Chapter 6 - Sixty-Five Candles
By four o’clock, the courtyard was filled with guests.
Elena had invited relatives, longtime employees, foundation board members, neighbors, and several friends who had known Garrick since childhood.
Sabrina had invited socialites, local influencers, and people she believed would be impressed by the mansion.
She moved through the crowd as though she owned it.
Garrick stayed close to the dining table, drinking more quickly than usual.
Clara arrived with Elena’s attorney, Martin Cole. They behaved like ordinary guests while investigators waited inside a service building beyond the garden wall.
Elena greeted everyone warmly.
She laughed at old stories. She remembered names, dates, and details with perfect clarity. She gave a short speech thanking her staff and announcing a new scholarship fund in Richard’s memory.
Every moment contradicted the portrait Garrick and Sabrina had tried to create.
Sabrina noticed.
Her compliments became sharper.
“You seem unusually energetic today,” she said.
“I slept well.”
“Are you sure you should be drinking champagne with your medication?”
“I am not taking medication that conflicts with champagne.”
Sabrina smiled toward the nearest guests.
“She gets defensive when anyone worries about her.”
Elena turned to the woman standing beside them.
“Margaret, what did I serve at your retirement dinner seven years ago?”
Margaret blinked.
“Roasted sea bass.”
“With lemon risotto,” Elena added. “You disliked the asparagus.”
The surrounding guests laughed.
Sabrina did not.
At five, Garrick brought out the cream folder.
He placed it near Elena’s glass.
“Just sign the first page,” he murmured.
“No.”
“Not here.”
“You brought it here.”
His voice dropped.
“You are embarrassing me.”
Elena met his eyes.
“You should examine why you are embarrassed.”
Sabrina appeared carrying the cake knife.
“What’s happening?”
“Your husband wants my signature.”
“Our family should not discuss business during a celebration.”
“Then remove the document.”
Sabrina looked at Garrick.
A silent exchange passed between them.
She picked up the folder.
For several minutes, nothing happened.
Then Sabrina began moving the birthday cake.
Two staff members offered to help, but she refused.
“I know where it should go.”
She carried it closer to Elena, pretending the table blocked the guests’ view.
The cake tilted.
Sabrina corrected it.
Then she looked directly at Elena and pushed.
The cake crashed onto the patio.
Gasps rose around the courtyard.
Sabrina stared at the destroyed cake and smiled.
“Oops. That was an accident.”
Elena felt something inside her become perfectly still.
This was the scene they had planned.
Sabrina expected anger.
Garrick expected shouting.
The consultant needed evidence that Elena behaved irrationally.
Elena gave them something else.
She walked to the cream handbag beside the fire pit.
As she lifted it, Sabrina’s smile vanished.
“What are you doing?”
Elena held it above the stone rim.
Garrick stepped forward.
“Mom, put that down.”
Elena released the handle.
The bag fell into the fire pit.
She never saw it touch the coals.
Victor had arranged a heat-resistant collection tray inside the pit, hidden below the rim. The small curl of smoke came from treated paper placed safely beneath the outer coals. The phone and bag would be recovered as evidence.
Only Elena, Clara, Victor, and the investigators knew that.
To everyone else, Elena appeared to have destroyed Sabrina’s prized possession.
“Oops,” Elena said.
Sabrina stopped at the edge of the safe perimeter.
“That cost three thousand dollars!”
Garrick pointed at Elena.
“You’re paying for every cent.”
Then Elena’s phone vibrated.
The first alert confirmed the handbag purchase.
The second showed the transfer request.
Four hundred and eighty thousand dollars.
The request had come from the secondary phone inside Sabrina’s bag.
Sabrina had attempted to approve the transfer moments before pushing the cake.
Elena raised her phone.
“Then explain why my account paid for it.”
The courtyard fell silent.
“And explain the transfer.”
Garrick turned toward Sabrina.
“You said it wouldn’t happen until tonight.”
The words escaped before he could stop them.
May you like
Clara closed her eyes briefly.
It was the confession no one had expected him to give so easily.
