Lori Parker

**Lori Parker** was the main villainess of the 2019 Lifetime film *A Bride's Revenge* (airdate January 11, 2019).

## Introduction

The film's prologue—which happened on May 20, 2017—introduced Lori as she put on a bridal gown, a necklace, bridal gloves, and a wedding veil. Afterwards, she walked down the aisle of St. Tristan's Church in California while holding a bouquet of white roses. However, nobody was present for what a stumped Reverend Connelly disclosed was her cancelled wedding.

Lori's response was to claim that her ex-fiancé Ian Ferguson "promised" to be there, and when he didn't, she plucked several leaves along with flowers from her bouquet. She then threw the bouquet in question at the floor and screamed several times out of distress. In addition, Lori snarled and angrily looked around the empty room.

On May 20, 2018—the first day of the film's events—an invitation to the cancelled wedding was sent to the N' Style Salon. This confused Miya Ellerson (the salon's owner and Ian's new fiancée), Sandra, and Caroline. Things escalated that night when someone dressed as a bride walked up to the salon, running off when Miya noticed their presence. She also tried to show the invitation to Ian, but it had been taken beforehand. While the engaged couple walked off, the bridal stalker revealed themselves as having hid around a nearby corner.

## Heel Turn

On May 21, Lori (now an employee at Los Angeles' Marché Gallery who lived at 34 Farnom Crescent) resurfaced at the Ferguson residence as Ian's mother Deborah celebrated her 60th birthday with Miya, Ian, and his brother Mark. Insincerely smiling, she let herself inside and greeted her ex-fiancé's mother before finding out from Mark that she was being talked about "for entertainment." It was then that Miya introduced herself to Lori, who began to turn heel by backhandedly congratulating her for her engagement to Ian.

She then give Deborah a photograph from her workplace and inspected Deborah's wedding dress, which she wanted Miya to wear for her wedding. Lori stated it was "an honor" as she subtly scowled before turning around to tell Deborah that she "actually [had] plans" and how it was "*so* nice [to meet] Miya." Before leaving, Ian inquired about the invitation, with his ex-fiancée slyly grinning as she commented at the situation's oddity and warned him not to "flatter [himself]."

Later on, Caroline showed a bridal bouquet consisting of white roses which had been sent to the N' Style Salon. She and Sandra assumed Ian sent the bouquet, but Miya's bewilderment only increased. In addition, Miya was talking to her fiancé on the phone when he told her that Lori's favorite flowers were white roses. A few minutes passed before the bride from the previous night appeared in Miya's backyard and tried to stab her with a kitchen knife, but Miya fought them off and called the police.

On May 22, Lori's real state of mind briefly showed itself while she was admiring a framed picture of herself with Ian. After Detective Watts rang her doorbell, she hid the picture in a drawer and opened her front door, asking how she could help him. During their ensuing conversation, Lori attempted to deceitfully state she didn't know Miya, but once Watts mentioned her being Ian's fiancée, she mentioned having only met her once.

Upon learning of the attack, she feigned concern for Miya's well-being, after which Lori portrayed herself as having moved on from Ian calling off their wedding following six months of them being engaged. Regarding her alibi, she mentioned visiting her mother Nancy at the Cloverfield Retirement Home and speaking to several nurses there. Lori then received a notification from an online dating service and jokingly noted that she'd never "get used to it." However, once Watts left, her facial expression denoted she was bottling up the emotions she was actually feeling.

At Miya's workplace, Ian informed her that her credit card was used to pay for the flowers and suggested for Miya to stay at his house for the time being. That night, she found a handwritten letter from Lori expressing how she felt as though he "left [her]" with a heart that "[grew cold]" to the point she doubted it'd "ever mend." This was followed by Ian revealing more of Lori's backstory: her potent bitterness towards her father Brady was because he left when she was nine before a fire killed him 10 years later (in 2004). As for Nancy, she was in the advanced stages of dementia by the time he met her.

