The carpeted hallway of the estate resort was quiet, away from the grand ballroom where guests were sipping champagne. Sarah walked rapidly, ignoring the painful throb in her wrist. Jessica walked right behind her, holding her phone on record.
Jessica: Sarah, slow down. If he gets violent again—
Sarah: He won't. Not in front of his mother.
As they reached the heavy brass-handled doors of the private holding suite, Sarah heard raised voices from inside. She stopped right outside the crack of the door, placing her palm against the cold wood.
Mark: It doesn't matter, Arthur! The scene was ugly enough. Everyone in the hallway heard me scream!
Arthur: But is the wedding off officially? If you don't execute the marriage certificate today, the trust condition fails!
Mark: You don't understand, she was holding clippers to my daughter's head! She looked unhinged!
Victoria: Mark, keep your voice down! The girl’s father is the primary investor in the harbor expansion project!
Sarah’s blood ran cold. The voice belonged to Victoria Vance, Mark’s formidable mother. Sarah drew closer, her ear practically pressed to the gap.
Mark: Mother, I don't care about her father's small-time money anymore! The prenuptial agreement was already drafted to lock her out of the estate!
Victoria: Lock her out? Her father transferred three million dollars into the joint escrow account yesterday as the marriage settlement gift!
Mark: What?! He transferred it already?
Arthur: Yes, Mark. The wire cleared at nine this morning. But under the terms of the trust agreement your late father left, you only access the principal funds if you are married by your thirty-fifth birthday—which is midnight tonight.
Mark: Dammit! Why didn't you tell me the wire went through early?!
Arthur: Because you were supposed to walk down the aisle in fifteen minutes!
Inside the hallway, Sarah felt as if someone had struck her in the chest with an axe. The four years of romance, the late-night promises, the warm dinners—it had all been a timed calculation. Mark didn't love her. He needed a bride before midnight to unlock his father's thirty-million-dollar inheritance, and he needed her father's three million dollars to pay off his hidden business debts.
Victoria: Then you go back in there right now, Mark! You apologize, you blame it on wedding stress, you kiss her boots if you have to, and you get her down that aisle!
Mark: She'll buy it. She always buys it. She's obsessed with me. I'll just tell her I lost my temper because I care so much about Emily's safety.
Victoria: Wipe the kid's face and tell the hair stylist to fix her hair with extensions. Now!
Sarah stepped back from the door, her skin pale, her breathing sharp and shallow. She turned to look at Jessica, whose jaw was wide open in shock.
Jessica: Tell me you recorded that. Please tell me your phone caught that!
Jessica: I got every single word, Sarah. Every word.
Sarah: He treated me like a dog... just to play a game for thirty million dollars.
Jessica: What are we going to do? Do we call the police now?
Sarah: No. If I call the police now, he'll spin it as a domestic argument. He has three lawyers on retainer.
Jessica: Then what?
Sarah: My father is sitting out there thinking his only daughter is marrying a gentleman. We are going to give Mark Vance the exact wedding he paid for.
Leave a Comment