Chapter 4 - THE HONEYMOON COULD WAIT
Harold found Daniel before the cake plates were cleared.
“We need five minutes.”
Daniel glanced toward Chloe.
“With your daughter?”
“Business.”
“It’s my wedding.”
“Exactly. I’m trying not to do this here.”
Daniel followed him into the same library.
Harold shut the door.
“I just got a call from Russell Ames.”
Russell ran the Whitmore family office.
Daniel leaned against the desk.
“That was fast.”
“What’s going on with Monday?”
“I paused the investment.”
Harold stared at him.
“You what?”
“Temporarily.”
“Daniel, we have commitments tied to that funding.”
“You told me the project had sufficient bridge capital through December.”
“It does.”
“Then two days won’t matter.”
Harold’s jaw moved.
“That’s not how development works.”
Daniel had spent the last eight years overseeing the Whitmore family’s manufacturing and real-estate holdings. He knew exactly how development worked.
“No,” he said. “That’s not how healthy development works.”
Harold stepped closer.
“Don’t mix what happened tonight with business.”
Daniel almost admired the nerve.
“You tripped my grandmother.”
“I thought she was banquet staff.”
There it was again.
The defense everyone in Chloe’s family seemed incapable of hearing.
Daniel straightened.
“I’m not getting on the plane tomorrow.”
Harold frowned.
“What?”
“The honeymoon.”
“That’s between you and Chloe.”
“It is.”
Daniel opened the door.
Harold caught his arm.
Not aggressively.
Desperately.
“Daniel, whatever you think of me right now, don’t create a financial problem because you’re angry.”
Daniel looked down at Harold’s hand until Harold released him.
“You’re awfully worried about money you told me you didn’t need.”
Harold said nothing.
Daniel went upstairs to tell Chloe they would not be flying to St. Barts in the morning.
For the first time since the wedding ceremony, Chloe stopped pretending everything could still be repaired by managing appearances.
She took off one diamond earring and threw it onto the dressing table.
“You’re punishing me.”
“I’m giving myself forty-eight hours.”
“On our honeymoon?”
“After watching you humiliate my grandmother.”
“You keep saying that like I knew who she was.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
May you like
Chloe still did not understand.
Or worse, she understood perfectly and believed the identity of the person on the floor was the only thing that made the cruelty matter.
