Chapter 2
My mother kept saying she was fine.
She said it while her hands shook.
She said it while she tried to stand and nearly collapsed.
She said it while the paramedic pressed gently along her ribs and her face went white from pain.
“I’m fine, Alessia.”
I held her hand.
“You’re not.”
Garrett was sitting on the edge of the fountain now, dripping water onto the marble like a ruined prince.
His father’s friends stood far away from him.
His investors whispered near the bar.
The guests who had applauded us two hours earlier now watched him like he was something rotten beneath a silver lid.
One officer spoke to him.
Garrett pointed at me.
“She attacked me.”
The officer looked at the destroyed console.
Then at my mother.
Then at Garrett’s wet tuxedo.
“You kicked an older woman?”
Garrett’s jaw tightened.
“She grabbed my mother.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“She did not.”
Everyone turned.
Garrett stared at her.
“What?”
Evelyn’s lips trembled.
“Miriam stopped me from doing something shameful. Garrett shoved her. Then he kicked her.”
The ballroom went dead silent.
Garrett rose slowly.
“Mother.”
Evelyn flinched at his tone.
I saw it.
A tiny movement.
A lifetime in one inch of fear.
Mr. Cole stepped beside me.
“Alessia, your mother needs the hospital.”
“I know.”
He lowered his voice.
“And you need to hear what is in this folder before Garrett speaks to anyone alone.”
I looked at him.
“What folder?”
He looked toward Evelyn.
“The folder Mrs. Vance asked me to bring.”
Mrs. Vance.
Evelyn.
My new mother-in-law had called my family attorney?
My head spun.
Garrett laughed, but it sounded wrong.
“Whatever she told you, she’s lying.”
Evelyn straightened.
“I have been lying for you for twenty-nine years.”
Garrett’s face changed.
Not anger now.
Panic.
“You don’t want to do this.”
“No,” Evelyn whispered. “I never wanted to do any of this.”
My mother squeezed my hand.
“Go,” she said softly. “Listen.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“I’ll be with the paramedics. Go.”
Her eyes were wet, but steady.
That was my mother.
Bleeding inside and still trying to protect me.
I kissed her forehead and stood.
Mr. Cole led me to a small side room off the ballroom.
Evelyn followed.
So did one officer.
Garrett tried to come too.
The officer blocked him.
“No.”
“I am her husband.”
I turned.
“Not anymore.”
His eyes burned.
“You think you can throw me away in front of everyone?”
“I just did.”
The door closed between us.
Inside the side room, the music from the ballroom sounded distant and dead.
Evelyn sat down.
For the first time since I had met her, she looked old.
Not elegant.
Not cruel.
Old.
Tired.
Afraid.
Mr. Cole placed the folder on the table.
“Your grandmother left specific instructions,” he said. “If you married Garrett Vance, certain assets remained frozen until proof of coercion, fraud, or physical abuse emerged.”
I stared at him.
“My grandmother has been dead for six years.”
“Yes.”
“She knew about Garrett?”
“She suspected the Vance family wanted access to your inheritance.”
I shook my head.
“There is no inheritance. Mom and I struggled after Dad died.”
Mr. Cole’s face softened.
“Your grandmother hid it from you for protection. Your father came from one of the oldest private shipping families in the country. Most of the money was locked in a trust until your thirtieth birthday or until a legal threat required activation.”
I gripped the table.
“How much?”
He hesitated.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“Enough to buy every company Garrett has ever pretended to own,” she said.
The room tilted.
Garrett had always said I should be grateful.
He said marrying him lifted me.
He said his family’s name would protect mine.
All this time, he had known?
Mr. Cole answered before I asked.
“Garrett’s father discovered the trust two years ago. We believe Garrett began pursuing you soon after.”
My stomach turned.
“Our entire relationship?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“I tried to stop him.”
I laughed once.
A harsh, broken sound.
“You tried by slapping me at my wedding?”
She flinched.
“I was trying to make you hate us enough to leave before he trapped you.”
I stared at her.
“That is the stupidest excuse I have ever heard.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “It is.”
Her honesty surprised me.
She lowered her head.
“I was afraid of him.”
“Garrett?”
“My son.”
The word came out like a confession.
Outside the room, Garrett shouted.
Something crashed.
The officer opened the door.
Garrett stood in the ballroom holding a broken champagne bottle.
His eyes were wild.
“Alessia!” he roared. “Get out here!”
Guests screamed and backed away.
Evelyn stood so quickly her chair fell.
“He has a gun in his car,” she said.
The officer’s face hardened.
“How do you know?”
“Because he told me tonight if Alessia embarrassed him, nobody would leave happy.”
My blood went cold.
Garrett pointed the bottle toward the side room.
“You think you own this house? You think you own me?”
Mr. Cole grabbed my arm.
“Back door. Now.”
But my mother was still in the ballroom.
I saw her on the stretcher near the far wall.
Garrett saw her too.
May you like
His face twisted.
Then he started walking toward her.
