Chapter 3: The Plan Behind the Flowers
Daniel read the message aloud.
“Once Margaret makes a scene, Daniel will finally understand that she can’t live alone.”
Margaret gripped the back of a chair.
“Why would you say that?”
Lauren lifted her chin.
“It was a private conversation.
Sophie had no right to show you.”
Daniel scrolled down.
“After the wedding, he’ll sign the care papers.
Her cottage will cover what we owe.”
“What do we owe?” Daniel asked.
Lauren looked toward her mother.
Victoria’s lips tightened, but she said nothing.
“Lauren,” Daniel repeated, “what do we owe?”
“It isn’t what you think.”
“Then tell me what it is.”
Lauren folded her arms.
“We spent more on this wedding than expected.
Your mother lives alone in a valuable house.
I suggested a practical solution.”
Margaret stared at her.
“You wanted to put me in a care home and sell my house?”
“You fell in your garden last winter.”
“I tripped over a hose.”
“You forgot Daniel’s birthday.”
“I called him the next morning because I had a fever.”
Lauren turned to Daniel.
“Do you hear her?
There is always an excuse.”
Daniel placed Sophie’s phone on the table between them.
“You planned to make my mother look unstable.”
“I planned to protect her.”
“You wrote that she would ‘make a scene.’”
Lauren’s voice sharpened.
“And she did.”
Margaret touched her cheek again.
Sophie stepped closer.
“She told me she would provoke Margaret.”
Lauren swung toward her.
“That is a lie.”
“You told me to keep Daniel near the bar so he wouldn’t see the beginning.”
“I said no such thing.”
Sophie unlocked another message.
“Keep him away until she reacts.
One ugly moment is all I need.”
Daniel’s face went still.
“You stepped under the flowers on purpose.”
Lauren looked around at the watching guests.
“You are all twisting a joke because Daniel wants an excuse to abandon me.”
“A joke?” Margaret asked.
“Was your hand a joke too?”
For the first time, Lauren had no answer.
Victoria pushed between them.
“My daughter is upset.
This performance ends now.”
“No,” Daniel said.
“It ends when I know why Lauren wants my mother’s cottage.”
Lauren snatched the wedding ring from his palm.
“You want honesty?
Your business is struggling.
That house could save us.”
“My business is not struggling.”
“The loan was refused.”
“What loan?”
Lauren’s fingers closed around the ring.
Sophie whispered, “She said you had already agreed.”
Daniel looked at Lauren.
“Agreed to what?”
“Nothing was final.”
“What did you put my name on?”
Victoria seized her daughter’s arm.
“Do not answer another question.”
Margaret opened her handbag.
“Daniel, I brought something for you.”
Lauren’s eyes moved to the bag, and the color drained from her face.
“It was supposed to be a wedding gift,” Margaret said.
She took out a sealed envelope and held it toward her son.
Lauren stepped forward, but Daniel blocked her.
“What is inside?” he asked.
“The deed to the cottage and a letter your father wrote before he passed,” Margaret said.
“I planned to place the house in a protected family trust.
It could never be sold without both our signatures.”
Lauren’s hand flew to her mouth.
Sophie’s phone chimed.
A new message had arrived from Victoria.
Sophie read it once, then looked toward Margaret’s handbag.
May you like
“If she keeps talking,” the message said, “use the bracelet.
It’s already in the old woman’s bag.”
