TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF HER

Three weeks before the wedding, Elena stood in front of the Mercer family estate and wondered when it had stopped feeling like home.

The house was enormous, surrounded by stone walls, iron gates, and gardens maintained by workers who were instructed never to speak directly to the family unless spoken to first.

Daniel had once laughed at those rules.

Now he enforced them.

“You’re late,” he said when Elena entered the breakfast room.

She glanced at the clock. It was seven minutes past eight.

“I stopped at the bank.”

Daniel lowered his coffee cup.

“Why?”

Elena removed her coat slowly. “Because three hundred thousand dollars disappeared from my investment account.”

Across the table, Celeste continued spreading marmalade over a piece of toast as though Elena had announced the weather.

Daniel gave a small smile.

“There must be a mistake.”

“The bank said the money was transferred with my authorization.”

“Then perhaps you authorized it.”

“I didn’t.”

Celeste finally looked up.

“This family is preparing for the wedding of the year. We do not have time for one of your financial misunderstandings.”

Elena stared at her mother-in-law. “A three-hundred-thousand-dollar transfer isn’t a misunderstanding.”

Brianna entered the room carrying fabric samples for her reception tables.

Daniel’s younger sister had spent months planning her wedding. Everything had to be flawless, from the imported flowers to the live orchestra.

Brianna stopped when she sensed the tension.

“What happened?”

“Nothing,” Daniel answered quickly.

Elena watched him.

During the first years of their marriage, Daniel had never hidden anything from her. He had left handwritten notes beside her coffee. He had listened when she spoke. He had encouraged her to invest the inheritance her grandmother had left her.

But over the previous year, the man she married had slowly disappeared.

His kindness had become impatience.

His questions had become accusations.

And whenever Elena challenged him, Celeste reminded her how fortunate she was to carry the Mercer name.

Elena picked up her handbag.

“I’m going back to the bank.”

Daniel stood.

“I said I’ll handle it.”