Chapter 2
"Tell her, Vivienne, and you'll regret it."
Graham's voice was quiet.
That made it worse.
He wasn't shouting.
He wasn't panicking.
He sounded like a man reminding someone of an agreement.
I stared at him.
"What did you just say?"
He turned toward me.
"Jules, she's emotional."
My mother shook her head.
"No."
Graham's jaw tightened.
"Vivienne."
She stepped backward.
I looked at her.
"Mom, what happened to Grandma?"
My grandmother, Eleanor Hale, had died nine months before Graham proposed.
She'd been eighty-two.
Her health had been declining for several years.
But her final illness had happened quickly.
A fall.
A short hospital stay.
Then a phone call from my mother telling me to come home.
I remembered arriving too late to hear her speak again.
I remembered holding her hand and begging her to wake up.
Now my mother was looking at Graham as though he had something to do with that terrible week.
My chest tightened.
"Mom?"
She closed her eyes.
"Your grandmother discovered something about him."
Graham slammed his champagne glass onto the counter.
"Stop."
Everyone jumped.
Sienna moved toward him.
"Graham, please."
He pointed at my mother.
"You promised this wouldn't happen."
I felt cold.
"What wouldn't happen?"
Margot stepped out from behind the counter.
"Mr. Mercer, I think you should leave."
Graham laughed bitterly.
"This is a private family matter."
Margot's face hardened.
"You're in my business."
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then my mother lowered the veil onto the counter.
"Your grandmother believed Graham was stealing from the family."
My breath caught.
"What?"
Graham shook his head.
"Unbelievable."
My mother looked at me.
"She found irregularities in the accounts for Hale House."
Hale House.
My grandmother's small historic property outside Atlanta.
For decades, she'd operated it as a community arts center.
She offered free sewing classes.
After-school programs.
Scholarships for young women who wanted to study fashion.
When she became ill, I helped with fundraising.
Graham was a financial consultant.
He'd offered to review the center's books without charging us.
I thought it was generous.
I thought it meant he cared about the things I loved.
My mother continued.
"Eleanor noticed money disappearing."
I looked at Graham.
"You handled those accounts."
He crossed his arms.
"Temporarily."
"Did you take money?"
"Of course not."
My mother swallowed.
"Your grandmother hired someone to investigate."
Graham turned toward her.
"Vivienne, you're making a serious accusation."
She looked frightened again.
I stepped closer.
"Did Grandma tell you what she found?"
My mother nodded.
"She called me three days before her fall."
My heart hammered.
"What did she say?"
"She said she had evidence Graham had redirected donations through a consulting company."
I stared at him.
His face had gone rigid.
I remembered something.
Two months before Grandma died, Graham had asked me whether Hale House owned its land outright.
I told him yes.
He asked whether my grandmother planned to sell.
I laughed.
Grandma would never sell.
That building was her life's work.
At the time, I thought he was simply curious.
Now I wasn't sure.
My mother started crying.
"I didn't believe Eleanor."
I looked at her.
"Why not?"
"Because Graham showed me documents that made it look like the payments were authorized."
I swallowed.
"And then?"
"After she died, I started finding things that didn't make sense."
Graham stepped forward.
"Enough."
I turned toward him.
"Don't interrupt her."
He stared at me.
For the first time, I didn't recognize his face.
The man I loved had always been charming.
Patient.
The kind of person who remembered everyone's birthday.
Now his expression was hard.
Calculating.
I looked at my mother.
"What did you find?"
She hesitated.
Then Sienna spoke.
"Mom, don't."
I turned toward her.
"You knew?"
My sister looked away.
I felt my stomach drop.
"You knew about Grandma's money?"
Sienna shook her head.
"Not everything."
I stared at her.
"What does that mean?"
She began crying.
"Graham told me he could fix it."
I laughed bitterly.
"Fix what?"
She looked at him.
He said nothing.
My mother finally spoke.
"Juliet, the wedding was part of his plan."
My knees weakened.
I grabbed the counter.
"What plan?"
She wiped her tears.
"He wanted access to the trust your grandmother left you."
I stopped breathing.
My grandmother had left me Hale House and a modest investment trust to help maintain the property.
I knew about both.
What I didn't know was why Graham would need to marry me to access them.
"The trust is mine," I whispered.
My mother nodded.
"He persuaded you to sign documents for a joint development project."
My mind raced.
Three months earlier, Graham had brought papers home.
He said they were part of a refinancing proposal that could fund renovations at Hale House.
I'd signed preliminary authorizations.
He promised his attorney would handle the details.
I remembered being tired.
I remembered trusting him.
"Oh, God."
My mother reached toward me.
I pulled away.
"Did I sign something dangerous?"
She looked down.
"We don't know exactly what was submitted."
I turned toward Graham.
"What did you make me sign?"
He exhaled.
"Juliet, you're misunderstanding a business transaction."
"Then explain it."
He didn't.
I looked at Sienna.
"Where do you fit into this?"
She wiped her cheeks.
Graham moved beside her.
I saw the way his hand settled against her lower back.
Possessive.
Familiar.
My stomach twisted.
"How long have you been together?"
Sienna started crying harder.
"Juliet—"
"How long?"
"Four months."
Four months.
While I designed my wedding invitations.
While I tasted cakes.
While I took my mother shopping for her dress.
My sister had been sleeping with my fiancé.
I stared at her.
"Four months?"
She nodded.
I felt something inside me break.
Graham sighed.
"It wasn't planned."
I looked at him.
"Neither was the dress alteration?"
He went silent.
My mother stepped forward.
"Juliet, I discovered their relationship last month."
I turned toward her.
"And you helped them?"
She cried.
"Graham said if I didn't cooperate, he would use the documents to take Hale House."
I stared.
"He threatened you?"
She nodded.
"He said the financial agreements could expose you to enormous debt."
I looked at Graham.
He smiled coldly.
"Business is complicated."
I wanted to scream.
But then Margot moved closer.
She looked at me.
"Ms. Hale, there's another reason I asked you to stay."
I turned.
Margot reached beneath the counter.
She removed a small envelope.
"I found this tucked inside the lining of your gown."
I frowned.
"What?"
"It was sewn beneath the embroidery near the waist."
My hands trembled.
"Who put it there?"
Margot shook her head.
"I don't know. But the envelope has your grandmother's initials."
My breath caught.
E.H.
Eleanor Hale.
I reached for it.
Graham moved suddenly.
"Give me that."
Margot stepped back.
I grabbed the envelope before he could reach it.
My grandmother's handwriting appeared across the front.
For Juliet, when she's ready to know the truth.
I stared at those words.
Then I broke the seal.
Inside was a folded letter.
And a small brass key.
My grandmother had hidden something inside the dress I made for my wedding.
Something Graham clearly didn't want me to find.
I unfolded the letter.
May you like
The first sentence made my heart stop.
Juliet, if you're reading this, it means someone I trusted has tried to take away the future I built for you.
