Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN IN THE POND
The ceremony itself lasted nineteen minutes.
Brittany and Austin exchanged vows beneath an arch of white roses. Howard stood beside Loretta in the front row, his face unreadable.
When the officiant pronounced them husband and wife, the guests applauded.
Loretta did not.
She watched Brittany kiss her son and wondered whether Austin understood that the apartment was no longer going to him.
After the ceremony, guests moved toward the pond terrace for champagne.
Howard received a message from Naomi.
Transfer complete. Loan application initiated. Funds not released.
Howard showed Loretta.
“Now?”
“Not yet.”
“What are you waiting for?”
“Austin.”
Howard looked at their son.
Austin stood beside Brittany, smiling for photographs.
“He made his choice.”
Loretta walked toward them.
She waited until the photographer lowered his camera.
“Austin, may I speak with you privately?”
Brittany answered for him.
“No.”
“This is between me and my son.”
“Your son is my husband now.”
Austin glanced at the guests gathering nearby.
“Mom, please don’t start something.”
“I am trying to stop something.”
Brittany lifted a champagne glass from a passing tray.
“You heard him.”
Loretta lowered her voice.
“The apartment is not in Austin’s name.”
Austin turned.
“What?”
Brittany’s fingers tightened around the glass.
Loretta continued.
“It was transferred to L.M. Holdings.”
Austin looked at his wife.
“You said the company was temporary.”
“It is.”
“You said I controlled it.”
“You will.”
“When?”
Brittany’s smile remained fixed for the watching guests.
“We are not discussing this now.”
Austin stepped closer.
“Who controls it?”
Brittany whispered something Loretta could not hear.
Austin’s expression changed.
He looked toward Franklin Vale, who stood beneath the pavilion speaking to two bankers.
“Your father?”
Brittany grabbed his hand.
“Smile.”
Austin pulled away.
The photographer lifted his camera again.
Brittany turned toward Loretta.
“You couldn’t let us have one day.”
“You used my signature.”
“You should be grateful.”
“For what?”
“For making your son independent.”
Loretta looked at Austin.
“Independence built on fraud is not independence.”
Brittany laughed loudly enough for nearby guests to hear.
“Here we go again. The poor, suffering mother who cannot release her son.”
The music began near the pond.
Several guests turned toward them.
Loretta tried to step away.
Brittany moved in front of her.
“Where are you going?”
“To find Howard.”
“Of course. You always need him to rescue you.”
“Move.”
Brittany raised her voice.
“Maybe everyone should know how you tried to destroy our wedding.”
Austin looked around nervously.
“Brittany, stop.”
“No. She has spent months acting innocent while controlling everything.”
Loretta remained calm.
“You forged my signature.”
A silence spread through the nearest group of guests.
Brittany’s face changed.
Then she smiled.
“That is a serious accusation.”
“It is a serious crime.”
Franklin began moving toward them.
Brittany stepped closer to Loretta.
“Be careful near the water.”
Loretta heard the warning.
She also saw Brittany’s foot move against the long edge of her dress.
Loretta stepped back to avoid being trapped beneath the fabric.
Her heel caught the stone border.
She lost her balance and fell backward into the shallow pond.
Water rose around her.
Guests gasped.
Austin took one step forward.
Brittany caught his hand.
For a second, mother and son looked at each other.
Loretta waited.
Austin did not move.
Brittany pointed down at her.
“Keep that poor woman away from me!”
Howard took the microphone.
What followed happened exactly as Loretta would remember it for the rest of her life.
Austin defended Brittany.
Howard exposed the apartment.
He canceled the pending wedding payment.
Elena rushed forward with the sealed folder.
Someone had completed the transfer.
Howard demanded to know whose signature Austin had used.
Loretta looked at the copied deed.
The signature resembled hers almost perfectly.
But something was wrong.
The final stroke leaned upward.
Loretta always ended her signature with a downward line.
She had seen this version before.
It was not one of the practice signatures in Brittany’s apartment.
May you like
It was the signature from the L.M. Holdings bank record created twenty-nine years earlier.
The signature of Loretta Marie Vale.
