MY WEDDING IS OVER BEFORE IT EVEN BEGINS!

For several seconds, I couldn't make sense of Derek's words.

Until after the wedding.

Not if there was a wedding.

Not unless the wedding happened.

He had spoken as if the entire day were part of a plan with a specific sequence of steps.

I grabbed his sleeve.

“What was supposed to happen after the wedding?””

He pulled away.

“I didn't mean anything by it.””

“You just admitted Vanessa was involved in something.””

“I admitted nothing.””

Daniel took out his phone.

“I'm contacting the appropriate authorities regarding the suspected fraudulent filing. Mr. Whitmore, I suggest you stop discussing the matter until you've obtained legal advice.””

Derek laughed without humor.

“You lawyers love making ordinary disagreements sound like criminal conspiracies.””

“Then an investigation should clear everything up.””

For the first time, Derek had no clever response.

A hotel security manager arrived with two guards. Behind them stood Evelyn Whitmore, her diamond necklace glittering beneath the hallway lights.

She took one look at Derek's flushed face and Vanessa's ink-stained dress visible at the far end of the corridor.

“What on earth is going on?”” she demanded.

“Your son has some explaining to do,” I said.

Evelyn's eyes narrowed.

“Camille, this has gone far enough. You've humiliated Derek in front of his guests, canceled a wedding that has cost our families a fortune, and now you're making accusations about our family.””

“Your son forced my father to kneel on the floor.””

“He was joking.””

“Your son threatened to take our house.””

“He lent Robert money.””

“And your family was connected to the missing funds from my mother's foundation.””

For the first time, Evelyn's expression faltered.

It was tiny. Almost invisible.

But I saw it.

“You don't know what you're talking about,” she said.

“Then explain why a company registered to Vanessa Reed tried to transfer my house.””

Evelyn turned toward Derek.

He looked away.

That was all the confirmation I needed.

“What did you do?”” she whispered.

Derek's face reddened.

“Mother, not here.””

“Did you use that girl to file the documents?””

“Lower your voice!””

Evelyn recoiled.

I had seen her criticize waiters for bringing the wrong wine and dismiss people she considered beneath her. But I'd never seen her look genuinely frightened of her own son.

She turned to me.

“Camille, please. Whatever has happened, we can resolve it privately.””

“Why privately?””

“Because these matters are complicated.””

“Then let's make them simple. Tell me what happened to my mother's foundation.””

Evelyn glanced at Daniel, then at the security guards.

“I can't discuss confidential family affairs with strangers present.””

“My mother wasn't your family when she died, was she?””

Evelyn's mouth tightened.

“You have no right to speak to me like that.””

“And you have no right to decide what happens to my father's home.””

I took Dad's hand and led him toward a small conference room at the end of the corridor. Daniel followed us, but Evelyn stayed behind with Derek.

Through the open doorway, I heard her whisper, “You promised me this would be handled quietly.””

Derek replied, “It would have been if Camille hadn't gone insane.””

Then the door closed.

Inside the conference room, Dad sat heavily in a chair. He looked exhausted, and the uneven patches on his scalp made him seem older than I remembered.

I sat opposite him.

“Dad, I need you to tell me everything.””

He stared at his hands.

“When your mother discovered the missing money, she confronted Richard Whitmore. Derek's father had been serving on the foundation's financial board for almost ten years.””

“Richard Whitmore stole the money?””

“We suspected he was involved. Your mother found transfers to companies that didn't provide any services. The amounts were small at first, then larger. By the time we realized what was happening, hundreds of thousands of dollars were missing.””

Daniel opened his notebook.

“Did you report it?””

“Your mother wanted to. But before she could, Richard threatened to accuse her of mismanaging the foundation. He had access to the financial records, and he knew how to make the transactions look as though she had approved them.””

I felt sick.

“My mother was being blamed for the theft?””

Dad nodded.

“She refused to back down. She gathered copies of the bank statements and gave some of them to me. Then she told me she'd hidden the originals somewhere neither Richard nor anyone working with him could find them.””