The morning of May 23 saw Miya take a break from work at Ian's suggestion so she could focus on ordering their wedding cake at Jill's Cake Creations—leaving his dog Winston tied up to a bench outside. Unluckily, a person in an all-black outfit unhooked Winston's leash and walked him to a nearby street, where they set him loose. Miya could do nothing but watch as Winston was run over by a car, leading to his death.

On the night of May 24, while on a date with a man named Derek, Lori acted happy as she greeted the Ferguson brothers and Miya while they were at a restaurant for the wedding party's tasting. She also continued turning heel by mockingly alleging that Miya "must have been [terrified]" by the bride. When Miya indirectly accused her of being involved, Lori arrogantly proclaimed she loved Miya's "attitude" and that she had "no idea what [she was] talking about." Afterwards, she disingenuously wished for the trio to "have a good night" before leaving with Derek to go to Valentia's—a nearby Italian restaurant.

When Miya was in the restaurant's women's bathroom, the bride reappeared and made their second attempt to stab her with the knife—escaping before she and Ian could catch them. At Valentia's, Miya confronted Lori, who implied that she wasn't reciprocating "the courtesy of staying out of [her] business." Infuriated, the former poked the latter's left shoulder blade with her right hand's index finger and told her to "knock it off" before Ian followed his fiancée out. Lori contended to Derek and to a male Valentia's employee that Miya was "crazy."

After her date drove her home, Lori agreed that "it was fun," but once Derek let slip that he wanted to initiate sex with her to "[find] out if [they were] truly compatible," she snapped and grabbed his left hand with her right hand. More of her villainy was displayed when she divulged that Nancy "[went] on and on about how men will break [women]." Voicing her agreement with her mother's misandry, she swore never to "[fall] prey to [Derek's] kind ever again" before scratching his hand and getting out of his car—all while glaring at him.

On May 25, at Caroline's suggestion, Miya followed Lori from her workplace to the Cloverfield Retirement Home, hoping to "catch her in the act." Unfortunately, Lori caught onto Miya's plan, leading to a verbal confrontation during which Miya reminded Ian's ex-fiancée that he called it off with her weeks before their cancelled wedding. Lori's response was to provoke her by mentioning she "[seemed] crazy" and how Ian was supposedly "so gun-shy of the 'I dos.'"

Firmly grabbing her left wrist with her right hand, Miya assured Lori that she and Ian were getting married no matter what. The haughty woman pointed at a security camera behind Miya and tauntingly told her to "smile at [it]" before bidding farewell. Without evidence, Miya returned to her car, discovering that someone deflated its right rear tire at a time when she didn't have a spare tire. Nearby, Lori ominously watched Miya's reaction to her sabotage and left.

## Reveal

That night, the bride entered the Ferguson residence through its unlocked back doors, put a butter knife in Deborah's birthday cake, and followed her upstairs. There, they cornered Deborah and ignored her reiterated demands to leave—kicking her walking stick down a flight of stairs before murdering her by shoving her down those stairs. Upon hearing sounds coming from Miya's parked vehicle, the bride rushed to leave and narrowly managed to avoid being caught by Miya.

Lori's reveal as a villainess occurred when she unveiled herself as the bride who killed Deborah. As she got undressed, someone knocked on her room's door and opened it, giving her "[a] look" she disapproved of before they were told by her to "say [something]" if they so wished. Lori then called Deborah "a bitch" and Ian "a little momma's boy [who did] whatever she told him to."

On May 26, she attended Deborah's funeral and dismissed Miya's apology to the late Deborah as a sign of "a guilty conscience." After Ian joined their conversation, Lori falsified her condolences for him and asked if Miya's mother resided at the Cloverfield Retirement Home—with implications saying she knew Miya witnessed her murder during a 2017 carjacking. This was followed by Ian's ex-fiancée disclosing she saw his new fiancée at the retirement home on the day of Deborah's murder because she was following her around. She then left and took out a temporary restraining order against Miya, which was served to her on the morning of May 29.

