Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WITH THE PACKET
Father Daniel sent the footage to Sofia the next morning. Emma watched it in her mother’s kitchen.
Veronica cut the back seam with three careful snips. Then she stepped away and smoothed the fabric over the damage.
Six minutes later, Patricia entered the empty bridal room. She opened Emma’s handbag and removed a thick white envelope. She read its label, slid it beneath her jacket, and left.
Emma paused the video.
“What envelope?”
Sofia enlarged the frame. The handwriting was Emma’s.
MERCER STREET — DAD’S OLD MAIL.
Emma remembered putting it in her bag. She had found it while packing for the wedding weekend and planned to ask Nathan about it afterward. She hadn’t opened it.
“Why would Patricia take old mail?” Ruth asked.
“Because it might tell us who owns the workshop,” Sofia said.
They spent the day gathering records. Sofia found that Walker Restoration had never been formally dissolved. Emma’s father had retained his share. After his death, that share passed to Emma under his will.
The workshop was only one of several properties tied to the company. A developer had recently offered to purchase the land beneath them for a large project.
Nathan had never mentioned an offer.
By late afternoon, Veronica called Emma.
“I can tell you what Patricia took,” she said.
“Then tell me.”
“Not on the phone. She’s checking everything.”
Emma looked at Sofia, who nodded once. They arranged to meet Veronica at a busy diner near the courthouse.
Veronica arrived wearing jeans, no makeup, and an oversized sweater. She looked younger without the champagne silk.
“I knew about the dress,” she said before sitting down. “I thought it would make you cry, and Nathan would play the hero. That’s what Patricia said he wanted.”
“Why did you agree?”
Veronica stared at her coffee. “I’ve done favors for that family for years. Every time I tried to stop, Patricia reminded me of the money I owed her.”
Emma didn’t excuse her. Veronica didn’t ask her to.
“What was in the envelope?” Sofia asked.
“A letter from a bank. I saw Patricia open it in the hall.” Veronica glanced toward the windows. “It said your father had put his shares in a trust until you turned thirty.”
“I turned thirty last month.”
“Patricia said they had to get your signature before you found out.”
Emma looked at Sofia. “Does the document I signed transfer the trust?”
“It tries to,” Sofia said.
Veronica leaned closer. “There’s more. Nathan didn’t come up with the dress idea. Patricia did. She said if you walked out, she could make you look unstable. If you stayed, Nathan could push another set of papers in front of you before the reception ended.”
Emma had thought the dress was the cruelty. It had also been a trap with two exits, both chosen by Patricia.
Veronica reached into her bag. “I took this from Patricia’s office.”
It was a copy of a property purchase offer, signed by the developer and awaiting Emma’s approval. The amount made Emma’s breath catch.
At the bottom, beside Nathan’s name, was another signature.
Dante Moretti.
Emma turned to him. “You said you came to the wedding to see whether I wanted to sell.”
Dante read the page. “I did.”
“You’re on the offer.”
“I was asked to help finance it.”
“Were you going to tell me?”
“Yes,” he said. “Today.”
May you like
“That’s easy to say now.”
She stood and walked out before he could answer.
