Chapter 10 - THE BRIDE WHO RAN
The confrontation unfolded exactly as Vanessa had feared and exactly as Adrian had planned.
But neither of them had expected Robert’s hidden note.
If Northstar ever comes for Lakehaven, do not trust the person standing beside our son.
Daniel held the yellowed paper as the guests watched from the glass doors.
Vanessa stood near the service alley.
Celeste had shouted for her to retrieve the envelope.
Adrian had not yet appeared.
Daniel looked from the note to Vanessa.
“Did you know this was inside?”
“No.”
“Why did your mother tell you not to leave without the envelope?”
“She panicked.”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
Margaret picked up the cream envelope and returned the deed to it.
“You ran because I mentioned the deposit.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I ran because you were humiliating me.”
“You placed my chair beside the trash.”
“You came here to accuse me in front of everyone.”
“I was leaving.”
“You held up the deed.”
“Because Daniel asked what was inside.”
Vanessa looked toward the guests.
Whispers moved through the crowd.
Her carefully arranged wedding was collapsing one sentence at a time.
She stepped toward Daniel.
“Come inside. We can discuss this privately.”
Daniel did not move.
“Did you forge my signature?”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
“Not here.”
“Did you?”
Celeste reached them.
“Daniel, stop interrogating my daughter.”
He turned toward her.
“Were you at Lakehaven the night my father died?”
Celeste went pale.
Margaret watched the answer appear in her face before she spoke.
“No.”
“We have his recording.”
Adrian emerged through the glass doors.
His expression remained calm, but his pace quickened.
“Do not say another word,” he told Celeste.
Daniel looked at him.
“You knew?”
Adrian stopped beside Vanessa.
“Knew what?”
“That my father recorded you on the lake.”
For the first time, Adrian lost control of his expression.
It lasted only a second.
But the guests saw it.
So did Claire’s camera.
Adrian adjusted his jacket.
“A damaged recording from fourteen years ago proves nothing.”
“We didn’t say it was damaged,” Margaret replied.
Adrian looked at her.
Margaret continued.
“You just confirmed you know which recording we found.”
Celeste grabbed his arm.
“Fix this.”
Adrian lowered his voice.
“Be quiet.”
Vanessa looked between them.
“You told me the watch was never recovered.”
Everyone became still.
Daniel stared at her.
“How did you know the recording came from a watch?”
Vanessa realized her mistake.
She backed away.
Celeste closed her eyes.
Adrian’s hand moved toward the inside of his jacket.
Nora appeared from the parking area accompanied by two state investigators.
“Keep your hands visible, Mr. Cole,” one investigator ordered.
Adrian stopped.
Nora handed Daniel a folder.
“The forged sale contract was submitted through Adrian’s office,” she said. “The $250,000 deposit came from a Northstar subsidiary controlled by Celeste Crowe.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I never received that money.”
“No,” Nora said. “It was transferred into an escrow account scheduled to release after the wedding.”
Daniel opened the folder.
The release instructions required two events.
First, Daniel had to receive legal title to Lakehaven.
Second, Daniel and Vanessa had to sign a joint marital property declaration.
Vanessa had planned to present the declaration among the wedding documents.
Daniel looked at the woman he had intended to marry.
“You were going to make the house marital property before the reception ended.”
“I was saving your company.”
“You were selling my mother’s home.”
“You were going to lose everything!”
“Then you should have told me.”
“You would have refused.”
“Yes.”
Vanessa’s voice broke.
“Because you always choose her.”
Daniel looked toward Margaret.
His mother stood beside a folding chair near the trash cans, holding the envelope that could have made him wealthy.
He turned back to Vanessa.
“No. I chose to trust you.”
He removed the wedding ring from his pocket.
“This wedding is over.”
A cry moved through the guests.
Vanessa stared at the ring.
Then she looked at the state investigators approaching Celeste and Adrian.
She suddenly grabbed Margaret’s purse.
The strap snapped.
The cream envelope fell.
Vanessa seized it and ran toward the service alley.
Daniel chased her.
She reached a waiting black car, pulled open the rear door, and threw herself inside.
The car accelerated before the door fully closed.
One investigator ran toward his vehicle.
Margaret watched the black car disappear around the building.
Then she noticed Celeste smiling.
“Why are you smiling?” Margaret asked.
Celeste looked at the empty road.
“Because Vanessa did not take the deed.”
Margaret looked down.
May you like
The document lying on the pavement was the unsigned copy.
Vanessa had taken Robert’s hidden note.
