Chapter 2
I had forty minutes to get married.
Forty minutes to put on my grandmother's wedding gown.
Forty minutes to decide whether the woman who destroyed my first dress deserved to stand beside me at the altar.
And forty minutes before my mother discovered that her youngest daughter had been stealing from our family for almost two years.
I looked at Vanessa.
She stood near the ruined gown, staring at me.
"What surprise?" she repeated.
I carefully placed my grandmother's dress on its padded hanger.
Then I turned toward Marcus.
"Can you give us a minute?"
He looked concerned.
"Nia, I don't want to leave you alone with her."
My heart softened.
"I know."
I took his hand.
"But I'm okay."
He studied my face.
Then nodded.
"I'll be right outside."
Before leaving, he turned toward Vanessa.
"If you touch anything else in this room, I'll have hotel security remove you."
Vanessa rolled her eyes.
But she didn't answer.
Marcus stepped into the hallway.
My mother remained beside the vanity.
She looked from me to Vanessa.
"Nia, sweetheart, what's happening?"
I took a breath.
"Mom, I need you to sit down."
Claire frowned.
"Why?"
"Please."
She slowly sat on the velvet chair.
Vanessa folded her arms.
"This is ridiculous."
I ignored her.
I reached into my handbag and removed a small folder.
Vanessa's expression changed.
I noticed immediately.
She recognized it.
Good.
I placed the folder on the vanity.
"Three days ago, Grandma's attorney called me."
Claire looked confused.
"Mr. Henderson?"
I nodded.
"He asked me to review some documents."
Vanessa laughed nervously.
"Why are we talking about Grandma's lawyer on your wedding day?"
I looked at her.
"Because someone has been using Grandma's estate account."
The room went quiet.
Mom frowned.
"What?"
I opened the folder.
"Grandma left money for both of us."
Claire nodded slowly.
"Yes."
I continued.
"She left Vanessa eighty thousand dollars."
My sister looked away.
"And she left me the same amount."
Mom nodded.
"That's what she told us."
I took a breath.
"But she also created a separate fund to preserve her sewing workshop and provide scholarships for young women learning design."
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
"That was her dream."
I nodded.
"She wanted the workshop to stay open."
My grandmother's little sewing studio had been part of our family for decades.
She taught girls how to sew.
How to repair clothing.
How to create something beautiful with their hands.
She never charged students who couldn't afford lessons.
When she died, I promised I would protect that legacy.
But six months earlier, the workshop suddenly began struggling.
Bills went unpaid.
Equipment disappeared.
And the accountant told me the scholarship fund was almost empty.
I had been devastated.
I assumed the business had been mismanaged.
Until Mr. Henderson called.
I looked at Vanessa.
"Someone transferred one hundred and twenty thousand dollars out of the workshop fund."
My mother's mouth fell open.
"What?"
Vanessa laughed.
"That's impossible."
I slid a bank statement across the vanity.
"Is it?"
Claire picked it up.
Her hands began trembling.
The transfers had been made in several installments.
Twenty thousand.
Fifteen thousand.
Thirty thousand.
Each withdrawal was connected to an account belonging to a company called V.L. Creative Consulting.
Vanessa's company.
Mom slowly looked up.
"Vanessa?"
My sister's face reddened.
"That's not what it looks like."
I stared at her.
"Then explain it."
She pointed at the statement.
"Those were business expenses."
I shook my head.
"For what business?"
She crossed her arms.
"Marketing."
I felt my jaw tighten.
"Grandma's workshop never hired your company."
Vanessa looked toward Mom.
"Tell her!"
Claire looked stunned.
"Tell her what?"
"That I helped Grandma with the business!"
Mom shook her head.
"You helped her with social media sometimes."
Vanessa nodded quickly.
"Exactly."
I leaned forward.
"For one hundred and twenty thousand dollars?"
She went silent.
I took out another document.
"These payments were approved using a digital authorization assigned to Grandma."
Claire frowned.
"But Mom was sick."
I nodded.
"Exactly."
The first transfer happened two weeks before Grandma died.
The last happened nine months after her death.
Claire covered her mouth.
