Chapter 8 - THE WEDDING DEAL THAT NEVER SHOULD HAVE EXISTED
“Daniel, come up here.”
Richard stood onstage with one hand resting on the black folder.
His smile looked perfectly natural.
Only those of us who knew him well could see the tension around his mouth.
Daniel didn't move.
The guests began turning toward us.
Caroline stood near the champagne tower, her face pale.
Richard laughed lightly into the microphone.
“Don't be shy, son. We've kept everyone waiting long enough.”
Daniel walked forward.
But he didn't climb the steps.
He stopped directly beneath the stage.
“I'm not signing anything.”
The room became quiet.
Richard's smile faltered.
“Daniel, this is hardly the place for a misunderstanding.”
“There isn't a misunderstanding.”
Daniel turned toward the guests.
“Riverside Works is not being sold tonight. No redevelopment has been approved by me, and no one has my permission to issue relocation notices.”
A murmur spread through the ballroom.
Several investors exchanged uneasy glances.
Richard lowered the microphone.
“You're making an enormous mistake.”
Daniel looked at him.
“No. I'm preventing one.”
I moved closer to Evelyn, who had joined us in a chair near the front.
Her ankle was supported on a cushion.
The dressing on her temple stood out against her silver hair.
Richard noticed her.
For one moment, I thought he'd finally recognize how badly things had gone.
Instead, he raised the microphone again.
“Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, my future son-in-law has been given misleading information by a disgruntled household employee.”
Every eye turned toward me.
My heart dropped.
Richard pointed.
“That young woman was dismissed this evening after valuable jewelry was discovered in her locker.”
A wave of whispers swept the room.
Caroline looked away.
I felt the same cold humiliation I'd felt in the breakfast room.
Except this time, there were more than a hundred people watching.
Richard continued.
“She's now attempting to interfere in a family transaction she doesn't understand.”
I took one step backward.
Then Evelyn caught my hand.
“Don't hide.”
Her voice was gentle.
“Stand where they can see you.”
Daniel turned toward Richard.
“You're accusing Mia of theft while trying to force me into signing an agreement you deliberately concealed.”
Richard's expression hardened.
“The bracelet was found in her possession.”
“No,” Grant said from behind us.
His voice carried surprisingly far.
“The bracelet was found in her locker after the first search had already established it wasn't there.”
The room went silent.
Grant walked forward with the original security log.
Richard stared at him.
“Grant, this is confidential.”
“You changed the time on my report, sir.”
Richard's face flushed.
“Watch yourself.”
Grant didn't retreat.
“I watched Mia carry an injured woman into the breakfast room. I also watched you treat her like a criminal because your daughter said a bracelet was missing.”
He placed the original log on the table beside Daniel.
“I should have spoken up sooner.”
I looked at him.
For six years, Grant had obeyed Richard without question.
Now his hands were shaking.
But he stayed.
Daniel opened the report and showed the two search times to the nearest guests.
Then he held up the consultation photographs.
“There's another problem.”
He explained what we'd discovered at Riverside.
The benefit fund.
The false relocation records.
The money transferred into Glenmere's escrow account.
By the time he finished, the ballroom was completely silent.
Richard gripped the microphone.
“Every transfer was authorized.”
“By whom?” Evelyn asked.
“By the fund administrator and Lydia Bennett.”
Evelyn looked directly at him.
“Was the proposed sale approved by the residents?”
Richard hesitated.
“The appropriate consultation process was followed.”
“Then why are deceased workers listed as contacted?”
He didn't answer.
I stepped forward.
“Why is Ruth Price listed as relocated when she's still living in Cottage Number Six?”
Richard turned toward me.
“You don't understand corporate restructuring.”
“I understand that somebody lied.”
My voice trembled.
But I kept going.
“I understand that my mother worked at Riverside for twenty years because she believed elderly workers deserved to live with dignity. And I understand that you've spent this evening calling me a thief to keep me from asking questions.”
The silence felt enormous.
Then Caroline began moving toward the stage.
For a moment, hope rose in my chest.
She could finally tell the truth.
Instead, she looked at Daniel.
“Please,” she whispered. “Don't destroy my family.”
Daniel's expression softened.
“Caroline, your family is being hurt by the things your father has done.”
She shook her head.
“You don't understand. If this deal collapses, Daddy loses the house. Everything.”
“Then we deal with that honestly.”
Richard slammed his hand against the table.
“Enough!”
Several guests flinched.
He pointed at Daniel.
“Your family benefited from the same arrangements. Your mother approved the fund's administration for years.”
Evelyn looked stricken.
Richard continued.
“And Rose Bennett herself knew this restructuring was necessary. Her own sister can confirm it.”
I turned toward the ballroom entrance.
Aunt Lydia stood there.
She wore her pale green dress.
In her hands was a small tin box.
Her face looked exhausted.
But she walked toward the stage.
“Lydia,” Richard said sharply, “go upstairs.”
She didn't stop.
“Richard, I spent four years doing what you told me.”
“Not now.”
She took the microphone from his hand.
The entire ballroom waited.
Aunt Lydia looked at me.
Then at Evelyn.
Then at the black folder.
“My sister Rose never supported selling the workers' homes without their consent,” she said.
Richard stepped toward her.
“Lydia.”
She raised one trembling hand.
“No. You don't get to silence me again.”
She opened the tin box.
Inside were dozens of old envelopes, folded notes, and a blue attendance card.
“Four years ago, Rose collected objections from the Riverside families,” Lydia continued.
“She gave them to me because she believed I would protect them.”
Tears ran down her face.
“I gave the originals to Richard. He promised another meeting.”
Daniel looked at the envelopes.
“What happened to the meeting?”
Aunt Lydia's voice broke.
“There wasn't one.”
Richard went completely still.
She lifted the blue card.
“Richard asked me to sign a certification saying the consultation process was complete.”
My heart began pounding.
“You signed it?” I whispered.
She looked directly into my eyes.
“Yes, Mia.”
Then she said the words that finally exposed the heart of the deception.
“I signed that certification knowing thirty-eight families had objected.”
May you like
She looked back at Richard.
“And my sister spent the last days of her life trying to make me tell the truth.”
