Chapter 2
Vanessa tried to hide her phone.
She turned the screen against her dress and forced a smile.
“Ethan, sweetheart, you're frightening me.”
I looked at her.
“Who's Darius?”
Her face changed.
“Who?”
“Darius.”
She blinked.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
I nodded toward her phone.
“Then why is he asking whether I signed transfer papers?”
For one second, she looked absolutely terrified.
Then she became angry.
“Were you reading my messages?”
“The notification appeared in front of me.”
She crossed her arms.
“That's private.”
I almost laughed.
We were standing outside a ballroom filled with people waiting to celebrate our marriage.
And she was worried about privacy.
Rochelle stepped forward.
“Vanessa, I'm Ethan's attorney. I think the ceremony should be postponed until both of you have had time to consider these matters.”
Vanessa turned sharply.
“You have no right to interfere with my wedding.”
Rochelle remained calm.
“I'm not interfering with your decision. I'm advising my client.”
Vanessa looked toward me.
“Ethan, tell her to leave.”
I held the folder.
“No.”
She stared.
“What?”
“I'm not telling her to leave.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Baby, please. Everybody is waiting.”
I looked through the ballroom doors.
Two hundred people.
Our families.
Friends.
Business associates.
People who had traveled across the country.
I thought about the money already spent.
The embarrassment.
The questions.
Then I remembered Vanessa laughing into her phone.
I'll take everything he has.
I turned toward Rochelle.
“Please ask the coordinator to pause the ceremony.”
Vanessa grabbed my arm.
“Ethan!”
I gently removed her hand.
“Don't.”
Her expression hardened.
“You're going to humiliate me?”
I stared at her.
“You were planning to marry me for my money.”
She went completely still.
For a moment, I heard nothing but the orchestra inside.
Then she whispered, “You heard me.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
Her eyes moved toward Rochelle.
Then toward the guests.
She lowered her voice.
“Ethan, I can explain.”
I felt my chest tighten.
“Then explain.”
She looked away.
“It was a joke.”
“A joke?”
“Yes.”
“You said you would take everything I own.”
She swallowed.
“Women exaggerate when they talk to their friends.”
I stared at her.
“Who were you talking to?”
She hesitated.
“My cousin.”
“Darius?”
Her mouth tightened.
“No.”
“Then who?”
She looked toward the floor.
“Monique.”
I knew Monique.
She was Vanessa's maid of honor.
She had helped plan the wedding.
I pulled out my phone.
“Let's call her.”
Vanessa grabbed my wrist.
“No!”
I froze.
Her reaction was immediate.
Desperate.
I slowly lowered my phone.
“Why not?”
She began crying.
“Because you're making everything worse.”
I looked at Rochelle.
She watched silently.
I took a breath.
“Vanessa, I need the truth.”
She shook her head.
“You don't understand how much pressure I've been under.”
“Pressure from whom?”
She said nothing.
Before I could ask again, my father approached.
“Ethan?”
I turned.
He looked between us.
“What's going on?”
My father's name was Samuel Carter.
He was sixty-three, a retired mechanic with broad shoulders and kind eyes.
He had spent my childhood teaching me that a person's word was worth more than anything money could buy.
I looked at him.
“Dad, I need a minute.”
He studied my face.
Then he looked toward Vanessa.
“Is something wrong?”
Vanessa immediately began crying harder.
“Ethan is accusing me of terrible things.”
My father frowned.
“What things?”
I took a breath.
“I overheard her saying she's marrying me to take my money.”
My father went silent.
Vanessa covered her mouth.
“Ethan!”
I continued.
“And someone is messaging her about transfer papers.”
My father's expression changed.
“Transfer papers?”
I nodded.
He looked toward Vanessa.
“What transfer papers?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
My father stared at her.
Then he turned toward me.
“Son, you need to stop this wedding until you understand what's happening.”
Vanessa began sobbing.
“You're taking his side!”
My father answered quietly.
“I'm taking the side of the truth.”
Those words nearly broke me.
For months, I had dismissed my parents' concerns.
Now my father was standing beside me without hesitation.
The wedding coordinator approached.
“Mr. Carter, guests are asking about the delay.”
I looked at her.
“Please tell them the ceremony is postponed.”
She nodded.
Vanessa gasped.
“No!”
I turned toward her.
“I can't marry you today.”
She began shaking.
“You can't do this to me.”
I swallowed.
“I can't marry someone I no longer trust.”
Her face twisted.
Then she said something that made me freeze.
“You don't understand what happens if this wedding doesn't happen.”
I stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
She immediately looked away.
“Nothing.”
I stepped closer.
“Vanessa.”
She began crying again.
“Please.”
I watched her carefully.
There was fear in her eyes.
Not just fear of embarrassment.
Something deeper.
I lowered my voice.
“Who's threatening you?”
Her head snapped toward me.
“Nobody.”
“Then why are you afraid?”
She shook her head.
“I'm not.”
But I knew she was lying.
Then a man approached from the ballroom.
Tall.
Athletic.
Wearing a charcoal-gray suit.
His expression was serious.
I recognized him.
Darius Mitchell.
Vanessa's so-called business mentor.
She had introduced us six months earlier.
He claimed to manage private investments.
I had never liked him.
Now he walked directly toward us.
“Vanessa, what's happening?”
Her face went pale.
“Darius.”
He looked at me.
“Ethan, buddy. Everybody's waiting.”
I stared at him.
“Are you the person asking about transfer papers?”
His smile disappeared.
“What?”
I held up the folder.
“Somebody seems very interested in my assets.”
Darius looked toward Vanessa.
She lowered her eyes.
I saw something pass between them.
Recognition.
Warning.
Then Darius smiled again.
“Relax, man. Weddings make everybody nervous.”
I stepped closer.
“What transfer papers?”
He shrugged.
“Probably business paperwork.”
“Whose business?”
He didn't answer.
I looked at Vanessa.
She was trembling.
Then Darius said quietly, “Ethan, let's discuss this somewhere private.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
His smile tightened.
“You don't want to create a scene.”
I looked toward the ballroom.
Then back at him.
“I think the scene has already been created.”
Darius leaned closer.
His voice dropped.
“You're making a very expensive mistake.”
I felt anger rise.
“Is that a threat?”
He straightened.
“It's advice.”
I looked toward Rochelle.
She had heard everything.
Then I turned back to Darius.
“Get away from my family.”
His expression hardened.
For a moment, I thought he might argue.
Instead, he stepped back.
Vanessa reached toward him.
“Darius, please.”
He looked at her sharply.
“Not now.”
That was when I saw it.
The way she flinched.
The way he controlled the conversation.
And suddenly, I understood that Vanessa might not be acting alone.
But before I could decide what to do, Rochelle's phone rang.
She answered.
Her expression changed almost immediately.
Then she looked at me.
“Ethan, we have a serious problem.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
She lowered her voice.
“Someone submitted a property transfer request using your signature.”
I stared at her.
“Which property?”
She hesitated.
“Your mother's house.”
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
May you like
Because my mother had lived in that house for thirty-two years.
And I had no idea how Vanessa or Darius could have touched it.
