Chapter 7 - The Maid of Honor’s SecretI stared at Brooke.
“No.”
She looked terrified.
“I can explain.”
“Please do.”
“I didn't know what was in the box.”
“Then why were you there?”
She looked at Paige.
Paige looked back.
“What?”
Brooke whispered:
“Your mother asked me to protect you.”
I shook my head.
“My mother had you open a safe deposit box with her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew something would happen.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
The same year everything started.
Brooke sat down.
“Your mother called me after she discovered the forged documents.”
“Why you?”
“Because she didn't trust anyone in the family.”
I looked at Aunt Denise.
Brooke continued.
“She said I had one job.”
“What job?”
“To make sure Clara married Ethan before Paige found out the entire truth.”
I stared at her.
“That makes no sense.”
“It does if you know what Ethan was doing.”
I looked at him.
“What were you doing?”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“I was investigating Marcus.”
“You were spying on my family.”
“Your mother asked me to.”
“For seven years?”
“Not every year.”
“What did you find?”
Ethan sat across from me.
“Marcus had created several shell companies.”
“One of them was H&K Holdings.”
“Yes.”
“Who was H?”
He hesitated.
“Helen Kane.”
“Marcus's wife?”
“Yes.”
I looked at the records.
“And K?”
“Kane.”
“That doesn't tell me anything.”
“It was deliberate.”
Ethan opened another folder.
“H&K Holdings was set up to buy family properties using money stolen from the company.”
I stared.
“Which properties?”
He handed me a list.
My first house was on it.
My mother's house.
The church property.
The building where I worked.
Everything I had ever believed I had earned independently was connected to money stolen from my family.
My chest tightened.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your mother believed you would confront Paige.”
“I should have.”
“And Marcus would disappear.”
I looked at Paige.
“She knew.”
Paige shook her head.
“I didn't know the entire thing.”
“But you knew enough.”
“Yes.”
I looked down at the white dress.
The dress suddenly felt heavier.
“What exactly did Mom hide inside it?”
Brooke answered.
“A recorder.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“A small digital recorder in a concealed seam.”
Paige's eyes widened.
“You recorded me?”
“Not me.”
Brooke shook her head.
“Your mother arranged it.”
Ethan pulled a device from the folder.
“Voice activation.”
Paige stared at the dress.
“You knew I'd talk.”
I looked at her.
“Yes.”
She laughed.
“So that's the trap.”
“Part of it.”
Ethan pressed play.
At first there was only silence.
Then Paige's voice.
Clear.
Recent.
From this morning.
“I told you I'll do it.”
Another voice replied.
Aunt Denise.
My blood ran cold.
“Make sure Clara blames herself.”
The recording continued.
Paige said, “What about the letter?”
Denise replied, “It won't matter. Once the wedding starts, she'll be too embarrassed to fight.”
I looked at Aunt Denise.
She had gone completely white.
The recording continued.
Paige whispered, “And Marcus?”
“He gets what he wants.”
“What about Clara?”
A pause.
“She loses Ethan.”
My entire body went still.
Ethan looked at me.
The recording continued.
Denise's voice:
“She has to believe Ethan chose you.”
Paige said nothing.
Then Denise added:
“Your mother failed because she loved Clara too much. Don't make the same mistake.”
The recording stopped.
Silence.
Paige looked at me.
“I can explain.”
“Were you planning to take Ethan?”
“No.”
“But you were planning something.”
“I wasn't.”
“Then why is your voice on the recording?”
Paige shook her head.
“I thought Denise was talking about something else.”
“What?”
“I don't know.”
Aunt Denise suddenly stood.
“I am leaving.”
Two security guards entered the chapel.
Brooke had called them.
Denise froze.
“What's this?”
Ethan stood.
“Your mother left instructions with the bank.”
Denise looked at him.
“What instructions?”
“If the recording was played, the bank would release the second folder.”
Her face collapsed.
“You had no right.”
I looked at her.
“My mother apparently disagreed.”
The security guard took a sealed envelope from Ethan.
There was one name on it.
DENISE.
But before anyone could open it, the chapel doors slammed open.
A man walked inside.
Older.
Gray hair.
Dark coat.
My father.
He looked at Paige first.
Then me.
Then the white dress.
His expression changed.
May you like
And he said:
“Eleanor was supposed to burn that dress.”
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