Chapter 2
The second recording began with a sentence that made my blood run cold.
"Once Nia signs the marriage papers, Marcus will never be able to separate her money from ours."
Bianca's voice filled the ballroom.
I stopped breathing.
On the screen, she stood inside my dressing room, speaking into her phone.
Her emerald-green gown was unmistakable.
So was the diamond necklace around her throat.
I glanced at Marcus.
He looked just as confused as I felt.
Money?
What money?
Bianca continued talking.
"No, Raymond. You promised me the transfer would happen before the wedding."
Raymond.
Her husband.
I turned toward his table.
His chair was empty.
My heartbeat accelerated.
On the recording, Bianca paced near my wedding dress.
"I don't care what your accountant says. The bridal foundation account was supposed to cover the debt."
My stomach dropped.
The bridal foundation.
My foundation.
I had created it two years earlier to provide wedding dresses and emergency financial assistance to women leaving abusive relationships.
It was named after my grandmother.
And Bianca knew how much it meant to me.
I looked toward Marcus.
"Why is she talking about my foundation?"
He shook his head.
"I have no idea."
The recording continued.
Bianca stopped pacing.
"Raymond, listen carefully. If Marcus finds out you used Nia's foundation as collateral, he'll destroy us."
The ballroom erupted.
I heard chairs scraping.
Someone shouted.
Marcus turned sharply toward his sister.
"What did Raymond do?"
Bianca shook her head.
"Marcus, don't listen to that!"
But her voice trembled.
I gripped the microphone.
"Keep playing it."
On the screen, Bianca lowered her voice.
"I'll handle Nia. If she looks ridiculous in front of everyone, maybe Marcus will finally see what a mistake he's making."
She approached my gown.
Then she opened the small sewing kit on the dressing table.
Inside were silver scissors.
My scissors.
I recognized them immediately.
My grandmother had owned them.
I'd brought them because Simone wanted a small family keepsake included in the bridal preparations.
Bianca picked them up.
And smiled.
"She thinks she's getting her fairy tale today."
The recording ended.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then Marcus walked toward Bianca.
I had never seen him look so devastated.
"Tell me that wasn't real."
Bianca reached for his arm.
"Baby brother, you don't understand."
He pulled away.
"Did Raymond use Nia's foundation?"
She looked around desperately.
"Not here."
"Answer me."
Her lips trembled.
"I was going to fix everything."
I felt the room tilt.
My foundation supported forty-three women that year.
Some were mothers.
Some had nowhere to go.
Some needed a wedding dress because rebuilding their lives deserved to include happiness.
The idea that someone had put those funds at risk made me physically sick.
"How much?" I asked.
Bianca wouldn't look at me.
"How much money?"
She whispered something.
I stepped closer.
"Say it."
"Six hundred thousand dollars."
I heard Simone gasp behind me.
Marcus staggered backward.
"Six hundred thousand?"
Bianca started crying.
"It wasn't supposed to be permanent!"
I stared at her.
"You used money meant for vulnerable women?"
Raymond suddenly appeared near the ballroom entrance.
He had apparently been trying to slip away through the service corridor.
Two security officers stood beside him.
His expensive gray suit was wrinkled.
He looked furious.
"Bianca, shut your mouth!"
Every head turned.
Marcus moved toward him.
"Raymond, what have you done?"
Raymond raised both hands.
"This is a misunderstanding."
I almost laughed.
The word sounded obscene.
A misunderstanding was getting someone's birthday wrong.
This was something else.
I approached him.
"Did you use my foundation account as collateral?"
He looked at Bianca.
She looked away.
Then he looked at me.
"I never touched your account."
A voice spoke from behind the guests.
"That's not what the bank records show."
I turned.
My foundation's financial director, Evelyn Brooks, was walking toward the front.
She held a thick folder.
Evelyn had been with me since the foundation opened.
She was practical, meticulous, and almost impossible to intimidate.
Her expression frightened me.
"Evelyn?"
She stopped beside me.
"I'm sorry, Nia. I received an alert this morning."
She opened the folder.
"An unauthorized guarantee was filed using your foundation's financial statements."
My knees weakened.
"Did they take the money?"
"Not directly."
I struggled to breathe.
"What does that mean?"
"They used forged documents to convince a lender that the foundation would guarantee Raymond's business debt."
Marcus covered his mouth.
Evelyn continued.
"The lender has already issued a demand notice."
I looked at Raymond.
He stared at the floor.
Six hundred thousand dollars.
A forged guarantee.
And my wedding day.
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I asked Evelyn the only question that mattered.
"Are the women we're helping going to lose their funding?"
Her expression softened.
"Not if we act quickly."
Bianca suddenly stepped forward.
"Nia, please. We can discuss this privately."
I turned toward her.
"You cut my wedding dress while knowing you were putting my foundation at risk."
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I panicked."
"You planned."
She flinched.
"You walked into my dressing room twice. You called your husband. You picked up my grandmother's scissors."
My voice grew steadier.
"And then you tried to destroy something she helped inspire."
Marcus stood beside me.
"Bianca, you need to leave."
She stared at him.
"You're choosing her over your own sister?"
He looked at me, then back at her.
"I'm choosing the truth."
The words silenced her.
Security escorted Raymond toward a private room while Evelyn contacted the foundation's attorney.
Bianca followed them, sobbing.
The ballroom remained hushed.
My wedding guests looked stunned.
I looked at Marcus.
He reached for my hands.
"We can postpone," he whispered.
I studied his face.
I saw heartbreak.
I saw anger.
But I also saw the man who had never abandoned me.
"No," I whispered.
He looked surprised.
"I still want to marry you."
His eyes filled.
"Are you sure?"
"More than ever."
He pressed his forehead against mine.
Then a phone rang.
Evelyn glanced at her screen.
Her face changed instantly.
She answered.
Listened.
Then turned toward me.
"Nia, there's something else."
I felt dread return.
"What?"
Evelyn swallowed.
"The forged documents weren't signed only by Raymond."
May you like
She looked directly at Marcus.
"They also contain your fiancé's signature."
