CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 5
Ethan reached for my phone.
I stepped back.
“Don’t.”
His face changed.
The soft husband vanished.
The man under the tuxedo finally appeared.
“You’re making a mistake,” he said.
“No. I made the mistake at the altar.”
Vanessa recovered first.
She lifted her chin and forced a laugh.
“Emma, sweetheart, you are emotional. It’s your wedding night. Nobody is going to take some messy recording seriously.”
The suite phone rang.
All four of us froze.
I walked to the nightstand and answered.
My father’s attorney, Laura Bennett, spoke clearly.
“Emma, security is outside your door. Your father is on his way up. Do you want police present?”
Ethan went pale.
I kept my eyes on him.
“Yes,” I said. “I do.”
Madison whispered, “Ethan, what is she talking about?”
He did not answer.
Vanessa’s confidence cracked.
“Your father?” she said.
I looked at her.
“Richard Carter.”
For the first time all night, Vanessa had nothing to say.
Ethan’s mouth opened slightly.
Apex Development had paid for the hotel ballroom downstairs.
Apex Development had built the luxury tower where our house sat.
Apex Development owned the legal team now listening to the audio file my phone had automatically sent to the cloud.
Ethan finally understood.
He had not married a helpless bride.
He had married the daughter of the man who owned the ground beneath his lies.
A knock hit the door.
“Hotel security.”
Behind them, another voice followed.
“Chicago police.”
Ethan looked at me with panic in his eyes.
“Emma, please.”
I held up my left hand and looked at the ring.
May you like
Then I removed it.
“No,” I said. “You don’t get to say please after you planned my destruction.”
