Chapter 2 - EVERYONE CHOSE HIS SIDE
The silence after my question lasted three seconds.
Then my father ruined it.
“Rachel, enough.”
I turned.
Dad was standing beside the head table, his face already red.
“He found the phone. It’s over.”
“No,” I said. “It isn’t.”
Preston spread his hands.
“What exactly are you accusing me of?”
“You didn’t search anywhere.”
“I saw Sophie near the table.”
“So were thirty other people.”
“She was acting suspicious.”
Sophie began crying.
“I wasn’t.”
I pulled her against me.
Preston’s bride, Vanessa, stepped forward.
Her wedding dress shimmered under the lights.
“Rachel, please.”
She looked genuinely shaken.
“This is our wedding.”
“I know.”
“Then maybe don’t turn this into something bigger.”
I almost laughed.
“My daughter was just accused of theft in front of two hundred people.”
“The phone was in her pocket,” Mom said quietly.
I looked at her.
That hurt more than I expected.
“Mom.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“That you know your granddaughter.”
She crossed her arms.
“I know what I saw.”
“No. You saw what Preston wanted you to see.”
Preston slammed his palm against a table.
Several glasses rattled.
“There it is.”
I turned back.
“There what is?”
“You always do this.”
“Do what?”
“Make everything about you.”
People were watching openly now.
Good.
Let them.
Preston continued.
“You’ve been jealous of me since we were kids.”
I stared at him.
“Are you serious?”
“You hate that Mom and Dad are proud of me.”
Dad stepped between us.
“Rachel, take Sophie home.”
“No.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I’m not asking.”
Sophie buried her face against my side.
I felt her shaking.
That made something inside me go cold.
I lowered my voice.
“My daughter leaves when I decide she leaves.”
Dad stared at me.
Then Preston said, “Maybe someone should check her bag too.”
Sophie jerked backward.
“No!”
That reaction changed everything.
Not because it made her look guilty.
Because she looked terrified.
I crouched.
“Soph?”
She shook her head hard.
“I don’t want him touching my stuff.”
Preston scoffed.
“That sounds innocent.”
I stood so fast my chair tipped over.
“Don’t talk to her.”
“Then control her.”
“Don’t.”
He stepped closer.
“You think being a single mom means nobody can criticize your kid?”
“And you think wearing a tux means you can humiliate an eight-year-old?”
Vanessa whispered, “Preston, stop.”
He ignored her.
Then Sophie tugged my sleeve.
“Mommy?”
“What, baby?”
She pointed past me.
Above the ballroom doors.
At first, I saw nothing.
Then I saw the small black dome mounted near the ceiling.
A red light blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Sophie whispered, “Is that a camera?”
I turned back toward Preston.
May you like
He had followed my eyes.
And suddenly, my brother’s face went completely white.
