Chapter 11 - MARA TALKS
Bianca began shaking her head.
“No.”
Detective Harris moved closer.
“Mara Collins says you instructed her to remove Livia from the bridal suite.”
“She’s lying.”
“She has text messages.”
“She forged them.”
“She also has voice recordings.”
Bianca went silent.
Vivienne sat down hard.
“Oh, Bianca.”
Alessandro held Livia tighter.
“What was the plan?”
Harris answered carefully.
“Mara says Bianca told her to take Livia to another building on the property until after the ceremony.”
Daniel frowned.
“That’s not what happened.”
“No.”
Harris looked at Bianca.
“Mara claims she panicked after hitting the nanny. She moved Livia to the greenhouse, then abandoned her when security locked down the estate.”
Alessandro’s voice dropped.
“You ordered someone to kidnap my daughter so she wouldn’t interrupt the wedding?”
Bianca’s eyes flashed.
“I told Mara to take her somewhere quiet.”
“She tied her hands.”
“I didn’t tell her to do that!”
“You created the situation.”
Bianca looked around desperately.
“No one was supposed to get hurt.”
Rosalie stood.
“You already hurt her before Mara touched her.”
Bianca glanced at the chopped side of Livia’s hair.
Something like shame flickered across her face.
But it was too late.
Harris held up the USB drive.
“Mara also says this contains financial records Bianca planned to destroy after the wedding.”
Daniel smiled without humor.
“There you go.”
Bianca turned on him.
“You were supposed to disappear.”
“You stole my identity.”
“You owed me.”
“I owed you a divorce.”
“And you wouldn’t give me one.”
“I signed the papers eight months ago.”
Alessandro looked sharply at Bianca.
She had told him Daniel refused.
Another lie.
Daniel continued.
“You never filed them.”
“Because you left me with nothing!”
“I left you the company.”
“You left me debt!”
“You created the debt.”
Bianca screamed, “Shut up!”
Her voice echoed through the chapel.
Then she covered her mouth.
Everyone stared.
Vivienne began crying quietly.
Bianca looked at her mother.
“You’re enjoying this.”
Vivienne shook her head.
“No mother enjoys watching her child destroy herself.”
“You never believed in me.”
“I covered your lies for years.”
“Exactly! You always looked at me like I was broken.”
Vivienne stood.
“I looked at you like I was afraid.”
That stopped Bianca.
“Afraid of what?”
Vivienne’s voice trembled.
“Of what you become when someone tells you no.”
Bianca stared.
The words landed harder than any accusation from Alessandro.
Harris stepped forward.
“Bianca Laurent, I need you to come with me.”
Bianca backed toward the altar.
“No.”
“Don’t make this worse.”
“No!”
She grabbed a tall brass candle stand and knocked it over.
Flames hit the carpet.
Guests screamed.
May you like
Within seconds, fire crawled across the white aisle runner.
And Bianca ran.
