Chapter 4 - The Lie Behind the Engagement
The morning after Marcus showed us the financial documents, Nick stopped wearing his engagement watch.
Vanessa had given it to him on the night she proposed that they choose wedding rings together.
It was expensive.
Gold.
Beautifully engraved.
He had worn it almost every day.
Now it sat on my kitchen counter.
I noticed him staring at it.
"Sweetheart?"
He shook his head.
"I keep wondering which parts were real."
I didn't know how to answer.
Because I was wondering the same thing.
I had spent two years welcoming Vanessa into my home.
I had cooked her favorite meals.
Remembered her birthday.
Defended her when relatives said she seemed disrespectful.
I told myself she was young.
Ambitious.
Different from me.
I refused to believe she might have been using my son.
But the documents in Marcus's office had changed everything.
At ten o'clock, Nick's phone began ringing.
Vanessa.
He ignored it.
She called again.
Then again.
Finally, he answered on speaker.
"What do you want?"
Her voice sounded sweet.
"Baby, please. We need to talk."
Nick closed his eyes.
"Don't call me that."
"Nick, I know yesterday was awful."
He didn't respond.
She continued.
"Everyone was emotional. Your mother misunderstood what happened."
I gripped the edge of the counter.
Nick looked at me.
Then spoke.
"You pushed her."
"It was an accident."
"No."
"Nick, please."
He took a breath.
"Did you ask me to sign a financial power of attorney?"
Silence.
Then Vanessa laughed nervously.
"What?"
"Answer the question."
"That was just paperwork."
"For what?"
"To protect us."
"From whom?"
She hesitated.
"From people who might interfere with our marriage."
I felt my chest tighten.
Nick's voice became colder.
"Did you try to transfer my father's trust?"
"Your mother has been hiding money from you."
"That's not what I asked."
Vanessa suddenly shouted.
"Why are you defending her?"
Nick stared at the phone.
"Because she's my mother."
"And I'm supposed to be your wife!"
"You were supposed to be."
Another silence.
Then Vanessa's voice changed.
"Nick, you're making a terrible mistake."
He looked at me.
"No. I think I'm finally correcting one."
He ended the call.
For several seconds, he sat motionless.
Then he whispered:
"I don't recognize her anymore."
I moved beside him.
"Maybe you're finally seeing the parts she kept hidden."
He nodded.
But I could see how deeply he was hurting.
Later that afternoon, Marcus called with another discovery.
A former employee of Patricia's event-planning company had contacted his office.
Her name was Denise Harper.
She had worked as Patricia's executive assistant for five years.
She claimed she had information about Vanessa's engagement.
We met Denise at Marcus's office.
She arrived carrying a large handbag and looking frightened.
"I shouldn't be doing this," she whispered.
Marcus spoke gently.
"You don't have to share anything you're uncomfortable discussing."
Denise looked at Nick.
Then at me.
"I watched what happened at the wedding."
Her eyes filled.
"Mrs. Carter, I was ashamed."
I frowned.
"You were there?"
"Near the back."
I remembered a woman in a burgundy dress standing beside the chapel entrance.
Denise nodded.
"I heard Vanessa insult you."
She lowered her eyes.
"And I knew why she was doing it."
Nick leaned forward.
"What do you mean?"
Denise opened her handbag.
She removed a folder.
Inside were copies of emails and financial summaries.
"Patricia's company has been struggling for years."
I looked at Marcus.
Denise continued.
"She borrowed heavily to maintain her lifestyle."
Nick frowned.
"What does that have to do with me?"
Denise hesitated.
"Six months before your engagement, Patricia learned about your father's trust."
I felt sick.
"How?"
Denise looked at me.
"She hired someone to research your family's assets."
Nick stared.
"What?"
Denise nodded.
"I handled invoices. I saw the payment."
Marcus examined the documents.
"Do you have the original records?"
"Some. The company accounts should have the rest."
Nick leaned back.
His face was pale.
Denise continued.
"Patricia believed the trust was worth several million dollars."
I shook my head.
"That isn't true."
"I know that now."
She looked at Nick.
"But she told Vanessa you would eventually inherit enough money to solve their financial problems."
Nick stared at the floor.
I could see the moment his heart broke again.
Denise's voice trembled.
"Vanessa wasn't told to fall in love with you. She was told to make sure you married her."
Nobody spoke.
Then Nick asked the question I had been afraid to hear.
"Did Vanessa know?"
Denise closed her eyes.
"Yes."
Nick's shoulders dropped.
I reached for his hand.
He didn't pull away.
But his fingers were ice cold.
Denise continued.
"Patricia pressured her. She said the family would lose everything unless Vanessa secured access to the trust."
Marcus leaned forward.
"Do you have communications supporting that?"
Denise nodded.
She slid several printed emails across the desk.
One message from Patricia to Vanessa mentioned the need to finalize financial authorizations before the wedding.
Another instructed Vanessa to prevent me from attending meetings with the bank.
I stared at the words.
My exclusion from the wedding hadn't been only personal.
They wanted me out of the way.
Because I was the trustee.
I controlled access to the documents.
And I knew what Samuel had actually left behind.
Nick stood suddenly.
"I need some air."
He walked into the hallway.
I followed.
He leaned against the wall.
His breathing was uneven.
"Mom, was any of it real?"
I touched his shoulder.
"I don't know."
He shook his head.
"She said she loved me."
Tears filled his eyes.
"She said she wanted children with me."
I pulled him close.
He began sobbing.
And I let him.
Because there are some kinds of pain a mother cannot fix.
I could protect my son from many things.
But I couldn't give him back the two years he believed he had spent with someone who loved him.
After several minutes, he stepped away.
His eyes were red.
"What happens now?"
I looked toward Marcus's office.
"Now we tell the truth."
Back inside, Marcus explained that the documents needed verification.
If forged signatures or fraudulent authorization requests were involved, he would refer the evidence to the appropriate authorities.
Denise agreed to cooperate.
Nick sat down.
He looked exhausted.
But his voice was steady.
"I want everything documented."
Marcus nodded.
"We'll proceed carefully."
Then Denise reached into her handbag again.
"There is one more thing."
She removed a small envelope.
My heart began pounding.
"What is that?"
Denise looked directly at me.
"Patricia asked me to destroy this after the engagement announcement."
She opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Vanessa standing beside another man.
They were embracing.
The date printed on the back was only three months before Nick's wedding.
Nick stared at it.
"Who is he?"
Denise swallowed.
"His name is Adrian."
She hesitated.
"And Vanessa has been secretly seeing him for almost a year."
My son stared at the photograph.
Then he whispered:
"So she wasn't only marrying me for money."
May you like
He looked up, devastated.
"She was betraying me the entire time."
