Chapter 8: The Agreement Nobody Was Supposed to See
The ballroom emptied slowly.
Some guests left without saying goodbye. Others lingered near the doors, pretending to look for their coats while watching Marcus and Simone.
The wedding cake remained untouched beneath a glass display cover.
The candles burned down.
The flowers that had cost thousands of dollars began to wilt beneath the heat of the chandeliers.
For the first time all evening, no one seemed interested in making the wedding look perfect.
Marcus asked Helen to arrange a small private room where he could speak with Simone, Tasha, Evelyn, and me.
We gathered around a conference table beside the venue's administrative office.
Simone sat at one end, her veil resting in her lap. Her mascara had streaked beneath her eyes, and she kept twisting her wedding ring around her finger.
Marcus sat opposite her.
Tasha placed her phone in the center of the table.
“Show us the rest of the messages,” Marcus said.
Tasha scrolled.
Adrian's name appeared again and again.
At first, his messages sounded like those of an impatient creditor.
You said the money was only temporary.
I have bills due.
You can't keep telling me next week.
Then the tone changed.
If you tell Marcus I stole the money, I'll show him the agreement.
And finally:
You can't blame me for the entire mess. You signed the documents.
Marcus looked up.
“What documents?””
Simone stared at the phone.
“He's threatening me.””
“Then show us what he's threatening to reveal.””
“I don't have to show you everything.””
“You used our wedding money to pay him. You presented a false invoice from Darius's company. You told me the catering was arranged. I think you owe me the whole story.””
She pressed her hands against her face.
“I didn't steal your money.””
“Then explain where it went.””
She lowered her hands.
“Adrian told me the event-planning business could be saved if we found another investor. He said the company was worth much more than its debts, but we needed to keep the accounts current long enough to secure funding.””
I frowned.
“Was that true?””
“I don't know.””
“You were running the company.””
“I handled clients, not accounting!””
Marcus stared at her.
“You didn't know what was happening to the money in your own company?””
“Adrian told me he was handling it.””
“And you believed him?””
“Yes!””
Her answer came out so quickly that she seemed to surprise herself.
Then her shoulders sagged.
“I wanted to believe him.””
I recognized those words.
They were the same ones our mother had used when she admitted believing Simone about the catering money.
In our family, hope had become a substitute for evidence.
“What did you sign?”” I asked.
Simone looked at me.
“A personal guarantee.””
The room went silent.
“Meaning?”” Marcus asked.
“If the business couldn't repay certain debts, Adrian could pursue me personally for the money.””
“How much?””
She whispered the number.
“Thirty thousand dollars.””
Marcus leaned back.
“So you owe him money.””
“I owe the company creditors money. Adrian says he needs to recover what he put in.””
“Did you use the wedding funds to repay any of that debt?””
She didn't answer.
“Simone.””
“Six thousand went to Adrian.””
“What about the rest?””
Her fingers tightened around the veil.
“I paid some wedding deposits. The venue. The dress alterations.
The flowers. There were other expenses.””
“Which ones?””
“I can't remember every payment!””
Marcus closed his eyes for a moment.
Then he spoke carefully.
“Did you spend any of it on yourself?””
Simone looked offended.
“How could you ask me that?””
“Because I no longer know which answers to believe.””
She stood abruptly.
“I've had enough of this!””
She pushed her chair back so hard it hit the wall.
“Everyone is treating me like some criminal. I made mistakes. That's all.
I wanted a beautiful wedding. I wanted one day when I didn't have to worry about money or business or what other people thought of me.””
Her voice cracked.
“I wanted something good.””
For a moment, nobody spoke.
There it was.
Beneath the expensive dress, the angry accusations, and the desperate lies was a woman who had spent years measuring her worth by what other people could see.
But understanding why someone lied did not make the lie disappear.
Marcus rose slowly.
“You could have told me you were in debt.””
“You would have judged me.””
“No. I would have helped you make a plan.””
“You don't understand.””
“Then help me understand.””
She shook her head.
“You always wanted everything to be sensible. Budgets. Saving.
Planning. Sometimes I needed to feel as though I wasn't falling behind everyone else.””
Marcus looked at the ring on her finger.
“So you decided I should marry someone who wasn't being honest with me?””
She began crying again.
I felt my anger soften for a moment, but then I remembered the empty tables and the fake invoice.
I had once spent three months repaying a supplier after a client delayed payment. I'd worked double shifts and slept on a folding bed in the office to avoid losing my business.
I understood desperation.
What I couldn't accept was using other people as shields against it.
A knock sounded at the door.
Helen entered with a printed email.
“Mr. Bennett, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I received a call from someone asking about the wedding's catering invoice.””
Marcus frowned.
“Who?””
“Adrian Cole.””
Simone stopped crying.
Helen continued.
“He said he was a former business associate of the bride. He wanted to know whether we had received the catering payment and whether your company had supplied the food.””
I felt the skin tighten across my shoulders.
“What exactly did he say?””
Helen read from her notes.
“He said he had evidence that the funds intended for the wedding had been redirected. He also claimed Simone had promised him a commission from the money.””
Marcus stood.
“A commission for what?””
“He didn't explain. He said he wanted to speak with you.””
Simone shook her head violently.
“No. Absolutely not.””
Marcus turned to her.
“Why?””
“Because he's a liar!””
“Maybe he is. But the records will tell us what happened.””
“He wants money!””
“Then he can explain why.””
She moved toward Marcus.
“Please, don't talk to him. He's trying to turn everyone against me.””
Marcus looked at her for a long moment.
Then he asked Helen for Adrian's contact details.
Simone sank into her chair.
I had never seen her look so small.
But Helen wasn't finished.
“There was another message,” she said.
“He sent an attachment with his email.””
She placed the printed page on the table.
It contained a scan of a signed agreement between Simone and Adrian.
At the top was the name of their old event-planning company.
At the bottom were two signatures.
One belonged to Adrian Cole.
The other belonged to my sister.
Between them was a handwritten note concerning the eighteen thousand five hundred dollars.
Marcus read it once.
Then again.
Finally, he looked at Simone.
“You didn't just borrow the wedding money to pay your debt, did you?””
She said nothing.
His finger moved to the last paragraph.
May you like
The paragraph that explained why Adrian had been so interested in the wedding funds.
And why he had insisted on contacting them that night.
