Chapter 6
Victoria collapsed into the nearest chair.
“My money.”
No one answered.
She refreshed the banking screen again and again.
“It has to be a mistake.”
Martin looked over her shoulder.
“It isn't.”
“How much?” I asked.
She didn't answer.
“Victoria.”
“Sixty-three thousand.”
Sabrina stared.
“Sixty-three?”
Victoria covered her face.
The amount immediately told me something.
She had hidden more money than even I had discovered.
“Where did it come from?”
She looked at me.
I already knew.
“Say it.”
Her lips trembled.
“Some came from the accounts.”
“Mine.”
“Ours.”
“Not the trust account.”
She looked away.
“How much did you steal?”
“I wasn't stealing.”
“Then why hide it?”
No answer.
Martin stepped between us.
“Glenn, we document first.”
He was right.
Anger wanted confession.
Justice needed evidence.
Victoria gave Martin access to the account.
Transaction after transaction appeared.
Payments to Raymond.
Hotels.
Luxury dinners.
Clothing.
A watch.
Several transfers to Sabrina.
And three cash withdrawals.
Nearly one hundred thirty thousand dollars had moved through Victoria's hidden account over six months.
I felt physically sick.
Years of fourteen-hour days.
Thousands of hemming jobs.
Custom suits.
Wedding dresses.
Uniform repairs.
She had turned my work into spending money for the man who abandoned her.
“What happens now?” Victoria whispered.
Martin answered calmly.
“You report the theft.”
She stared at him.
“But some of the money…”
“Was itself obtained illegally?”
Her face crumpled.
He didn't soften.
“That does not prevent you from reporting what Raymond took. But the full source of the funds will likely be investigated.”
“I could be arrested.”
“Possibly.”
She looked at me.
“Glenn.”
There it was.
The voice she used when she wanted rescuing.
For decades, it had worked.
When she overspent, I fixed it.
When she fought with relatives, I apologized.
When Sabrina needed something, I worked more.
Now she was staring at me as if I still had an invisible obligation to save her from consequences.
“I need you.”
I almost smiled at the terrible symmetry.
Sabrina had said the same thing hours earlier.
“You needed me yesterday too.”
Victoria cried harder.
“I made a mistake.”
“No.”
My voice remained calm.
“You made hundreds of decisions.”
She shook her head.
“Raymond manipulated me.”
“I believe he did.”
Hope appeared in her eyes.
Then I continued.
“But he didn't force you to cut my suit.”
Her face broke.
“He didn't force you to laugh about making me homeless.”
“I was angry.”
“He didn't force you to forge my signature.”
She looked toward the floor.
“And he didn't force you to teach Sabrina that my value depended on what I could buy.”
Sabrina flinched.
I hated saying it.
But she needed to hear it too.
Outside, music began playing softly.
The coordinator had not yet told guests the ceremony was canceled.
I looked at Logan.
“You should speak to your family.”
He nodded.
“Would you come with me?”
“Why?”
“Because half the guests think you're the bride's father.”
The sentence caught me.
I couldn't tell if it was kindness or fact.
Maybe both.
Sabrina wiped her face.
“He is.”
Victoria looked up.
Sabrina turned toward her mother.
“Raymond is biological.”
Then she looked at me.
“Glenn is my father.”
Something cracked inside me.
I had wanted those words yesterday.
Today they were almost unbearable.
“Don't say it because you're afraid.”
She shook her head.
“I'm saying it because I finally understand.”
I looked away.
Understanding could not repair everything instantly.
But it mattered.
Logan and I walked into the ballroom.
Conversations quieted.
Hundreds of eyes turned toward us.
At the front, Logan's father stood.
“What happened?”
Logan looked at me.
I nodded.
He took the microphone.
“There won't be a wedding today.”
Gasps moved across the room.
He raised a hand.
“No one has died. No one has been injured.”
A few people relaxed.
“But serious family and financial matters came to light this morning.”
Whispers began.
Logan's voice shook.
“Sabrina and I have agreed that marriage shouldn't begin in confusion.”
That was generous.
Sabrina had suggested stopping the wedding.
But Logan didn't humiliate her.
I respected him for that.
Guests began asking questions.
Logan stayed firm.
“Please give both families privacy.”
Then he handed me the microphone.
I hadn't expected that.
I stared at him.
He whispered:
“This is your building.”
I faced the room.
Many people knew me only as Sabrina's stepfather.
Some barely knew that.
I could have exposed Victoria.
I could have exposed Raymond.
I could have told everyone exactly what Sabrina had said about me.
For one second, revenge offered itself.
It would have been easy.
Then I remembered the man I wanted to remain.
“Thank you for coming,” I said.
“The food has already been prepared.”
People looked confused.
“So please stay.”
More whispers.
“No ceremony,” I continued. “But there's no reason good food should be wasted.”
A nervous laugh moved through the room.
“The staff will serve lunch. Anyone who prefers to leave, I understand.”
I handed the microphone back.
Logan's father approached me.
“Glenn.”
“Yes?”
He extended his hand.
“I owe you an apology.”
“For what?”
“I believed Raymond's story about this property.”
“You didn't give him money.”
“My son did.”
“That wasn't your fault.”
“No.”
He lowered his voice.
“But I should have asked you directly.”
We shook hands.
For the next hour, the strangest reception in San Diego history unfolded.
No bride.
No groom.
No vows.
Guests ate the meal anyway.
I stayed mostly in the office.
Police arrived.
Victoria gave a statement.
So did Sabrina.
So did Logan.
By afternoon, Raymond's stolen Mercedes was found abandoned near the airport.
He had not boarded a commercial flight under his own name.
Martin believed he had prepared another escape route.
Then one detective entered holding a phone.
“Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“We recovered this from the vehicle.”
It was Victoria's second phone.
I hadn't known she had one.
The detective opened a message thread.
Between Victoria and Raymond.
Hundreds of messages.
Plans.
Money.
Affection.
My humiliation.
Then one message from Raymond made my stomach turn.
After the wedding, we don't need Sabrina anymore. Get Glenn to sign Monday, then we take the money and go.
Victoria read it over my shoulder.
Her knees gave way.
The detective caught her arm.
“No.”
She grabbed the phone.
“No, he loves Sabrina.”
I scrolled further.
Another message.
Raymond: She was always useful because Glenn would pay anything for her.
Victoria began screaming.
“He said he wanted his daughter back!”
Sabrina stood in the doorway.
She had heard everything.
Her face went completely empty.
The biological father she had chosen over me had not returned because he loved her.
He had returned because he knew I did.
And he believed my love could be converted into money.
Sabrina turned away.
I followed her into the hallway.
She leaned against the wall.
“I threw you away for him.”
I said nothing.
She looked at me through tears.
“And he never even wanted me.”
That was the moment my anger lost its grip.
I could not erase what she had done.
But I also could not watch my daughter believe she was unwanted.
I stepped closer.
“He didn't deserve you.”
She sobbed.
“But I didn't deserve you either.”
I opened my arms.
For a second, she just stared.
Then she fell against my chest.
She cried the way she had when she was six years old and broke her arm.
Her hands gripped my jacket.
“I'm sorry.”
I held her.
“I know.”
“Please don't stop being my dad.”
I closed my eyes.
“That part was never yours to take away.”
May you like
But forgiveness was not the same as trust.
And before we could rebuild anything, Raymond still had to be found.
