Chapter 6
The investigation changed everything.
For days, I'd been wondering whether Marcus was simply desperate.
Whether Diane had pressured him.
Whether Gregory had manipulated both of them.
But the revised authorization raised a question nobody could explain away.
Why had someone submitted another document after I'd explicitly refused to sign?
I sat with Camille and Aaron in a conference room.
The access records lay on the table.
Camille looked at me.
“Nia, we need to distinguish what we know from what we suspect.”
I nodded.
“Okay.”
She pointed toward the first document.
“We know your signature image was accessed from a stored contract.”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
“We know Marcus admitted sharing financial documents with Gregory.”
I nodded.
“And we know a revised authorization was submitted after you left the mansion.”
My chest tightened.
Aaron leaned forward.
“The electronic records indicate the submission came through an account linked to Gregory.”
I stared at the page.
“Can we prove who physically submitted it?”
“Not from this record alone.”
I took a breath.
“What happens next?”
Camille answered.
“The lender has preserved the application records and referred the suspicious submissions for investigation.”
I nodded.
Then she continued.
“We've also requested records relating to how the signature was applied.”
My hands tightened.
I wanted answers.
Clear answers.
But every step required patience.
And patience was difficult when my name had been used on documents I never approved.
That afternoon, I returned to my office.
Jasmine was waiting beside my desk.
She looked nervous.
“Nia, someone called.”
I frowned.
“Who?”
“A woman named Rebecca Ellis.”
I didn't recognize the name.
“What did she want?”
“She said she used to work for Gregory Sloan.”
My stomach tightened.
“And?”
Jasmine swallowed.
“She says she has information about the hotel project.”
I sat down slowly.
“Did she leave a number?”
Jasmine handed me a note.
I stared at it.
Then called Camille.
She advised me to direct the woman toward the appropriate investigators rather than conducting my own interview.
I agreed.
But that evening, Rebecca contacted Camille's office.
She offered to provide documents.
The next day, Camille called me.
Her voice was serious.
“Rebecca worked in Gregory's administrative department.”
My heart raced.
“What did she say?”
“She described concerns about how the guarantee documents were prepared.”
I took a breath.
“Was Marcus involved?”
Camille paused.
“Her account suggests he participated in discussions about obtaining your financial support.”
My stomach tightened.
“Did he know the signature was unauthorized?”
“We still need to verify the evidence.”
I closed my eyes.
I wanted to know.
And I was terrified of knowing.
Later that week, investigators obtained communications connected to the project.
Some showed Gregory pressuring Marcus to secure additional financing.
Others showed Diane encouraging Marcus to keep negotiations away from me until the wedding.
One message made my heart stop.
Diane had written:
Once the ceremony is complete, Nia will have too much invested emotionally to walk away.
I stared at the words.
Then looked at Camille.
“She knew.”
Camille nodded grimly.
“She appears to have expected the marriage to increase pressure on you.”
My hands began shaking.
I remembered Diane smiling at my bridal shower.
Telling everyone how grateful she was to welcome me into the family.
She'd held my hands.
Called me her daughter.
Promised we'd always be close.
Now I was reading messages suggesting she saw my wedding as leverage.
I felt sick.
Then Camille showed me another communication.
Gregory had written:
We need the guarantee before the creditor deadline. No guarantee, no rescue.
My stomach tightened.
Marcus replied:
I'll talk to Nia. She trusts me.
Tears filled my eyes.
He trusts me.
That was what I'd believed too.
I closed the folder.
For several minutes, I couldn't speak.
Then I whispered, “I want to protect my company.”
Camille nodded.
“We will.”
“And my father.”
She looked at me.
“We'll address the threats with evidence.”
I took a breath.
Then added something else.
“And I don't want anyone else hurt by this project.”
Camille studied me.
“What do you mean?”
I looked at the engineering concerns my father had described.
The structural problems.
The questionable budget.
The incomplete safety plans.
“If they were desperate enough to use my signature, what else were they willing to ignore?”
Camille's expression became serious.
“That deserves review.”
Over the following weeks, the hotel project came under increased scrutiny.
Independent engineers examined the available plans.
Regulators reviewed relevant permit applications.
And the lender reconsidered its exposure.
The findings were troubling.
The redevelopment had serious unresolved structural issues.
Several cost estimates were incomplete.
And some proposed work depended on financing that hadn't been secured.
I felt cold reading the reports.
My father had been right to reject the project.
And the money they wanted from me wasn't just going to fund a dream.
It might have supported a development that wasn't ready to proceed safely.
That realization changed how I saw the situation.
This wasn't only about my wedding.
Or my heartbreak.
There were employees.
Contractors.
Potential guests.
People whose lives could be affected by careless decisions.
I looked at Arthur.
“Dad, did you know it was this bad?”
He sighed.
“We knew enough to walk away.”
I nodded.
Then he said something unexpected.
“Nia, I'm proud of you.”
I looked up.
“For what?”
“For asking whether other people could be harmed.”
My eyes filled.
He smiled sadly.
“That's what your mother would've asked.”
I swallowed.
I missed her so much.
Especially now.
She'd always believed that success meant nothing without integrity.
She'd told me that the easiest money was sometimes the most expensive.
I hadn't understood those words when I was younger.
Now I did.
Meanwhile, the public story began changing.
Several guests shared complete recordings of what happened at the mansion.
The videos showed Diane ordering me to leave.
Marcus standing silently.
My fall.
And my father helping me from the rain.
People who'd accused me of abandoning the wedding began asking different questions.
Some apologized.
Others stopped commenting.
I didn't feel triumphant.
I simply felt relieved that the truth was becoming visible.
Then one morning, I received a letter.
It came from Marcus.
Not a text.
A handwritten letter.
My heart began pounding as I opened it.
Nia,
I know I hurt you.
I know I should've defended you.
I was terrified of losing my company, and I let that fear control me.
You didn't deserve what happened.
I stared at the page.
Tears filled my eyes.
For a moment, I wanted to believe that was enough.
Then I read the next paragraph.
But I need you to understand that Gregory promised everything would work out once we had the financing.
I closed my eyes.
Even now, Marcus was trying to explain the pressure.
Not fully accept the choices he'd made.
I continued reading.
I never wanted anyone to use your signature without permission.
I looked down.
That sentence mattered.
But it didn't erase the fact that he'd shared my documents.
Or pressured me to sign.
Or watched his mother throw me out.
Then I reached the final line.
Please don't let your father destroy the only business I have left.
My chest tightened.
There it was again.
The company.
The money.
The fear of losing his future.
I folded the letter.
Then placed it in a drawer.
I didn't answer.
That evening, Camille called.
Her voice was unusually serious.
“Nia, investigators have obtained a new set of communications.”
I sat upright.
“What communications?”
“Messages between Diane and Gregory.”
My stomach tightened.
“About the guarantee?”
“Yes.”
She paused.
“And about your wedding.”
I felt cold.
“What about it?”
Camille took a breath.
“They discussed what to do if you refused to sign.”
My heart began pounding.
I could barely speak.
“What did they decide?”
Camille's voice became quiet.
“They planned to create a public confrontation that would pressure you to change your mind.”
I froze.
Then she added something that made my entire body go cold.
“Diane wrote that if embarrassment didn't work, she would make sure Marcus believed you were the one who betrayed him.”
And suddenly, I understood.
May you like
They hadn't simply reacted badly when I refused.
They'd planned to turn my wedding into a weapon.
