Chapter 4: What They Found in Margaret’s Bag
Margaret slowly set her handbag on the table.
“What bracelet?”
Victoria reached for Sophie’s phone.
“That message did not come from me.”
Sophie turned the screen toward the guests.
“It came from your number.”
“Anyone can imitate a number.”
Lauren pointed at Margaret’s bag.
“If there is nothing to hide, let us look.”
Daniel stepped in front of his mother.
“You don’t get to search her.”
Margaret touched his sleeve.
“Let them.”
“Mom, you don’t have to prove anything.”
“I will not leave this room with people wondering.”
Margaret opened the bag herself.
She removed a handkerchief, her glasses case and a small purse.
A diamond bracelet fell onto the white tablecloth.
Lauren gasped.
“That belonged to my grandmother.”
Margaret’s hands stopped moving.
“I have never seen it before.”
Victoria picked up the bracelet.
“It was in my dressing room an hour ago.”
“You put it there,” Sophie said.
“Be careful,” Victoria replied.
“An accusation without proof can ruin a young woman’s life.”
Daniel faced Lauren.
“You planted it.”
Lauren pressed a hand against her chest.
“First you cancel our wedding.
Now you accuse me of st*aling from my own family?”
“It was found in my mother’s bag.”
“Exactly.”
Margaret backed away from the table.
Lauren followed her.
“Perhaps I was right.
Perhaps you take things and forget.”
“Stop,” Daniel warned.
“Ask her where she was before the ceremony.”
“I was in the garden room arranging the roses,” Margaret said.
“Alone?”
Margaret looked toward the silent guests.
“For part of the time.”
Lauren gave a small, cold smile.
“Then there is no witness.”
A chair scraped behind them.
Richard, Lauren’s father, stood up.
“There is now.”
Victoria glared at him.
“Sit down, Richard.”
“No.”
He walked to Margaret and placed himself beside her.
“I saw Victoria near the coatroom twenty minutes before the reception.
She had that handbag in her hands.”
Victoria’s face hardened.
“I was moving it somewhere safe.”
“You told me it belonged to your sister.”
“I was confused.”
“You were not confused when you told me to keep Daniel’s family away from the bridal suite.”
Lauren pointed toward the doors.
“Dad, you’ve been drinking.”
Richard lifted his untouched glass of sparkling water.
“Thirty-two years sober.
You know that.”
Margaret’s knees weakened.
Richard pulled out a chair for her.
“Please sit,” he said.
“No one will touch your belongings again.”
Margaret covered her face.
Lauren leaned close.
“Crying will not make you innocent.”
Daniel moved between them.
“Say one more word to her.”
“Or what?
You’ll humiliate me again?”
“I’ll ask the venue manager to remove you.”
The manager, Elena, was already approaching.
“Our cameras cover the coatroom entrance,” she said.
“No one leaves until I check them.”
Victoria’s smile returned.
“Excellent.
Then we can settle this.”
Ten minutes later, Elena came back carrying a tablet.
“The camera does not show inside the coatroom,” she said.
“It only shows the hallway.”
Lauren released a breath and squeezed her mother’s hand.
“But it does show Mrs.
Hale entering with Margaret’s bag,” Elena added.
Victoria jerked her hand away from Lauren.
“I told you.
I moved it for safekeeping.”
“Then why did you leave without it?” Richard asked.
Victoria opened her mouth, but Daniel’s phone vibrated.
He looked at the screen.
“Mom, did you authorize a transfer against your cottage?”
Margaret shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel turned the phone toward her.
May you like
A bank notice filled the screen.
A loan for $180,000 had been approved in Margaret’s name, and the funds were scheduled to be released Monday morning.
