Chapter 4 - THREE HUNDRED WITNESSES
At eleven fifty-eight, the ballroom doors closed.
Three hundred guests filled the Grand Veridian.
Family friends occupied the center tables.
Business acquaintances lined the outer rows.
Robert’s banking contacts had been given unusually good seats.
So had two executives from Northstar Capital.
Neither man knew why.
At noon exactly, the string quartet began.
Jason stood at the altar.
Sydney entered first.
Applause rippled through the room.
She carried white roses.
The bracelet glimmered on her wrist.
Terrence watched her from Table Two.
Sydney saw him.
Her smile faltered.
For half a second, her hand instinctively moved toward her stomach.
Then Meline appeared.
Every guest stood.
She wore a simple ivory gown with a long cathedral veil.
No diamonds.
No extravagant necklace.
Nothing to distract from her face.
Jason stared at her.
She looked calm.
That frightened him more than anger would have.
Meline walked down the aisle alone.
Her father had expected to escort her.
Ten minutes before the ceremony, she had informed him she had changed her mind.
Robert now sat beside Elaine in the first row, furious.
Meline reached the altar.
The officiant smiled.
“We are gathered today—”
“Before we begin,” Meline said.
The officiant stopped.
A murmur moved through the room.
Jason whispered, “What are you doing?”
Meline smiled gently.
“Something important.”
She turned toward the guests.
“I want to thank everyone for coming.”
Elaine’s fingers tightened around her purse.
Robert stared at the floor.
Sydney looked ready to faint.
Meline continued.
“There are moments in life when we are asked to sign things without reading them.”
A few guests laughed.
Jason did not.
“We sign contracts.”
“We sign mortgages.”
“We sign marriage licenses.”
“And sometimes, people who claim to love us assume trust means they never have to tell us what we are actually signing.”
Silence settled over the ballroom.
Meline looked toward her father.
“Dad, you brought the updated paperwork, didn’t you?”
Robert did not move.
Every head turned toward him.
Elaine whispered something urgently.
Meline waited.
Finally, Robert stood.
“This is hardly appropriate.”
“I agree.”
Meline’s smile vanished.
“That’s why I thought everyone should see it.”
Rebecca Sloan rose from a table near the back.
She walked forward in a navy suit carrying Robert’s folder.
Robert’s face drained of color.
“How did you get that?”
“You left a copy with the lender,” Rebecca said.
Meline turned back to the guests.
“My family planned to place revised financial documents in my wedding folder after the ceremony.”
The room erupted into whispers.
Jason leaned toward her.
“Meline.”
She stepped away from him.
“The documents would have allowed my father’s company to use my personal credit profile to guarantee a twenty-two-million-dollar loan.”
Someone gasped.
Elaine stood.
“This is private family business.”
Meline looked at her mother.
“No.”
“It became public the moment you chose three hundred witnesses for the lie.”
Then she nodded toward the projection screen behind the altar.
The wedding monogram vanished.
An audio waveform appeared.
Jason went completely still.
May you like
Sydney closed her eyes.
And Meline pressed play.
