Chapter 4
Brooke did not cry.
That frightened me more than if she had collapsed.
She simply stood beside me near the ballroom doors, staring at Nathan as though she had stopped understanding the language everyone was speaking.
“The house is gone?”
Nathan shook his head quickly.
“No. Not necessarily.”
“You said she transferred your share.”
“My attorney thinks the deed may be fraudulent.”
Diane snapped, “It is not fraudulent.”
Nathan spun toward her.
“You signed my name.”
She froze.
Robert looked up sharply.
“What?”
Nathan’s voice shook.
“The filing has my electronic signature.”
Diane lifted her chin.
“You authorized me to manage your financial documents.”
“Company documents.”
“You gave me access.”
“That is not the same as permission.”
“It was necessary.”
Brooke finally moved.
She walked back toward the head table.
I followed close behind.
“What about my half?” she asked.
Diane looked at her.
“Your portion is untouched.”
Brooke laughed quietly.
“Untouched?”
Her voice rose.
“You secretly transferred half of my home to your friend.”
“For temporary protection.”
“You keep using different words for stealing.”
Diane’s eyes flashed.
“Do not speak to me like that.”
Nathan stepped between them.
“No.”
His mother looked at him.
He pointed toward Brooke.
“You do not speak to my wife like that.”
The word wife seemed to hit Brooke.
Her face softened for one painful second.
Then hardened again.
Nathan turned toward her.
“I’m going to fix this.”
Brooke whispered, “I don’t know if you can.”
“I didn’t know she transferred the property.”
“I believe you.”
He nodded slowly.
“But?”
Brooke looked down at her wedding ring.
“But you knew enough to hide something from me.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
I hated watching them hurt each other when Diane was the reason.
But Brooke was right.
Nathan’s mother had committed the larger betrayal.
Nathan had still made his own choice.
He had signed a financial guarantee without telling the woman he married the next day.
Trust rarely breaks from one crack.
Sometimes one person creates the crack.
Another person decides not to repair it.
Nathan opened his eyes.
“You deserve the truth.”
“Yes.”
“All of it.”
“Yes.”
“I was afraid if I told you, you’d postpone the wedding.”
Brooke’s voice became soft.
“Would I have?”
He looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
“You should have let me decide.”
“I know.”
That answer mattered.
Not enough.
But it mattered.
A man in a dark suit entered the ballroom.
He crossed directly toward Nathan.
“I’m David Chen.”
Nathan nodded.
“My attorney.”
David shook Brooke’s hand.
Then Robert’s.
He did not shake Diane’s.
“I contacted the county filing office. The deed was submitted electronically three days ago.”
“Can we reverse it?” Nathan asked.
“Possibly. But if the signature was unauthorized, we need to move quickly.”
Diane scoffed.
“You’re making this sound criminal.”
David looked directly at her.
“Because it may be.”
She stopped smiling.
He continued.
“Mr. Hale, do you control Blue Harbor Consulting?”
Victor nodded.
“I do.”
“Did you know the deed was signed without Nathan’s direct authorization?”
Victor hesitated.
Diane stared at him.
David noticed.
“So that’s a yes.”
Victor rubbed his forehead.
“I was told Nathan had agreed.”
“By whom?”
He looked at Diane.
Nobody needed words.
Robert stood again.
“I want the bank notified tonight.”
David nodded.
“I already recommended that.”
Diane’s eyes widened.
“You had no right.”
Robert turned toward her.
“It’s my company too.”
“Not for much longer if you destroy our credit.”
He laughed.
“Our credit?”
His voice cracked.
“You already destroyed it.”
For the first time, Diane seemed to realize nobody was defending her.
Not Nathan.
Not Robert.
Not Victor.
Not even the relatives at her table.
She looked around the ballroom.
Her eyes landed on me.
And somehow, incredibly, she blamed me.
“This started because of you.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“If you had controlled your child, none of this would have happened.”
The absurdity left me speechless.
Then Brooke laughed.
She actually laughed.
It was tired and angry and almost disbelieving.
“You transferred my husband’s house because Lily touched the cake?”
“That isn’t what I said.”
“It’s exactly what you said.”
Diane pointed at Lily, asleep against my shoulder.
“That child humiliated me.”
I stepped forward.
“No.”
My voice stayed quiet.
“You humiliated yourself.”
Her face tightened.
“You think this is funny?”
“No.”
I adjusted Lily in my arms.
“I think my daughter accidentally touched some frosting.”
