Chapter 5: The Video That Made Her Smile
Nick showed the messages to Mr.
Ellis and the officiant.
Robert shut the restaurant doors while several guests checked the corridor.
“What video?” I asked.
Nick shook his head.
“I don’t know.”
Vanessa looked toward the dance floor.
“Martha had her phone pointed at you after she c*t your hair.”
My phone began buzzing.
Then Nick’s did the same.
Vanessa checked hers.
“She posted something.”
The video started with me shouting, “What did you do?!” It jumped forward to the moment I stepped toward Martha, then ended with Martha stumbling against a table.
Her caption read: MY SON’S BRIDE ATTACKED ME AT HER OWN WEDDING.
“That isn’t what happened,” I said.
“It doesn’t have to be true,” Nick replied.
“It only has to spread.”
Comments were already appearing beneath the post.
Some called me unstable.
Others asked what I had done before the recording began.
Martha called Nick.
He put the phone on speaker.
“Take the post down.”
“Come outside alone.”
“Return the license.”
“First, tell your bride to sign a statement admitting she frightened me.”
I leaned toward the phone.
“You c*t my hair.”
“You charged at me.”
“Because you were holding part of me in your hand!”
Martha’s voice became sweet.
“People will see what they see.”
Vanessa took the phone.
“My mother won’t protect you.”
“She will when I tell her how you embarrassed our family.”
“I told her everything this afternoon.”
Martha went quiet.
Vanessa continued, “She never offered Nick a vice president’s job.
You invented that too.”
“You ungrateful little fool.”
“No, Martha.
I was foolish when I kept answering your calls.”
A hard knock sounded at the side entrance.
Mr.
Ellis checked the security monitor.
“It’s Martha,” he said.
“And she has someone with her.”
Robert looked at the screen.
“That’s Leonard Price.”
Nick frowned.
“The lawyer who manages Grandmother’s trust?”
Mr.
Ellis opened the door but kept the chain in place.
Martha raised a folder.
“Let me in, or Leonard will file an emergency order freezing Nick’s trust account.”
“There is no trust account in my name,” Nick said.
Leonard looked uncomfortable.
“There is now.”
Martha smiled through the narrow opening.
“Your grandmother’s estate was settled last week,” she said.
“Nick receives four hundred thousand dollars—unless his marriage damages the family’s standing.”
“You can’t control Grandmother’s will,” Nick said.
“No, but Leonard can challenge your eligibility.
And this video gives us exactly what we need.”
Leonard avoided Nick’s eyes.
I moved beside my husband.
“So this was never about tradition.”
Martha’s smile sharpened.
“It was about stopping a very expensive mistake.”
Mr.
Ellis checked the security system.
“The camera above the dance floor should show the full incident.”
He entered the code, then stared at the screen.
“What is it?” Vanessa asked.
“The footage from that camera is gone.”
May you like
Martha lifted the folder to the glass.
“Sign the annulment papers tonight,” she said, “and perhaps I’ll give you back what she cost you.”