In hopes of digging into Lori's past, Miya visited Room 12 at the Cloverfield Retirement Home on May 30. She found a shred of a newspaper article regarding Brady's death and was told by Nancy that she "[couldn't] trust them." At that moment, Miya saw Lori being told about her mother having "visitors" and walking in their direction, but she got away in time. The vengeful villainess soothed her mother and menacingly looked in the direction where Miya ran.

That night, Miya read two online news articles about the house fire that killed Brady—with one article mentioning arson was suspected by California's fire marshal and the other mentioning a police detective named Joseph Young. Elsewhere, as Mark talked to Ian while he was driving, the bride walked into the path of Mark's Jeep, causing him to swerve to the left and accidentally crash into a tree. As a result, Mark fractured his skull and had to be hospitalized.

On May 31, while in the same clothes she wore as she orchestrated Winston's death, Lori entered Mark's hospital room and sent two texts to Ian from his phone making it sound like he was begging for his brother's help. After that, she pulled out the IV in his right arm, disconnected his life support system, and walked out of the hospital. Nevertheless, two nurses arrived in time to save Mark's life, foiling Lori's plan to murder him.

In Bakersfield, Miya spoke to Joseph about the fire in 2004, and he divulged that he questioned the Parker family, with Lori (a 19-year-old at the time—which meant she was born around 1985) having a "solid alibi." On the other hand, her younger sister Rose did not, with some evidence showing she had been present at the scene. Even so, it wasn't enough to convict her, and that along with Rose's age led their county's district attorney to refuse to press charges against her. Joseph believed it to have been a mistake, as he felt that "there was something definitely off" about her. Miya then met up with Ian outside Mark's hospital room—telling her fiancé what she learned and voicing her suspicions about Rose being the bride.

At her house, Lori put away a bridal dress she was carrying when Ian rang her doorbell. She curtly greeted him, and the conversation that arose saw him expressing his agreement with Miya about his ex-fiancée being the evil mastermind behind everything. Lori insisted she had "no idea what [Ian was] talking about" and said "all the cops" knew she had no involvement in "any of [his] misfortunes." Upon being asked about Rose, Lori vented her resentment against her for running away when she was 16, leaving her to take care of Nancy "after [she'd] already cared for them for long." She also professed that she burned the photos she had of Rose.

When Ian swore to find her, Lori darkly warned him to "watch [his] threatening tone with [her]," smashed her forehead against a mirror, and made a veiled threat to depict him as an abuser. He told her she was "crazy" twice and left to talk to the police before she could. Taking a picture of the wound on her phone, Rose came downstairs, with Lori declaring they "[needed] to end this." Later that morning, the insensitive conspirator called a receptionist at the Brentcliff Mausoleum and learned it would be empty in the afternoon. Looking into the broken mirror, Lori relived the day Ian broke off their engagement.

A flashback showed her accusing Deborah of being a "controlling" woman and expressing her dislike of her, which prompted him to call it off seeing as how she wanted him "in [a] small little box with no other life." Lori was in denial—saying he was "confused by [his] mother" and "by [his] job." Arguing he'd "do the right thing" because he loved her, she promised "[he'd] never be happy again" if he didn't marry her. In the present, Lori metaphorically asked Ian if he was "happy now" given that she followed through with her threat.

## Climax

The film's climax began when Miya entered the Parker residence and hid in a closet after someone entered through the back door. The closet's contents included the bridal stalker's wedding dress, veil, and gloves. Once Caroline opened said closet's door, Miya quickly realized *she* was Rose. This led to a brief chase that ended when she tried to run out the house's front door so she could call the police about her findings without being stopped, only to come face-to-face with Lori. Rose prevented Miya from turning back, and Lori knocked her out by striking her head with a brick.

It turned out that under Lori's orders, Rose acted as the bride who appeared outside Miya's salon, tried to stab her on two occasions, and caused Mark's car accident. She also painted roses onto Sandra's nails (which culminated in Miya accusing Sandra of being Rose), took the invitation when Miya wasn't looking, and suggested trying to "catch [Lori] in the act." Regarding her presence at Lori's house, it is indicated her sister told her to dress as the bride and wait for her there so they could talk about how to carry out the rest of the twisted plan.