"Oh, God."
Vanessa stepped backward.
"You're making me look like a criminal."
I stared at her.
"I'm showing Mom the records."
She began shaking.
"You've always hated me."
My chest tightened.
There it was.
The accusation she used whenever she was confronted.
I took a breath.
"Vanessa, this isn't about jealousy."
She laughed bitterly.
"Everything is about jealousy with you."
I shook my head.
"I've spent my whole life trying not to compete with you."
She pointed toward my gown.
"Easy for you to say."
I looked at her.
"What does that mean?"
She stepped closer.
"You get everything!"
My mother flinched.
Vanessa's voice rose.
"The perfect career. The perfect man. The perfect wedding."
I stared at her.
"Vanessa—"
"And Grandma loved you more!"
The words exploded out of her.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
Claire stood.
"That's not true."
Vanessa turned toward her.
"Don't lie!"
Mom's eyes filled with tears.
"Your grandmother loved both of you."
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
"Then why did she give Nia the dress?"
I looked at my sister.
Because suddenly, everything made sense.
The paint.
The cruelty.
The obsession with ruining my wedding.
It wasn't about fabric.
It was about something Vanessa believed I had taken from her.
I spoke quietly.
"Grandma gave me the dress because I was getting married."
Vanessa shook her head.
"No."
I continued.
"She told you she would help design yours when your time came."
My sister looked away.
I remembered the day Grandma said it.
She was sitting in her workshop, carefully sewing tiny beads onto the ivory sleeves.
Vanessa stood beside us.
Grandma smiled.
"Vanessa, when you find your person, we'll make you something just as beautiful."
My sister had rolled her eyes.
She said she would never wear an old-fashioned dress.
Now she had destroyed mine because she couldn't stand the thought of me wearing something meaningful.
I felt tears filling my eyes.
"Grandma loved you."
Vanessa shook her head.
"Not like she loved you."
Claire began crying.
I looked at my mother.
She appeared completely broken.
Then I said something I had been holding back.
"Mom, there's another document."
Claire looked up.
I opened the folder again.
Inside was a copy of Grandma's final handwritten letter.
Mr. Henderson had found it sealed among her personal papers.
It was addressed to both of us.
I unfolded it.
My hands trembled.
"Grandma wrote this six days before she died."
Vanessa went still.
I began reading.
My beautiful girls,
I know you have always been different.
Nia, you carry responsibility like it belongs entirely to you.
Vanessa, you have spent too many years believing love is something people must compete for.
But my heart has never been divided between you.
Love isn't a prize.
There is enough for both of you.
I stopped.
My throat tightened.
Claire covered her face.
Vanessa stared at the floor.
I continued.
I am leaving my workshop to the family because I want it to remain a place where girls learn to believe in themselves.
Please protect it.
Please protect each other.
And never let money become more important than the love I tried to give you.
I lowered the letter.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Vanessa whispered, "She knew."
I looked at her.
"Knew what?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
She stared at the bank statements.
"She knew I was taking the money."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
Vanessa began shaking.
"She confronted me before she died."
Claire gasped.
"Vanessa!"
My sister covered her face.
"She told me to return it."
I couldn't breathe.
"Then why didn't you?"
Vanessa began sobbing.
"Because I couldn't."
I stared.
"Why?"
She looked up.
Her face was streaked with tears.
"Because the money was already gone."
My chest tightened.
"Where?"
She swallowed.
Then whispered the name of someone I never expected.
"Marcus's brother."
I froze.
Marcus had an older brother named Daniel.
He was charismatic.
Wealthy.
Always dressed in expensive suits.
And he had offered to help Vanessa launch her consulting business.
I stared at my sister.
"What does Daniel have to do with this?"
She began crying harder.
"He told me he could double the money."
My stomach dropped.
Then she whispered something that made the room spin.
"And he said if I didn't invest, he'd tell Marcus what happened between us."
I couldn't move.
"What happened between you?"
Vanessa covered her mouth.
For the first time, I saw something deeper than jealousy in her eyes.
May you like
Fear.
And I realized the stolen inheritance was only the beginning.
