Chapter 3 - WHAT SHE SIGNED
Emma sat on a wooden bench outside the cathedral office while Dante’s attorney, Sofia Bell, joined them by video call.
Sofia had a calm voice and a habit of pausing before she said anything important.
“This isn’t wedding paperwork,” she told Emma. “It’s an assignment of your interest in Walker Restoration.”
“My dad’s company closed.”
“That’s what you were told. This document says you still own forty percent.”
Emma read the page again. Her signature was there, at the bottom, dated yesterday. Above it, paragraphs she couldn’t remember seeing.
Nathan had brought the packet to her kitchen table after dinner. He’d placed a sticky note beside every signature line. She had been tired, excited, and worried about the wedding. He had kissed the top of her head while she signed.
“Can I undo it?” she asked.
“We need the full packet,” Sofia said. “I’m making calls now. Don’t sign anything else, and keep every message Nathan sends.”
Dante stood near the window, giving Emma room to talk. She had expected him to take over. Instead he waited until she ended the call.
“Why were you at the wedding?” she asked him.
“Nathan invited me.”
“That doesn’t answer why you came.”
Dante looked out at the church steps. “Your father once did work for my family. I heard the Whitmores were trying to buy what remained of his company. I wanted to see whether you were selling it willingly.”
“You could have asked me.”
“I should have.”
The admission caught her off guard.
The side door opened. Veronica hurried into the hallway, champagne dress sweeping the floor. Her confidence faltered when she saw Dante.
“Emma,” she said. “I came to apologize.”
“For the scissors or the laughter?”
Veronica’s cheeks colored. “It was a stupid prank. I didn’t think the seam would open that much.”
“You cut through it.”
“I can pay for the dress.”
Emma stood. “Why did Nathan want me embarrassed?”
Veronica glanced at Dante. “Ask him.”
“I did.”
“He always thinks he can control the fallout.” Veronica lowered her voice. “Patricia said if you got upset, Nathan would calm you down before the vows. She wanted you grateful when he married you anyway.”
Emma felt sick.
“Why?”
Veronica pressed her lips together. “I didn’t ask.”
A man in a gray overcoat appeared at the far end of the hallway. Veronica saw him and stepped back.
“I really am sorry,” she said, then hurried away.
The man followed her out.
Emma took one step after them, but Dante said, “Let her go. Sofia needs your paperwork first.”
At her apartment, Emma found Nathan had already been there.
The door was locked. The rooms looked normal. But the folder she kept in the desk drawer was gone, along with the old metal box that held her father’s business papers.
On the desk lay a single photograph of Emma as a child, standing beside her father in front of a brick building.
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Someone had written on the back:
YOUR FATHER HID THE REAL CONTRACT IN THE PLACE YOU HELPED HIM BUILD.