The Parker sisters began their discussion after they tied Miya's hands behind her back, locked her in a closet, took her belongings, and moved the bridal outfit to Miya's car. Lori's answer to Rose's question about what to do was that they'd "go ahead with the plan." Just then, Ian called Miya, with Lori noting how he made things easier and preparing to text him while posing as his new fiancée. Moreover, Rose started objecting to Lori's murderous intentions and took Miya's phone from her sister while voicing her worry that they would be caught.

Lori promised to protect Rose like how she covered for her when Nancy refused to defend her from the police, who were coming to question her about the fire—which was why she ran away. Saying their collusion was them being "there for each other," she gloated about their "perfect plan" to first "make Ian pay" at the Brentcliff Mausoleum by making it look like he killed himself after "[losing] everything." It was to be followed by Miya being murdered, which Lori worded as her being "[taken] care of."

Rose recounted being told how the plan was "just to scare them," and her older sister scolded her for "having a conscience" given she was behind Brady's death. She shouted his demise was accidental before mentioning that her motive for perpetrating the arson was "[destroying] his home like he did to [theirs]." Lori said it was "fine" and added she would "never protect [Rose] again" if she stopped complying with her—showing that she blackmailed her into being her accomplice.

Holding out her right hand, Rose reluctantly gave Miya's phone back, which Lori thanked her for prior to texting Ian about "[meeting Miya]" at the aforementioned mausoleum. Once he replied by saying he was "on [his] way" there, the crazed madwoman gave a box of rat poison to her younger sister, grabbed a jug of orange juice from her fridge, and took Miya's car keys.

## Death

Driving to the Brentcliff Mausoleum, Lori mixed the juice and the poison in an empty water bottle to create a lethal concoction. Additionally, other than arming herself with a gun, she instructed Rose to act as the bride and lead Ian to Deborah's crypt, which was near the top of a stairway. Lori's machinations resulted in her ex-fiancé running into her just as she planned. When he inquired about Miya's whereabouts, she contemptuously said she wasn't there and that it was just the two of them along with his "poor mother over there."

Ian started walking up to Lori while trying to say what would happen if she had hurt Miya, but she held at him at gunpoint and told him to "stop right there." The cruel schemer commented on how "much more dramatic" it'd be if he "killed [himself]" in front of Deborah's crypt while feeling "some remorse for killing Miya." Lori deceivingly asserted that leaving his fiancée's corpse at his house was "so sloppy" to further torment him.

Insultingly asking Ian if he was "freaking out" at the thought of Miya lying "in a pool of her own blood," Lori voiced her desire for him to feel sad before grabbing the bottle from her purse and having him catch it. She demanded he commit suicide by drinking the concoction and attempted to goad him into doing so by saying Miya was "as good as dead anyway." Ian's refusal caused Lori to threaten him with the possibility of shooting him in his heart—after which she fired a warning shot and mentioned "[she may] accidentally hit" Ian with a bullet.

A few seconds later, she voiced her impatience while touching upon how there were "so many other things" she could have been doing. At that point, an arriving Miya demanded that Lori to let her fiancé go and drop her gun since the police were on their way. With time running out, the vicious criminal aggressively called for Rose and ordered her to stab Miya to death using the kitchen knife.

Undeterred, Miya tried to persuade a hesitant Rose to not listen to her older sister, but Lori shouted at her and then warned she'd "make [her] burn" for accidentally killing Brady. Ian tried to disarm his ex-fiancée, but she non-fatally shot him before he could. As Rose and Miya were fighting, Lori tried to murder Ian's new fiancée, only to fire a bullet into her younger sister's back instead, resulting in her accidental death. Horrified, she shouted Rose's name and tried to shoot Miya again, with Ian shoving Lori down the stairway—where she broke her neck.