Chapter 6: The Woman Behind the Curtain
The next morning, I met Naomi and Daniel in an attorney’s office.
Daniel sat across from me, not beside me.
Attorney Grace Mercer projected the message onto a screen.
“This came from Claire’s account,” Grace said.
“Vivian’s attorney will argue that Claire sent it herself.”
“I didn’t,” I replied.
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“Her mother knew her password.”
“I gave it to her when she ordered the invitations,” I said.
“That does not make me innocent of what happened at the door.”
Naomi studied me.
“What does it make you?”
“A woman whose prejudice was easy for someone else to aim.”
Daniel finally looked at me.
Grace placed two bank records on the table.
“Silver Oak transferred the forty-two thousand dollars again.
It went into an account controlled by Martin Cole and Vivian Hart.”
“So Mother owns part of the company,” I said.
“Half of it,” Grace answered.
“She did not lose your money in someone else’s scheme.
She helped create the scheme.”
The office door opened.
Mother entered with a gray-haired attorney.
“This meeting ends now,” he said.
“My client has a signed gift agreement.”
Grace slid Daniel’s photograph across the table.
“Your client destroyed the original after learning it had been photographed.”
Mother sat opposite me.
“Because it was being twisted.”
“You forged my name,” I said.
“You signed papers without reading them.”
“You also forged Daniel’s.”
Mother’s attorney placed an expert’s preliminary report on the table.
“The signature is consistent with Mr.
Reed’s known writing.”
Daniel read it twice.
“That’s impossible.”
Mother leaned toward me.
“Withdraw your accusation today.
In return, I will repay fifteen thousand dollars and instruct my attorney not to release the wedding video.”
“You want Naomi and us to lose almost sixty thousand dollars.”
“I want to spare you public ruin.”
Naomi folded her hands.
“Vivian, you created the debt, the false message, and the guest-list change.
Why were you so determined to keep me outside?”
Mother smiled.
“Because you ask tedious questions.”
Grace’s assistant entered and whispered in her ear.
Grace’s expression tightened.
“The original electronic vendor forms have been deleted from the wedding planner’s account,” she said.
“The seating chart history is gone too.”
Mother’s attorney closed his folder.
“Then you have a photograph of a lawful document and an accusation from a bride desperate to redirect attention.”
For one terrible minute, Mother appeared to have won.
Daniel pushed his chair back.
“Claire’s actions do not erase Vivian’s.”
“But they make your story look convenient,” Mother replied.
“Tell the police your racist wife was framed by her mother.
See who believes you.”
The door opened again, and our wedding planner, Marisol, stepped inside.
“I believe her account was accessed,” Marisol said.
“Vivian demanded my password last month.”
Mother laughed.
“You gave it to me voluntarily.”
“Yes.
Then you deleted Naomi Bennett from the seating chart.”
“Can you prove that?”
Marisol’s shoulders fell.
“The history was erased.”
Mother rose.
“Then we are finished.”
“Not quite,” Grace said.
“The videographer backed up the ceremony files before you requested their deletion.”
Mother stopped at the door.
Grace opened an email.
“There is no clear image of the documents, but the reception microphones remained active while Claire was outside.”
Mother’s attorney gripped her arm.
“Do not say another word.”
I stood and faced her.
“What did those microphones record?”
Mother stared at me, then at Naomi.
Marisol’s phone rang.
She answered and put it on speaker.
A man’s voice filled the room.
“This is Elliot, the videographer.
I found a separate audio track from the bridal room.”
Grace leaned forward.
“What is on it?”
“Vivian speaking to a man before the ceremony,” Elliot said.
“She calls him Martin.”
Mother reached for Marisol’s phone, but Daniel blocked her.
Elliot continued, “Martin asks what happens if Naomi comes inside and recognizes him.”
The room became still.
“What does Vivian say?” I asked.
A pause followed.
May you like
“She says, ‘Don’t worry.
Claire will throw her out before Naomi gets close enough to see your face.’”
