Chapter 10 - The Price of a Marriage.
Mason followed Emma into the library.
She turned on him before he could close the door.
"Do not tell me you were protecting me."
"I wasn't going to."
"Good."
"I was going to tell you I was afraid."
Emma stared at him.
"Of what?"
"Of exactly this."
He pointed toward the chapel.
"You looking at me like every day we had together was part of a land deal."
"You gave me a reason to."
"I know."
"You knew about the forty-nine percent for six months."
"Yes."
"You knew Grant wanted the property."
"Yes."
"You knew my inheritance notice was coming before I did."
"Yes."
Emma's voice became dangerously calm.
"And during those six months, you watched me cry over losing my job, watched me sell my grandmother's jewelry to cover rent, and watched me worry that our marriage was failing because money was destroying us."
Mason looked away.
"Yes."
"You could have told me we might inherit millions."
"Contingent land value is not cash."
"That is not the point."
"I know."
Emma hated how easily he admitted being wrong now that the truth had been dragged into daylight.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Mason sat on the edge of the desk.
For once, he looked less like the confident man who could repair anything and more like the frightened boy in the old photograph.
"Because I found out about the trust from Grant Hale."
Emma waited.
"He showed me a copied beneficiary page and offered the consulting contract in the same meeting."
"So?"
"So I thought he was testing me."
"For what?"
"To see whether I would go straight to you."
Emma shook her head.
"You are saying you lied to me so a developer would trust you."
"Yes."
"For six months."
"Yes."
"While sleeping beside me every night."
Mason closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Emma looked toward the doorway where Sloane waited out of sight.
"That is not protection."
"I know."
"That is betrayal with a reason attached."
Mason looked at her again.
"I know."
Emma felt tears fill her eyes and hated them.
"Did you ever plan to take Hale's money?"
"The first payment."
"How much?"
"Fifty thousand."
"And then?"
"Give it to an investigator with the contract and recordings."
"Which investigator?"
"A man named Owen Price with the state attorney general's office."
Sloane stepped into the doorway.
"You never told me a name."
Mason looked at her.
"Because you were not supposed to be involved."
"I hate when you say things like that."
Emma wiped her cheek.
"Have you verified Owen Price works for the state?"
"He showed credentials."
"That was not my question."
Mason hesitated.
Emma laughed bitterly.
"Apparently I am learning."
She picked up her phone and searched the state attorney general directory.
No Owen Price appeared.
Mason frowned.
"He could be undercover."
Sloane searched another public database.
"Or fictional."
Mason took out his phone and called a number.
It went directly to voicemail.
His face changed.
Emma watched the confidence drain from him.
"How much evidence did you give this man?"
"Copies of emails, two recorded meetings, and the draft Hale contract."
"Anything original?"
"No."
Sloane shook her head.
"Mason, you got played."
He ran a hand through his hair.
"Maybe."
"Not maybe."
Emma walked back toward the chapel.
"This is what happens when one person decides he is smarter than everyone else."
Mason followed.
"You're right."
She turned.
"Stop agreeing with me like that fixes it."
His jaw tightened.
"What do you want me to say?"
"The truth before I discover it myself would have been a good start."
Before Mason could answer, tires crunched on the drive.
Sloane looked through the front window.
"Three cars."
Emma joined her.
A county vehicle stopped near the porch, followed by a black sedan and Deputy Rusk's cruiser.
"That is not tomorrow afternoon," Emma said.
A woman in a navy blazer stepped from the county vehicle carrying a hard hat and identification badge.
"Melissa Tran," Sloane said after checking the county website.
"The actual building chief."
Clara emerged from the black sedan.
Rusk got out of his cruiser last.
Emma's stomach twisted.
"Why is he here?"
Mason looked grim.
"To make sure the inspection goes badly."
Emma picked up the original deed packet.
"Then he is going to be disappointed."
Chief Tran introduced herself professionally and presented a written inspection notice.
She seemed surprised to see Rusk.
"Deputy, I did not request law enforcement."
Rusk smiled.
"Just ensuring everyone's safety."
Tran did not look convinced.
Clara pulled Emma aside.
"Grant filed an emergency petition this morning."
"For what?"
"To suspend your occupancy clock."
Emma's heart sank.
"On what grounds?"
Clara handed her a copy.
The petition alleged that Emma and Mason had entered into a coordinated scheme to manipulate the trust, inflate the property's value, and obtain control for personal profit.
Emma almost laughed at the hypocrisy.
Then she read the supporting exhibits.
Her signature appeared on a document she had never seen.
It was titled MARITAL PROPERTY AND DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT.
The document claimed Emma had agreed six months earlier to sell Briarstone to Hale Development after title transfer.
Mason's signature appeared below hers.
Emma looked at him.
"Did you sign this?"
He took the paper.
His face went hard.
"No."
Emma compared the signature with the real acknowledgment in the chapel deed.
They looked identical.
Clara whispered, "Someone forged both of you."
Rusk watched them from the porch with a faint smile.
Chief Tran entered the mansion.
Then a loud crack came from the west wing.
Everyone turned.
A section of ceiling collapsed in the hallway they had walked through minutes earlier.
Dust filled the air.
Rusk immediately reached for his radio.
"We have an active structural failure."
Emma stared at the broken support beam exposed above the hallway.
The end was smooth and pale.
May you like
It had not rotted.
Someone had cut it.
