Chapter 10 - THE CANCELED WEDDING
I called Detective Reynolds immediately.
She ordered me not to contact Vanessa or Victoria.
I ignored that instruction.
Vanessa answered on the first ring.
“Where is Daniel?”
“He came willingly.”
“Let me speak to him.”
“You will see him at the wedding.”
“There is no wedding.”
“There will be.”
Her voice sounded different.
The practiced softness was gone.
“Victoria needs Daniel to sign one document.”
“After that, you can have your brother back.”
“What document?”
“The removal of a trustee.”
I looked at Jonathan’s letter spread across the desk.
“If Daniel removes me, Victoria still does not control the trust.”
“She does after you are charged with stealing twenty-seven million dollars.”
“The account proves Jonathan was protecting the money.”
“Only if the original evidence survives.”
My eyes moved toward the wooden box.
Vanessa laughed quietly.
“Did you really think Rosa found it by accident?”
The room seemed to tilt.
Rosa had worked for us for twelve years.
She had warned me about Vanessa.
She had helped expose the forgery.
“Rosa does not work for you.”
“Everyone works for someone.”
The line went dead.
I searched the house for Rosa.
Her room was empty.
Her clothes were gone.
The wooden box was still in the study, but Jonathan’s original letter had disappeared.
Only the scanned copy remained.
Without the original, Charles’s attorneys could challenge its authenticity.
Daniel’s phone signal appeared near the cathedral for twelve seconds.
Then it vanished.
Detective Reynolds assembled a tactical team.
The cathedral was searched.
It was empty.
On the altar stood a photograph of our father.
A black ribbon had been tied around the frame.
Beneath it was another note.
THE CEREMONY BEGINS WHERE THE FAMILY BEGAN.
Daniel and I had grown up at the original Bennett estate near Lake Briar.
Our father sold the property after our mother died.
The main house had been demolished.
But the stone chapel remained.
Victoria had once wanted to hold her wedding there.
Our father refused because the building was unsafe.
She never forgave him.
Detective Reynolds ordered officers to surround the property.
We drove through heavy rain.
The old chapel appeared beyond the trees, its broken bell tower leaning against the dark sky.
A row of black cars stood outside.
The front doors were open.
Inside, candles had been placed along the aisle.
Daniel stood at the altar wearing the suit he had purchased for his wedding.
Vanessa stood beside him in her wedding gown.
Victoria waited behind them.
She was holding a pistol against Daniel’s back.
May you like
“Welcome, Clara,” she said.
“You are just in time to give away the groom.”
