridal suite, and I doubt it had changed in years. I moved quickly. The porter would have to take the service route, so he would get there after I did.

I hung around outside Kaavi’s empty room for just a minute when I saw him, wheeling the trolley down the corridor.

“Gowuma nedha?” That’s the dress, isn’t it?

“Owu, miss.” Yes, miss.

“Ah, bride balagena hitiye. Dhan nidagannath gihilla. Mata kivva baara ganna kiyala.” The bride was waiting for this, but now she’s gone to sleep. She asked me to take it in.

I prayed the porter wouldn’t ask me why the bride was in bed so early, but then, most Sri Lankan brides start getting dressed at 3:00 a.m. the morning of the wedding, so I supposed it wasn’t too suspicious.

“Ha, miss. Ehenam puluwanda methana sign ekak dhanne?” All right, miss. Then would you mind signing right here?

I took the receipt and signed Tehani’s name on it. The porter handed the dress over to me, and I made like I was fumbling in my handbag for the keys until he rolled away.

Then, bundling the dress under my arm, I made my way down to the beach.

The crowd was in the hut, from where I could hear squealing and screaming and loud music. They all must be drunk out of their minds now. Good. They were having far too much fun to pay any attention to me.

I kicked off my shoes and made my way down the beach to the bonfire.

You’re still in love with him, aren’t you? Kaavi’s voice rang through me, grating, piercing into my skull. I took a few steps forward, my feet sinking into the sand.

I mean, you just show up here, following me around, completely uninvited. I’ll show you uninvited, Kaavi. I’ll show you how wrong you were about me.

It’s just like her to invite me and then change her mind. To trick me into this shameful position. Lording over me, trying to control me like she did with everyone else.

I took a deep breath, just like Dr. Dunn said. But, then, I’d never really followed his advice before. I was finally doing something. I was finally “getting it done.”

You’ll kill me like you killed Gayan Peiris? Huh? Is that what you’d do?

I mustn’t let myself spiral.

But I was already gone. It was like someone else—a ghost, or a demon—had possessed my body. I wasn’t thinking. I was just acting. For the first time in years.

I didn’t check the time. I didn’t want to know if the signs were bad.

I was finally in front of the bonfire.

Are you threatening me, Amaya? I’ll show you threatening, Kaavi. I’ll give you just a glimpse of what I’m capable of.

Taking a deep breath, I hurled the dress into the flames.

It lay there, for just a second, glistening in the firelight—a witch, refusing to burn at the stake. It was more beautiful than ever. But then the fire caught. It was sudden, almost explosive, like an eruption. The flames shot up, high against the darkening sky, as I stood there, panting.