Chapter 1
The Wedding Papers My Future Mother-in-Law Tried to Hide
I slapped my future mother-in-law across the face twenty minutes before my wedding.
The sound echoed through the luxurious bridal suite.
For one terrible second, nobody moved.
Then I grabbed both lapels of Evelyn Williams's expensive powder-blue jacket and pulled her toward me.
"You tried to destroy my wedding!"
My voice broke.
Not because I was afraid.
Because the woman standing in front of me had spent eighteen months pretending to love me while secretly planning to ruin my life.
Evelyn stared at me.
Her perfectly styled hair had shifted across her forehead.
One hand rose slowly toward her reddening cheek.
"You ungrateful little girl."
I tightened my grip.
"Don't you dare call me that!"
The bedroom door flew open.
Marcus rushed inside.
My fiancé.
My best friend.
The man I was supposed to marry in less than half an hour.
He stopped when he saw us.
"Nia!"
He grabbed my wrists.
"Let her go!"
I resisted for one second.
Then I released Evelyn's jacket.
Marcus stepped between us.
"What is wrong with you?"
I stared at him.
"With me?"
My eyes burned.
"Ask your mother what she changed behind our backs."
Marcus turned toward Evelyn.
She calmly straightened her jacket.
Then adjusted the diamond brooch near her collar.
Her expression returned to its usual cold perfection.
"I protected my son."
Those four words made me want to scream.
Marcus frowned.
"Protected me from what?"
Evelyn lifted her chin.
"From making a terrible mistake."
I laughed bitterly.
"A mistake?"
She looked directly at me.
"Some women marry for love. Others marry for opportunity."
My stomach twisted.
"You're unbelievable."
Marcus raised both hands.
"Everybody stop."
He looked at his mother.
"What did you change?"
She didn't answer.
I stepped around him.
"The papers we signed yesterday."
Marcus turned toward me.
"What papers?"
I stared at him.
"The prenuptial agreement."
His face tightened.
"Nia, we already discussed that."
"No."
I shook my head.
"We discussed one agreement. Your mother arranged for a different one to be filed."
Evelyn folded her arms.
"You're making accusations you can't prove."
I looked at her.
"I can prove them."
For the first time, uncertainty flashed across her face.
Marcus stared at me.
"What are you talking about?"
I took a breath.
Yesterday afternoon, Marcus and I had met with our attorneys to sign our final prenuptial agreement.
It was supposed to be simple.
We would each keep the property we owned before marriage.
We would share assets acquired together.
Neither of us would claim ownership of the other's family business.
And most importantly, we would protect the education fund my late father had established for my younger sister.
Marcus had agreed to everything.
He'd kissed my forehead afterward.
Then he'd told me he loved me.
But this morning, I received an anonymous email.
Attached was a scanned copy of the agreement supposedly submitted to our wedding attorney.
The final page was different.
Completely different.
According to the altered document, I would surrender certain rights to the family business my father had left me.
And if Marcus and I ever separated, his family's holding company could claim a controlling interest in the property securing my sister's education fund.
I had read that page six times.
Then I'd thrown up.
Because the signature at the bottom looked exactly like mine.
Except I had never signed it.
Someone had replaced the final page.
Someone had copied my signature.
And someone wanted to turn my marriage into a financial trap.
I looked at Marcus.
"Your mother tried to steal my father's company."
His expression changed.
"What?"
Evelyn laughed.
"Don't be dramatic."
I turned toward her.
"Then explain the forged page."
She stared at me.
"Watch your language."
Marcus looked between us.
"Mom."
She ignored him.
"Some people simply don't understand complicated legal documents."
I felt my hands shaking.
My father had built his company from a single delivery truck.
He worked eighteen-hour days.
He missed vacations.
He wore the same winter coat for ten years because he wanted to save enough money to send his daughters to college.
When he died, he left me responsibility for everything he'd built.
I had promised to protect it.
And now the woman who wanted to become my mother-in-law had tried to take it away.
Marcus stepped toward Evelyn.
"Did you change the agreement?"
She turned away.
"Marcus, your wedding begins in twenty minutes."
"Answer me."
Her silence made my heart pound.
Then the door opened.
A woman in a black business suit hurried inside.
Patricia Grant.
My attorney.
She carried a thick legal folder against her chest.
Her expression was serious.
And the moment Evelyn saw her, the color drained from her face.
"I found the original documents," Patricia announced.
Nobody moved.
Marcus turned toward her.
"What documents?"
Patricia placed the folder on the dressing table.
"The complete agreement signed yesterday."
She opened it.
Then removed two sets of papers.
One had a blue identification label.
The other had a red label.
I recognized the blue one immediately.
It was the agreement Marcus and I had reviewed.
Patricia pointed toward the red copy.
"This version was substituted after Nia signed."
Marcus stared at the papers.
"Substituted?"
Patricia nodded.
"Someone removed the final page and replaced it with another."
Evelyn took one step backward.
"That's impossible."
Patricia looked at her.
"Is it?"
Evelyn said nothing.
My heart hammered.
Patricia continued.
"The substituted page contains financial provisions that Nia never approved."
Marcus reached for the document.
His eyes moved across the text.
Then his face changed.
"Mom..."
He looked toward Evelyn.
"Was that you?"
She stared at him.
For the first time in my relationship with Marcus, his mother had no immediate answer.
No insult.
No accusation.
No convenient explanation.
Just silence.
I looked at the man I loved.
He appeared devastated.
But I couldn't comfort him.
Not yet.
Because I needed to know whether he'd been deceived too.
Patricia reached deeper into her folder.
Then she removed another signed page.
"This is the copy that whoever altered the agreement forgot existed."
Evelyn's breathing changed.
Marcus took one step away from her.
I watched Patricia place the page beside the forged document.
Two signatures.
Two dates.
One hidden difference.
Patricia pointed toward the bottom of the original page.
"This proves who really—"
The bridal suite door opened again.
A man's voice interrupted.
"Patricia, don't say another word."
I turned.
Standing in the doorway was my future father-in-law.
Richard Williams.
May you like
And the expression on his face told me something terrifying.
He already knew what Patricia was about to reveal.
