Don’t wear that wedding gown! It was washed with water from a corpse last night!” the makeup artist screamed, snatching the expensive white dress from the bride’s trembling hands…
“Don’t wear that wedding gown! It was washed with water from a corpse last night!” the makeup artist screamed, snatching the expensive white dress from the bride’s trembling hands.
“Are you mad? Give me my gown! My husband is waiting at the altar!” Chidinma shouted, her voice cracking as panic rose like smoke inside the room.
“Madam, please! Smell it! It smells of formalin! Your Chief Bridesmaid took this dress somewhere strange yesterday!” the makeup artist cried, eyes wide with dread.
Chidinma froze, staring at the dress, then slowly turning toward her best friend Jessica standing by the door, bouquet clutched tightly.
“Jessica… is it true?” Chidinma asked, her voice barely above a whisper, heart pounding violently in her chest.
Jessica laughed sharply. “Don’t mind her. She’s jealous and dramatic. Today is your wedding. Wear the gown and let’s go.”
The room felt smaller suddenly, air thick and heavy like something unseen pressed against the walls.
Chidinma lifted the gown carefully and inhaled near the hem.
A faint chemical scent lingered beneath expensive perfume.
Her stomach twisted.
HOW IT STARTED lingered in her mind like an echo she could not silence.
She met Femi at a charity gala two years earlier.
He was warm, intelligent, soft-spoken.
Unlike other wealthy men, he listened when she spoke.
Jessica had been the first person she told.
“You hit jackpot!” Jessica screamed that night, hugging her tightly.
Chidinma remembered how long the hug lasted.
Too long.
Back then she ignored the flicker in Jessica’s eyes.
The wedding planning began months later.
Jessica insisted on handling everything.
“Trust me. I will protect your happiness,” she promised.
Chidinma trusted her completely.
Jessica had been there through heartbreaks, exams, job interviews
Or so she believed.
Two nights before the wedding, Chidinma dreamed of an old woman standing at the foot of her bed.
The woman held her wedding ring.
Then she dropped it into dark water.
Chidinma woke sweating.
She told Jessica about the dream.
Jessica dismissed it quickly.
“Wedding nerves. Nothing more.”
But Jessica’s fingers trembled when she said it.
On the morning of the wedding, the hotel suite buzzed with excitement.
Makeup brushes scattered across the vanity.
Hair spray floated in the air.
Titi, the makeup artist, worked quietly.
When Jessica entered with the gown, Titi felt a chill.
She couldn’t explain it.
Just a sudden heaviness.
Jessica placed the box down carefully.
Too carefully.
When Jessica stepped into the bathroom, her phone remained recording on the vanity.
Titi heard whispers through the partially open door.
Low.
Urgent.
“Baba said once she wears it, her destiny shifts. Femi will reject her. He will turn to me.”
Titi’s breath caught.
She replayed the recording quickly.
Jessica’s voice was unmistakable.
Titi opened the box.
The dress shimmered beautifully under light.
But the hem felt damp.
And cold.
She brought it closer to her nose.
The faint smell returned.
Not blood.
Not rot.
But something preserved.
Something unnatural.
That was when she screamed.
Back in the present, Chidinma stared at Jessica.
Jessica avoided eye contact.
“You’re ruining everything!” Jessica snapped at Titi.
Titi stepped forward bravely.
“I heard you in the bathroom.”
Silence swallowed the room.
Jessica’s lips parted slightly.
Then she laughed.
“Are you insane? You spy on people now?”
Chidinma’s hands began shaking.
Her mind replayed moments she had ignored.
Jessica insisting on keeping the gown.
Jessica urging a specific delivery time.
Jessica checking the clock constantly.
“The spirit will get angry if she doesn’t wear it by ten,” Jessica blurted suddenly.
The words hung in the air.
Cold.
Wrong.
“What spirit?” Chidinma asked slowly.
Jessica’s eyes widened.
For a split second, something cracked in her expression.
Then she composed herself.
“You misheard me.”
Titi pressed play on the phone recording.
Jessica’s whisper filled the room
Clear.
Undeniable.
Color drained from Jessica’s face.
The bouquet slipped from her hand onto the carpet.
Chidinma stepped back as though struck.
“Why?” she whispered.
Jessica’s breathing became uneven.
“You don’t understand.”
“Explain.”
Tears welled in Jessica’s eyes.
“You were never supposed to meet him.”
The confession trembled out.
“I met Femi first. At a business conference. I tried everything.”
Her voice broke.
“He never noticed me.”
Chidinma’s chest tightened painfully.
Jessica continued.
“When he chose you, something broke inside me.”
The room felt colder.
“So you decided to destroy me?” Chidinma asked.
