The Confrontation

The beach was peaceful and less crowded at night, with no lifeguards on duty. It wasn’t the best choice to be at night, but I doubted that M.J. even gave a damn about her safety at all. She also had her purse and phone with her, sitting on the sand in close proximity to the water, staring out into the ocean.

She turned around when she saw me, a baffled expression on her face. “What are you doing here at this time?”

“I could ask you the same thing.” I sat next to her and she got up, as if to avoid my presence.

“None of your business, Katelynn,” she snapped. “I’m not in a talking mood tonight.”

I rolled my eyes and muttered, “Yet you had plenty to say at the rehearsal dinner hours ago.”

She scoffed, folding her arms. “I didn’t ask for your opinion on my ‘mood swings’, so you’re the last person I expect to hear from about whatever you think is going on in my life.”

I wanted to play her game. “But you made your opinions about love and romance clear enough for the Atlantic Ocean to hear you. So, that’s saying something.”

She came closer to me. “Why don’t you tell me what you think I’m trying to say? You apparently look like you have all the answers.”

“Fine.” I gently put my purse on the ground next to hers and my phone in the pocket of my denim skirt. “You’re bitter because Calvin broke your heart a few years ago, so you feel the need to lash out about ‘the dark side of romance’ to prove that infidelity is common in every single relationship. Including one as genuine and innocent as Donna and Ethan’s. Well, the ‘innocent’ part…” I cleared my throat. “That’s an understatement, given what you just revealed about Ethan’s business failing. I don’t even care to know how you stumbled upon that piece of information.”

“Then don’t ask,” she snapped. “I simply overheard Ethan and the guys talking about it at Harding’s Beach the other day, so they can’t deny that they ever said anything. Ethan clearly didn’t want Donna to know that something’s up, and I can’t say I blame either one of them. That’s another proof of love being a huge lie. There’s no reason to celebrate a relationship based on dishonesty. This goes for marriage, too. No wonder divorce rates are soaring.”

I shook my head, finding this girl unbelievable. “So, because Ethan lied to Donna about this one thing, you think they’re doomed for marriage? Do you even hear yourself, Howard? Why do you have to be such a pessimist about it?”

“Lied by omission,” M.J. corrected me. “No true relationship should ever start out that way. You’d know. Oh, wait…” After a brief pause. “You can’t relate because you’re single! You’re definitely not one to be in a position to talk to me about relationships and people’s true intentions.”

My cheeks burned; the nerve of this bitch to rub my single status in my face! “What are you saying? You knew all along that Ethan was lying about his family’s success? Is that why you’ve been throwing a bitch fit these past few days, isolating yourself from Donna and the others?”

She shook her head. “I didn’t know shit about Ethan and the Russells’ crap a year ago; it’s only a recent discovery I made.” She emphasized it as if I should’ve already known that. “My ‘bitch fit’ isn’t about Calvin, no matter what anyone else thinks.”

“Then what’s it really about?”

She took a deep breath, as if to collect herself, before spilling the news. “Kalissa.” She was so quiet, I could barely hear her at first.

I raised my eyebrows. “Kalissa? What about her? Is she okay?”

Her face turned white, as if she felt a little sick to her stomach to say this aloud. “No… She’s pregnant.”

This was news to me. And to everyone else, I’m pretty sure. Justin, too?

“Congrats, I guess?” I said hesitantly. “Aren’t you excited to be an aunt?”

She only shook her head, glancing at the ground. “The baby’s not Justin’s.”

My heart started pounding. Did she just…

I held her hand. “M.J., look at me.” She faced me. “What are you talking about? Do you know something? If you do, just tell me now!”

She sighed. “I promised Kalissa I wouldn’t say a word to anyone until after the wedding tomorrow, but…” She went into full details about how she accidentally overheard Kalissa’s phone conversation with her mother, speaking to her in Spanish about how the baby apparently belonged to another man, Kevin. Kevin was the husband of one of Kalissa’s oncology patients, a woman named Sharla. She and Kevin had a nine-year-old daughter of their own, Roberta.

