Chapter 5 - The Mother Who Bought Her Daughter a Marriage)
Pamela was crying when Gwen returned to the drawing room.
Maren stood beside the fireplace.
“What did you tell him?” Maren demanded.
Gwen ignored her.
Pamela looked at Dylan.
“What inheritance?”
Dylan said, “Not now.”
Pamela stared at him.
“What inheritance?”
Maren closed her eyes.
“Pamela.”
“No. I am done being the stupid person in this room.”
She looked at Gwen.
“Tell me.”
Gwen studied her daughter-in-law.
Five years earlier, she would have assumed Pamela already knew everything.
Now she wasn’t sure.
“There was a draft family trust.”
Pamela frowned.
“How much?”
Dylan answered too quickly.
“Eighty million.”
Pamela sat down.
Maren looked furious.
Gwen saw it.
“You didn’t know,” Gwen said.
Pamela shook her head.
Then looked at her mother.
“You knew.”
Maren replied, “I knew there were future arrangements.”
“You knew the amount.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Pamela stood.
“You knew.”
Maren’s jaw tightened.
Pamela’s voice rose.
“You knew there was eighty million dollars and you never told me?”
“That was not information you needed.”
“I’m his wife.”
“Exactly.”
The room went quiet.
Pamela stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Maren’s expression changed.
She had said too much.
Pamela stepped closer.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“You said exactly.”
“Pamela, control yourself.”
Pamela laughed.
It sounded almost hysterical.
“Control myself?”
She pointed at Dylan.
“My husband borrowed money against a house he doesn’t own.”
Then toward Gwen.
“My mother-in-law apparently has an eighty-million-dollar inheritance plan nobody told us about.”
Then at Maren.
“And you paid one of her employees half a million dollars.”
Maren’s eyes widened.
Howard said, “Interesting reaction.”
Pamela looked between them.
“You paid Victor?”
Maren snapped, “Who told you that?”
Gwen almost admired the mistake.
Howard folded his arms.
“You just did.”
Maren’s face hardened.
Pamela moved backward.
“Oh my God.”
“Pamela.”
“You paid him.”
“It was consulting.”
“He worked for Gwen.”
“He was leaving.”
“You bought information.”
“Do not use words you don’t understand.”
Pamela’s face changed.
Gwen had seen Maren humiliate people before.
But never her own daughter so openly.
Pamela whispered, “What was I?”
Maren frowned.
“What?”
“In all this.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Was my marriage part of it?”
Dylan looked at Pamela.
“Pam.”
She ignored him.
She stared at her mother.
“You pushed me toward Dylan.”
Maren’s mouth tightened.
“You liked him.”
“You kept inviting him.”
“He came willingly.”
“You told me he would inherit everything.”
Dylan went still.
Gwen’s eyes narrowed.
“When?”
Pamela looked at Gwen.
“Our second date.”
Maren said, “Pamela, stop.”
Pamela shook her head.
“You said Gwen had no other children and Dylan would eventually control the company.”
Dylan stared at Maren.
She dismissed him with a glance.
Pamela continued.
“You told me marrying him would put our family beside one of the largest private fortunes in Nebraska.”
Silence swallowed the room.
Gwen felt physically cold.
Five years.
Every insult.
Every exclusion.
Every attempt to push Gwen away from Dylan.
Had Maren always been positioning herself between them?
Dylan whispered, “Did you marry me for money?”
Pamela looked at him.
Her expression broke.
“No.”
“You just said your mother told you.”
“She told me things.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Pamela.”
“No.”
Dylan’s eyes filled.
“You loved the house before you loved me.”
Pamela slapped him.
The sound echoed.
Everyone froze.
Pamela stared at her own hand.
Then at Dylan.
“You do not get to accuse me after what you did.”
Dylan touched his cheek.
“I lied about money. You lied about us.”
“I didn’t.”
Maren moved between them.
“This is exactly what Gwen wants.”
Gwen looked at her.
Maren pointed.
“She wants you fighting each other while she plays queen.”
Gwen said quietly, “I didn’t need to make your family collapse.”
Maren glared.
“You were doing fine without me.”
Howard almost smiled.
Pamela sank onto the sofa.
Dylan moved toward her.
She raised a hand.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
Gwen watched them.
There was guilt on both faces.
But there was something else.
Pamela looked betrayed by Maren.
Dylan looked betrayed by everyone.
And Maren?
Maren looked cornered.
That was different.
Gwen understood people like Maren.
They were most dangerous when cornered.
Howard’s phone buzzed.
He checked it.
Then looked at Gwen.
“What?”
“The lender.”
Dylan’s head snapped around.
Howard continued.
“They responded to our emergency notice.”
Gwen waited.
“They have another document.”
“What document?”
“A guarantee.”
Dylan whispered, “There wasn’t another guarantee.”
Howard looked at him.
“Apparently there was.”
Maren turned toward the door.
Gwen saw it again.
Fear.
“Who signed it?” Gwen asked.
Howard read the message.
Then raised his eyes.
“You did.”
Gwen stared at him.
“What?”
“They have a guarantee carrying your signature.”
Dylan slowly stood.
Gwen’s pulse changed.
“I never signed anything.”
Howard nodded.
“I know.”
Maren began walking toward the door.
One of the officers blocked her.
Gwen looked directly at her.
And for the first time that day, Maren did not insult her.
She did not threaten her.
She did not laugh.
She simply whispered, “This has gone too far.”
Gwen stepped closer.
“No, Maren.”
May you like
Her voice was almost calm.
“I think we’re finally finding out how far you already went.”
