Chapter 4 - THE BRIDE KNEWChloe backed away.
“I didn’t know what I was signing.”
Amanda laughed bitterly.
“Of course.”
Chloe spun on her.
“Stay out of this!”
Amanda stared at her.
“You put your ring in my purse and tried to make me frame a pregnant woman.”
That shut Chloe up for about two seconds.
Then she pointed at me.
“This is because of her!”
I blinked.
“Excuse me?”
“You came into this family acting like you were better than us.”
I almost admired the stupidity of that sentence.
“For three years you called me cheap trash.”
“Because you acted fake!”
“What does that even mean?”
“You hid who you were!”
There it was.
Not guilt.
Not shame.
Offense.
As if my privacy had somehow tricked her into becoming cruel.
I stepped closer.
“So if I really had been poor, everything you did would have been okay?”
Chloe opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
The silence answered for her.
My father looked away for a second.
He was angry enough that he needed the break.
Dominic sat down suddenly.
Right in the middle of the ballroom.
On a gold wedding chair.
He covered his face with both hands.
I stared at him.
Some small, stupid part of me wanted him to stand up and fight for us.
Even then.
Even after everything.
That part of me made me furious.
My father’s attorney continued.
“The signatures authorized Mercer Development to pledge Ms. Ashford’s Boston property as collateral.”
I looked at Chloe.
“You signed it.”
She swallowed.
“Dominic said you agreed.”
I turned to Dominic.
He dropped his hands.
“I thought you would.”
A laugh escaped me.
“You thought I would agree after you already signed for me?”
“No.”
He stood.
“I mean… I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
He looked at the floor.
“When it worked.”
That one hurt.
Not because it was surprising.
Because it was honest.
He had planned to tell me only if the lie succeeded.
I nodded.
“Thank you.”
He frowned.
“For what?”
“For finally saying something true.”
His face crumpled.
I looked away before that could affect me.
Then Amanda spoke.
“There’s more.”
Everyone turned.
Chloe closed her eyes.
“Amanda.”
“No.”
Amanda wiped her cheeks.
“I’m done.”
She looked at me.
“Chloe didn’t just want the ring in your purse.”
My stomach tightened again.
“What did she want?”
Amanda hesitated.
“She wanted the police called before anyone checked the cameras.”
My father’s jaw hardened.
“Why?”
Amanda looked toward Chloe.
Chloe whispered,
“Don’t.”
Amanda ignored her.
“Because if Vivienne got arrested tonight…”
She looked at Dominic.
“…Dominic could claim she was mentally unstable.”
My skin went cold.
I turned slowly.
Dominic looked horrified.
“That's not what—”
Amanda cut him off.
“I saw the messages.”
Chloe went pale.
“What messages?”
Amanda’s voice shook.
“The family group chat.”
Dominic stared at his sister.
“What did you send her?”
Chloe said nothing.
My father looked at security.
“Get Amanda’s phone.”
Amanda handed it over willingly.
The head of security scrolled.
His expression changed.
Then he passed the phone to my father.
My father read one message.
His face went completely blank.
He handed the phone to me.
The message was from Chloe.
Sent three days earlier.
“If she gets booked, even overnight, we have leverage before the baby comes.”
Below it was Eleanor’s reply.
“Exactly.”
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And below that—
Dominic had reacted with a thumbs-up.
