Chapter 4: The Woman Who Finally Spoke
Daniel stared at his father-in-law.
“What did you do with my mother’s land?”
Richard gave a thin smile.
“I helped her sell an unwanted parcel at a fair market price.”
“You said the buyer was an independent developer,” I replied.
“He was.”
Elaine opened her handbag.
“Then why did Bellweather Holdings send its correspondence to your office?”
Richard knocked the envelope from her hand.
It slid beneath a table.
“Elaine has been taking medication,” he said.
“She gets confused.”
Elaine’s face tightened.
“I stopped taking those tablets six months ago.”
Tiffany stepped forward.
“Mother, you’re embarrassing yourself.”
“No,” Elaine said.
“I embarrassed myself every time I protected you.”
A guest picked up the envelope and handed it to me.
The return address matched Richard’s real-estate office.
“What is Bellweather Holdings?” Daniel asked.
Richard folded his arms.
“A client.”
“Who owns it?”
“That information is confidential.”
“Not anymore,” I said.
Tiffany pointed at my phone.
“She’s recording us!”
“I wasn’t,” I replied.
“But perhaps I should.”
“You’ve always wanted to turn Daniel against me.”
“I paid for your wedding.”
“You used money to control us!”
A chair scraped behind her.
My sister Helen stood and held up her phone.
“I recorded the argument before Tiffany sl@pped Margaret,” she said.
“Margaret never threatened anyone.
Tiffany demanded more money and then ordered her to leave.”
Tiffany rushed toward her.
“Delete that!”
Helen stepped behind a security officer.
“I already sent it to myself and to Margaret.”
Richard turned to the remaining guests.
“This is a private family disagreement.
Everyone should leave.”
“No,” Daniel said.
“I want the truth.”
Tiffany caught his sleeve.
“Your mother destroyed our wedding.
Are you really taking her side?”
“I’m asking why you used her signature.”
“She said she would pay!”
“She said no in front of everyone.”
“That was after she promised me everything!”
I unfolded the envelope.
Inside was a property tax notice addressed to Bellweather Holdings.
Beneath the company name was Richard’s office suite.
“You valued my parcel at $82,000,” I said.
“That was the appraised value.”
Elaine shook her head.
“Another developer offered $146,000.”
Richard’s smile disappeared.
“How do you know that?” he asked.
“You left the offer on the printer.”
“You misunderstood it.”
“I asked you about it.
You told me Margaret didn’t deserve more because she was wasting the money on Tiffany.”
Tiffany’s mouth opened, but no words came.
Daniel turned toward her.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
Elaine looked directly at her daughter.
“You celebrated when your father said the lower price would leave room for Bellweather to resell it.”
“That’s a lie!”
“Then let Margaret hear the message you sent me.”
Elaine placed her phone on the table.
Tiffany lunged for it, but the manager caught her arm.
“Do not touch her property,” he warned.
Elaine opened a message dated six weeks earlier.
Tiffany’s voice filled the ballroom.
“Dad says the old field will make us more money than Margaret realizes.
Once the wedding is over, she won’t have enough left to fight us.”
No one moved.
May you like
Richard looked at the phone, then at me.
“You have no idea what you’ve just started,” he said.