I looked around at the shattered reception.
“And you decided to burn your entire family down because people laughed.”
Diane opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Robert whispered, “She’s right.”
Diane turned toward him.
His face was devastated.
“You couldn’t stand losing control for five minutes.”
“That is not why—”
“You started this.”
“No.”
“You could have sat down.”
Robert’s eyes filled.
“You could have laughed with everyone else.”
Diane’s face softened.
“Robert.”
“But you needed to punish somebody.”
His voice broke.
“So you threatened Brooke.”
She stepped closer.
“I was angry.”
“And now everything is out.”
Diane looked around again.
I could see panic taking over.
The kind that comes when a person realizes all the doors they usually use to escape are closing.
She grabbed her clutch.
“I’m leaving.”
David stepped in front of her.
“I wouldn’t recommend that.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“You cannot detain me.”
“No.”
He glanced toward the ballroom entrance.
“But they can.”
Two police officers entered.
The room went silent.
Diane stared.
Robert had made the call.
One officer approached him.
“Mr. Whitmore?”
Robert nodded.
“We spoke on the phone.”
Diane whispered, “You called police on your wife?”
Robert looked at her.
“I reported suspected fraud.”
“I am your wife.”
His face crumpled.
“I know.”
The officer asked everyone directly involved to move to a private conference room.
Brooke immediately refused.
“I’m not spending my wedding night in an interrogation.”
David nodded.
“You don’t need to.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Can I come with you?”
She stared at him for several seconds.
“No.”
His face fell.
“I need Claire tonight.”
I squeezed her hand.
Nathan nodded.
“Okay.”
Brooke looked at him.
“I’m not saying our marriage is over.”
He stopped breathing.
“I’m saying I can’t make any decisions tonight.”
“I understand.”
She turned toward me.
“Take me upstairs.”
We left the ballroom together.
I carried Lily.
Brooke carried the bottom of her gown in one hand.
Behind us, police officers began separating Diane, Victor, Robert, and Nathan.
The elevator doors closed.
Brooke leaned against the wall.
Then she finally broke.
She covered her face.
“I married him three hours ago.”
I put my free arm around her.
“I know.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“You don’t have to know tonight.”
She sobbed against my shoulder.
“I love him.”
“I know.”
“That makes it worse.”
I had no answer.
When we reached her hotel suite, I helped her remove the veil.
She sat on the edge of the bed.
Lily woke.
She blinked sleepily.
Then she reached toward Brooke.
“Auntie.”
Brooke cried harder.
Lily climbed into her lap.
My sister hugged her.
For a few minutes, none of us spoke.
Then Brooke’s phone buzzed.
A message from Nathan.
She stared at it.
“What does it say?” I asked.
She turned the screen toward me.
I read it.
I’m downstairs. I won’t come up unless you ask. I told the police everything I know. David filed an emergency challenge to the deed. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the guarantee. There is no excuse. I love you. I’ll wait.
Brooke wiped her face.
“That sounds like Nathan.”
“Yes.”
She looked down at her ring.
“I don’t know if loving him is enough.”
“It doesn’t have to be enough tonight.”
She nodded.
Then my phone rang.
It was my mother.
I answered.
“Mom?”
Her voice was breathless.
“Claire, are you with Brooke?”
“Yes.”
“Turn on the television.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
I grabbed the remote.
The hotel television came alive.
A local news channel was showing the outside of the hotel.
Police cars.
Wedding guests.
Reporters already arriving.
A banner crossed the bottom of the screen.
LOCAL BUSINESS FAMILY INVESTIGATED AFTER WEDDING FRAUD ALLEGATIONS.
Brooke stared.
“Oh my God.”
Then the reporter said something that made both of us freeze.
“Sources say investigators are also reviewing an unexplained transfer from Whitmore Holdings made approximately eight months ago.”
I grabbed the volume control.
The reporter continued.
“That earlier transfer totaled more than nine hundred thousand dollars.”
Brooke looked at me.
“Eight months ago?”
I nodded slowly.
On the television, a photograph appeared.
Diane.
Beside her stood Victor Hale.
Then a third person.
A woman.
I had never seen her before.
The reporter identified her.
“Authorities are reportedly seeking financial consultant Marissa Cole for questioning.”
Brooke’s face changed.
“What?”
“You know her?”
She pointed at the screen.
“Nathan does.”
My chest tightened.
“How?”
May you like
Brooke whispered the answer.
“She’s his ex-fiancée.”