Jessica shook her head frantically.
“I just wanted one chance. Baba said the ritual would only cloud his eyes. He wouldn’t see you clearly.”
No violence.
No blood.
Just manipulation.
Destiny twisted quietly
Chidinma’s heart pounded against her ribs.
“You went to a shrine?”
Jessica hesitated.
Then nodded slowly.
It was only supposed to confuse him.”
Titi wrapped her arms around herself.
“This is madness.”
Jessica’s voice grew desperate.
“You don’t understand what it feels like to watch your best friend live your dream!”
Chidinma stared at her in disbelief.
“We shared everything.”
Jessica laughed bitterly.
“No. You shared happiness. I watched.”
The tension in the room became suffocating.
Chidinma looked at the gown lying across the table.
A symbol of love.
Now contaminated by betrayal.
Her phone buzzed.
Femi calling.
She hesitated before answering.
“Baby, where are you? Everyone is waiting,” his voice sounded warm and concerned.
Chidinma swallowed.
“I’ll be there soon.”
She ended the call.
Jessica stepped closer.
“You can still fix this.”
Chidinma stared at her.
“How?”
“Forgive me. Let’s forget this. Just wear another dress.”
The irony struck painfully.
Jessica had planned for her to lose everything.
Now she pleaded for mercy.
Titi spoke firmly.
“Call off the wedding if you must. But do not ignore this.”
Chidinma felt torn between humiliation and fury.
Her perfect day shattered.
Her trust broken.
Her friendship poisoned.
She walked slowly to the window.
Outside, Lagos traffic hummed normally.
Life continued.
Inside, everything had shifted.
She turned back.
“You didn’t want me to marry him,” she said calmly.
Jessica nodded weakly.
“I thought if he left you at the altar, he would come to me.”
The cruelty lay not in violence but in intention.
Chidinma exhaled slowly.
“You would rather see me destroyed than see me happy.”
Jessica’s silence answered.
A knock sounded at the door.
Her mother’s voice called softly.
“Chi, is everything alright?”
Chidinma looked at Jessica one final time.
“Leave.”
Jessica blinked.
“What?”
“Leave before I open this door.”
Jessica’s face crumpled.
“You can’t expose me.”
Chidinma held up the phone.
“I don’t need to. You exposed yourself.”
Jessica hesitated.
Then she grabbed her purse.
Without another word, she left through the back corridor.
The room felt lighter immediately.
Chidinma sank into a chair.
Titi knelt beside her.
“You are strong,” Titi whispered.
Chidinma shook her head.
“I feel foolish.”
“No,” Titi replied. “You were loyal.”
Chidinma stared at the ruined gown.
Then something shifted inside her.
“I won’t let her steal today too.”
She stood.
“Bring me the backup dress.”
Titi’s eyes widened.
“You planned for emergencies?”
Chidinma nodded faintly.
“My mother insisted.”
Within minutes, a simpler ivory gown replaced the cursed one.
No chemical smell.
No shadow.
Just silk and hope.
Chidinma inhaled deeply.
Her reflection looked different.
Not naive.
Not blind.
But awake.
She walked toward the door.
Her mother’s worried eyes met hers.
“Everything okay?”
Chidinma nodded slowly.
“Yes. Just removing something that did not belong to me.”
At the church, Femi stood anxiously at the altar.
When she entered, sunlight poured through stained glass windows.
He saw her.
And smiled.
Clear.
Unaffected.
Jessica’s plan had failed long before.
Because love built on truth could not be clouded by envy.
As Chidinma walked down the aisle, she felt lighter.
Not because the day was perfect.
But because illusion had been stripped away.
When the priest asked if anyone objected, silence filled the room.
Chidinma glanced around briefly.
Jessica was not there.
Only family.
Only support.
When she said “I do,” her voice did not tremble.
It rang steady and sure.
Later that evening, as guests celebrated, her phone vibrated again.
A message from Jessica.
“I’m sorry.”
Chidinma stared at the words.
Then locked her phone.
Some betrayals deserve distance, not dialogue.
That night, as she removed her veil, she looked at Femi beside her.
“You okay?” he asked gently.
She nodded.
“I lost a friend today.”
Femi squeezed her hand.
“You gained clarity.”
She smiled faintly.
Sometimes horror does not come with blood.
Sometimes it arrives disguised as loyalty.
And sometimes survival means walking away quietly.
Outside, the city lights shimmered.
Inside, Chidinma closed her eyes.
Not haunted.
But wiser.
The wedding gown lay abandoned in a sealed box somewhere far away.
And Jessica would carry her own shadows.
Because envy is a curse that never truly leaves the one who nurtures it.
Chidinma chose peace instead.
And that choice became her real protection.