CHAPTER 3 — THE MISSING BOUQUET
CHAPTER 3 — THE MISSING BOUQUET
George moved faster than anyone expected.
He reached the staircase before Richard caught his shoulder.
“Where are you going?”
George pulled away.
“To stop this family from tearing itself apart over a dead woman’s fantasy.”
Audrey’s expression hardened.
“You knew where the recording was.”
“I heard you say bouquet.”
“But you were already moving before I finished.”
George looked around at the faces surrounding him.
Clara.
Richard.
Julian.
Audrey.
Even the few remaining relatives who had gathered downstairs after hearing the disturbance.
George forced a laugh.
“This is ridiculous.”
Clara walked past him.
“Then you won’t mind if we find it.”
The wedding reception had ended in confusion.
Half-empty glasses remained on the tables.
White flowers lay scattered across the floor.
The musicians had packed away their instruments.
The lights still glowed over a celebration that now felt almost obscene.
Audrey approached the head table.
Her bouquet was gone.
She stopped breathing.
“It was here.”
A housekeeper named Maria stepped forward.
“Mrs. Hale—”
Audrey flinched at the married name.
Maria corrected herself.
“Audrey. I saw Mr. George take the bouquet into the study.”
Everyone turned.
George’s face hardened.
“I was cleaning up.”
“With the bride’s bouquet?” Richard asked.
George said nothing.
Julian rushed toward the study.
The door was locked.
Richard tried the handle.
“George.”
No answer.
Clara pounded on the door.
“Open it!”
A faint burning smell drifted into the hall.
Audrey’s eyes widened.
“He’s destroying it.”
Richard and Julian struck the door together.
The lock cracked.
Smoke rolled into the hallway.
Inside, wedding flowers burned inside the stone fireplace.
George stood beside the flames holding a brass poker.
Julian stared at him.
“What did you do?”
George’s voice remained calm.
“I protected you.”
Julian stepped into the room.
“From what?”
“From her.”
He pointed at Audrey.
“She’s been poisoning you against Sienna for years.”
Audrey moved toward the fireplace, but George blocked her path.
“The recording was inside the bouquet,” she said.
“It doesn’t exist.”
Maria appeared behind Clara.
“Actually, it does.”
She held up a small blue flash drive.
George went pale.
Maria’s hand trembled.
“I found it beneath the table after Mr. George dropped the bouquet. I thought it belonged to the photographer.”
George moved toward her.
Richard stepped between them.
“Don’t.”
Julian stared at the drive.
His face reflected equal parts hope and terror.
Audrey whispered, “Play it.”
Richard connected it to the television in the study.
A single audio file appeared.
The date was the night Sienna died.
Julian pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then Sienna’s frightened voice emerged.
“Audrey, did this file reach you? The real inspection reports—the ones George ordered us to replace?”
Everyone turned toward George.
The recording continued.
“If anything happens to me, don’t trust the police report. George knows the bridge supports are defective.”
Julian staggered backward.
But Sienna had one final sentence.
May you like
And it changed everything.
“Julian signed the approval papers.”