According to M.J., Kalissa was 100% certain that the baby was Kevin’s, not Justin’s. Which meant Ryleigh wasn’t gonna be a big sister after all, and the Howards weren’t getting another grandchild. It also meant that Justin and Kalissa were still emotionally disconnected in their marriage. M.J. hated keeping this a secret from Justin and couldn’t even bring herself to tell him.

As bad as I felt for her, she still had every single opportunity to tell Donna personally, even if she didn’t think that Justin—or anyone else—would ever believe her. She chose to become a bitter bitch by lashing out at everyone on Donna and Ethan’s special week. I agreed that Kalissa was a disgusting homewrecker who made horrible choices, but M.J. ultimately took the cake by letting her anger get the best of her. Up until now, like everyone else, I kept believing that Calvin was the reason for her talking crap about love and spitting on it as if it’s the worst thing in the world.

“Why didn’t you say shit to Donna earlier?” I challenged her.

“You have no idea how difficult it’s been for me to keep a secret this massive!” she cried out, a few tears slowly running down her cheeks.

I didn’t buy it. “Oh, is that so? Or are you really using Kalissa’s disturbing secret as an opportunity to express your obvious jealousy toward Donna?”

She laughed bitterly. “Me, jealous of my childhood best friend?” She pointed to me. “OMG, that’s like the pot calling the kettle black! You can’t even hide your jealousy of Donna for one minute all week. Don’t pretend to ‘defend’ her honor to me when you’ve been nothing but bitter toward her happiness with Ethan, looking down on their relationship as if being wealthy is a crime against humanity.”

She folded her arms. “Admit it, Katelynn. You’ve gotten a real kick out of seeing me like this all week. Isolating myself from Donna and the girls as they turned their backs against me, everyone else thinking I was stirring up some soap-opera drama when I called out women who get pregnant from affairs behind their husbands’ backs. You enjoyed every single minute of it because for once, you were glad to see your own sister become miserable by her best friend’s ‘delusional’ rants. Am I right?”

I shrugged casually. “You just called yourself delusional, and that I enjoy.”

With a smirk, I added, “For your information, I never said that Ethan’s wealth is an issue. It’s just annoying how she kept showing him off as the ‘perfect fiancé’ who can do no wrong.”

She groaned. “Well, God forbid Donna ever find happiness with the man she loves, despite his social status.”

Putting words into my mouth, are we, M.J.?

“Don’t try to change the subject, Howard. Taking your anger out on everyone just because it killed you inside to keep Kalissa’s dirty, trashy secret. I find it hard to believe that you couldn’t even make time to tell at least one person about this. The moment you found out, that should’ve been your immediate priority. But no… You spent the rest of the week sulking in your room, going for long walks to distance yourself from everyone else. No wonder you’re such a loner!”

Her face turned red as she raised her voice. “What the hell do you think I’d been doing all week since I found out? I was trying to find proof online! Emails, phone calls, anything that she kept getting to prove that she’s planning to give the child away once it’s born. Adoption agencies from California contacting her every few seconds… The fact that she drinks only water and tea during meals like she did earlier tonight requesting ginger tea while we all had wine and other stuff.”

She continued. “Also the fact that she wanted to keep quiet about this pregnancy and not share it with anyone else, so she probably didn’t even want me to tell Donna. Wanna know why, Katelynn? She didn’t want me to spread the false news about my becoming an aunt because this is a Welsh baby, not an Howard baby at all. My parents won’t get another grandchild, and my little niece won’t be a big sister as she’s been hoping. I’ve been occupying myself with getting proof against Kalissa for her unfaithfulness. Every minute of each day, that’s what I was doing! So, don’t you dare lecture me about being cowardly enough to hide this secret from others when I’ve been doing my due diligence to expose Kalissa for the lying, cheating, hypocritical bitch that she is!”

Tears flooded down her cheeks and neck, leaving a few stains on her dress that she’s still wearing. I must’ve been blind because I never paid that much attention to Kalissa’s beverage choices during meal gatherings. Neither did Donna or anyone else, I’m pretty sure. How was M.J. the only person who’d ever noticed? Were we living under rocks to ignore a pregnant woman right in front of us?

I held M.J.’s hand. “It’s okay,” I said calmly. “Just calm down.”

