Contents
Epilogue
Overview
Police arrive and corral everyone in the marquee, confirming the death and an arrest. Olivia struggles with shock and fleeting guilt but knows she didn’t kill Will. Jules reveals she knows about Olivia and Will, then breaks down. The sisters reconcile, hinting at healing amid the aftermath.
Summary
Hours after the discovery, the wind dies and the police arrive, assembling all guests in the marquee and stating what they have found, including a body and an arrest. The crowd sits hushed, wrapped in foil blankets, stunned by the night’s events.
Olivia narrates her numb shock. She fixates on the cake knife moment and admits to a brief, intrusive thought of stabbing Will, then worries she might have done it and blocked it out. She concludes it was not her, while still consumed by confusion and fear of others seeing her guilt.
Jules approaches Olivia, steely and silent, then whispers that she knows about Olivia and Will. Olivia braces for condemnation, remembering their lifelong distance, but instead sees regret in Jules’s face. Jules struggles to speak, then breaks down.
In a rare moment of vulnerability, Jules pulls Olivia into a hug and sobs openly. The sisters’ long-standing barrier momentarily lifts as they cling to each other, sharing grief and complicated relief in the wake of Will’s death and the revelations of the night.
Who Appears
- OliviaBridesmaid narrator; shocked by Will’s death, admits a fleeting violent thought, fears blame, and is comforted by Jules.
- JulesBride; confronts Olivia with knowledge of her and Will, then breaks down and embraces her sister, signaling reconciliation.
- Irish policeArrive post-storm, gather guests in the marquee, and confirm the death and an arrest.