Chapter 4: The Promise I Never Made
Victor held the document where the guests could see it.
It stated that the entire $65,000 was an unconditional gift to Alexis and Caleb, including every refund and unused balance.
“Where did you get this?” I asked.
“Alexis gave it to me three weeks ago.”
Alexis moved beside him.
“You signed it at Sunday dinner.
You probably forgot.”
“I remember dinner.
I signed your birthday card.”
Her smile flickered.
Victor tapped the bottom of the page.
“Call your bank, restore the payments, and we can avoid an ugly legal dispute.”
Naomi examined the signature.
“Susan’s vendor agreement says something different.
Every payment remains under her control until each service is completed.”
“That agreement is irrelevant,” Victor said.
“This letter came later.”
“Then why wasn’t it sent to me until today?”
“Because we trusted Susan to honor her word.”
One of Alexis’s bridesmaids raised her phone.
Alexis turned toward the gathering guests and pressed a hand to her chest.
“I am standing here on my wedding day while my future mother-in-law punishes me over one emotional misunderstanding.”
A murmur moved through the crowd.
Caleb approached me.
“Mom, maybe we should restart everything and argue about the money tomorrow.”
“You want me to pay people using a document I did not sign?”
“I want you to stop using money to control my life.”
The words landed harder than Alexis’s humiliation.
My hand slipped from the edge of the window, and my wedding ring struck the door frame.
“Is that what you think I’ve been doing?”
“You offered to pay, but every decision had to go through you.”
“Because the invoices came to my account.”
“You always have an answer,” he said.
“You always make me feel twelve years old.”
My throat closed.
I reached for the window switch, but an older woman in a lavender dress stepped forward and caught the door before it shut.
“I’m Marianne,” she said.
“Alexis’s aunt.
Please don’t leave yet.”
Victor glared at her.
“This is family business.”
“She is about to become family, isn’t she?”
Marianne opened the car door and offered me her arm.
“Come and sit in the shade.
You shouldn’t have to hear your son say that while strangers film you.”
I stepped out, and she guided me toward a bench.
Alexis followed us.
“Aunt Marianne, stay out of this.”
“I stayed out of it when you used your grandmother’s credit card and called it a misunderstanding.
I won’t do that again.”
“That was ten years ago.”
“And you still haven’t repaid her.”
Victor seized Marianne’s elbow.
“Enough.”
She pulled free.
“Don’t touch me.
Susan deserves to know whom she is dealing with.”
Alexis pointed toward the driveway.
“Security should remove both of them.”
Naomi raised her tablet.
“Before anyone is removed, I need to preserve the documents and the venue recording.”
Victor’s face tightened.
“What recording?”
“The coordination tent has a security camera because vendor payments are processed there.”
Alexis folded her arms.
“A camera won’t prove anything.”
“The camera includes sound,” Naomi said.
“It recorded someone entering my tent at 7:06 this morning.”
May you like
She pressed the screen, and Alexis’s voice came through the tablet.
“Once Caleb gives me the password, his mother won’t even know the money moved.”