“I can’t!” she cried, pushing my hand away. “Everyone hates me now, and it kills me to keep this secret for another 24 hours. You wouldn’t even understand. So, just go away and leave me alone to deal with this misery on my own.”

With a frustrated sigh, I said, “Whatever”, and grabbed my purse, started walking out.

She laughed wryly. “That’s it? Whatever?” She mimicked me. “You think you can lecture me about hypocrisy and jealousy and just walk away, leaving me to suffer?”

I took a small breath before turning around to face her. “You’re the one who insisted that I leave. What more do you want from me? You were here alone before I showed up.”

“What, so are you stalking me now? How’d you even know I was here? You’re supposed to be with Tanya and Serenity, not out here with me.”

“You’re not supposed to be out here at this time, either.”

She glanced around the beach, as if trying to determine who else might show up at this time. “I’m a grown woman who’s allowed to make my own choices, and I’ll be back inside soon, just like I’m sure you will be too. In your own room with Tanya and Serenity and not sneaking around Donna’s trying to steal her money. Yes, I know what you’ve been doing when she doesn’t notice,” she added before I could interject. “Don’t even deny it. In the past year since she and Ethan first announced their engagement, you’ve been after her money, and I’ll provide her with proof tomorrow. She deserves to know who you really are.”

“Take out your phone and show me this proof now. I dare you to.” I put my hands on my hips.

She stood frozen for a moment as the water gently rose to the shore, dampening our feet. Yep, I knew it. She’s only bluffing. “Later. Too tired tonight.”

“Exactly what I thought,” I muttered cynically.

“But you won’t get away with it, no matter what you think.” I came closer to her as she continued. “You may have thought you’ve won and gotten your pleasure out of seeing your poor sister suffer on what’s supposed to be the most special, memorable week of her life. But the war is over now, Katelynn, and you’ve lost. You don’t get to live your life in blissful peace after doing irreparable damage to Donna’s joy. I’ll make sure she sees it, too. As her best friend who knows her intimately, she’ll be more inclined to believe me than her loser thief of a sister like you.”

My blood began to boil. “Bitch, you did not just…”

Without thinking, I lost control and did the one thing I didn’t expect—shoving her forcefully into the water.

She could not swim. At all.

She immediately started screaming as she fell backwards. “Help! Katelynn, help me… Please, I can’t swim. I’m afraid of the water!”

I stood frozen, watching her as the water rose higher and consumed her. I grabbed her purse and phone and moved them a few feet away from the water so they didn’t get washed up by the waves, simply leaving them on the ground. Her personal effects were there for others to pick up on, should they come here tomorrow morning, and they’d know who she was.

I grabbed my purse, put my sandals back on and started heading out as M.J. continued screaming for help in the background, her voice muffled by the waves. I was tired now, and I’ve had a long day. M.J. acted like she’s the only one who’d had a rough day, or week.

No one gave a fuck. I certainly didn’t. Not anymore.

“Maybe Donna shouldn’t have invited everyone to a wedding destination venue by an ocean where you know damn well that not everyone knows how to fucking swim,” I muttered, making my way back to the inn.

This is on you, Donna. YOUR mess.

As I returned to my suite, I went to Tanya and Serenity’s room to break the news to them about the true reason behind M.J.’s strange outbursts all week—Kalissa’s infidelity.

They were horrified to learn the truth as I recounted M.J.’s scandalous discovery to them, and we mutually agreed that Donna deserved to know. She needed answers as to why M.J. had been acting like such a bitch to her and the other girls, and we must tell her before the wedding.

But little did Tanya and Serenity know…

I had no intention of telling Donna shit. She deserved to figure out for herself what a lousy “best friend” she’d been to M.J. all this time, prioritizing her “fairytale wedding” with a fiancé with shady family business dealings, thinking she knew him “all too well” like a cringeworthy Taylor Swift song.

She prioritized her own wedding over making time to understand the deep pain M.J. had been in, keeping Kalissa’s unforgivable secret for the longest time. Served her right if the wedding’s off. Which it should be.

She didn’t deserve a “happily ever after.”

Some FRIEND you are, Donna.