“Where?””

“I don't know.””

I stared at him.

“You said she trusted you.””

“She did. But she never told me where she'd hidden everything. She said it was safer if only one person knew.””

Daniel leaned forward.

“What happened the night of the accident?””

Dad closed his eyes.

“Your mother had an appointment with a journalist. She was going to give him the records. I begged her to wait until we'd spoken to a lawyer, but she said waiting was exactly what Richard wanted.””

His voice cracked.

“She left our house at eight that evening. An hour later, the police came to tell me she'd been in a collision on a rural road.””

I reached across the table and took his hand.

“Did the police investigate?””

“They said the road was wet and the other driver had left the scene. They never found him.””

“And you think the Whitmores were responsible?””

“I don't know what to think anymore.””

Daniel wrote something in his notebook.

“Did you keep any records after your wife's death?””

Dad nodded slowly.

“Some bank statements. Letters. A few receipts. I kept them in a box in the attic, but when Derek began helping me with the workshop loan, he offered to organize my financial documents.””

I went still.

“You let him into the attic?””

“Only once. He said he needed the property valuation and the old tax records.””

“When?””

“About six months ago.””

I looked at Daniel.

“If Derek was searching for my mother's records, he could have found the box.””

“Possibly,” Daniel replied.

“We'll need to determine what was inside and whether anything is missing.””

A sudden knock interrupted us.

One of the hotel guards opened the door.

“Ms. Brooks, there's a woman asking to see you. She says she has information about the Whitmore family.””

“Who?””

The guard hesitated.

“Vanessa Reed.””

I stood immediately.

“Let her in.””

Vanessa entered without her robe. Someone had given her a plain black jacket to cover the ink-stained dress, and her makeup had streaked beneath her eyes.

She looked at me, then at my father.

“I know you hate me,” she said.

“You're right.””

She flinched.

“I deserve that.””

“Why did you use your company to file documents against my house?””

Vanessa sat down and clasped her hands.

“Derek told me the house belonged to your father. He said Robert had agreed to sell it to settle the loan, and that you were going to inherit the money after the wedding.””

Dad shook his head.

“I never agreed to sell anything.””

“I know that now.””

“Why did you believe him?””

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Because he showed me documents with your father's signature. And because he promised me something.””

“What?””

Vanessa looked at Derek's mother through the glass panel in the hallway, then lowered her voice.

“He promised me that after the wedding, he would leave you.””

I stared at her.

“What?””

“He said the engagement was a business arrangement. He told me he needed to marry you to gain control of the foundation's remaining assets and resolve some financial problems his father had left behind. Once everything was transferred, he said he would divorce you and marry me.””

For a moment, I couldn't speak.

Three years of dates, promises, anniversaries, and whispered declarations of love.

All of it reduced to a transaction.

“And you agreed to help him steal my house because you thought he'd marry you?””

Vanessa began to cry.

“I thought he loved me.””

“You laughed while he humiliated my father.””

“I know.””

“You shaved his head.””

“I know!””

Her voice rose, then broke.

“I thought if I did what Derek wanted, he'd finally choose me. He always said you were too serious, too independent, too focused on your father. He said he needed someone who understood him.””

I stared at her with a mixture of anger and pity.

“You weren't his best friend. You were his accomplice.””

She lowered her head.

“I know.””

Then she reached into her jacket and pulled out her phone.

“There's something else. Derek sent me a message this morning. He said that if the wedding went ahead, I should destroy every copy of the property documents after he signed the final papers.””

Daniel held out his hand.

“May I see it?””

Vanessa passed him the phone.

He read the message twice.

Then he looked at me.

“This may be important evidence.””

Vanessa wiped her cheeks.

“There's a file in my company's cloud account. Derek sent it to me last week. It contains the original documents he wanted me to submit.””

“Why didn't you tell anyone sooner?”” I asked.

“Because I was afraid he'd ruin me.””

I looked toward the hallway.

“Where is Derek now?””