Chapter 6 - The Princess of Someone Else's Island
Sarah called me twenty-six times before I answered.
I accepted only because Vanessa was recording the conversation with all required permissions confirmed.
“Elena!”
Her voice was shrill.
“You have to fix this.”
“Fix what?”
“Our lives!”
She began listing complaints.
The wedding photographs had been delayed.
The guests were gossiping.
The resort had refused her request to return for a sunrise portrait session.
Greg had moved into a separate hotel room.
Not once did she ask how Mia was doing.
“Do you know where my daughter is?” I asked.
Sarah sighed.
“Still in the hospital, I assume.”
“Do you know what the doctors found?”
“I don't have time for this emotional blackmail.”
I stared at the phone.
“Your niece has a concussion and a broken wrist.”
Sarah was silent for perhaps two seconds.
Then she said, “She shouldn't have stepped on my dress.”
Something cold settled over me.
“That's your answer?”
“My dress was custom made.”
“My child could have died.”
“Stop acting like I threw her off a cliff.”
“You pushed her over a railing.”
Sarah's breathing quickened.
“You think being rich makes you untouchable.”
“No.”
I looked through the glass at Mia sleeping under a hospital blanket.
“I think it means I can afford to take time off and protect my daughter.”
Sarah laughed bitterly.
“So you admit it.”
“Admit what?”
“That you've been hiding your money to make me look stupid.”
For one moment I couldn't speak.
I had paid for her wedding because she had told me she'd never had a beautiful thing that belonged only to her.
I had wanted to give her a day untouched by the disappointments of our childhood.
I had kept my name off the invitations at her request.
She had transformed that gift into another reason to despise me.
“Why did you visit the security corridor before the ceremony?” I asked.
The silence returned.
Then Sarah said, very carefully, “I have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Of course.”
“You're spying on me.”
“The police are investigating missing equipment.”
She swore and ended the call.
Ten minutes later, an image appeared on social media.
Sarah stood beside the wedding arch, one hand pressed dramatically to her chest.
Her caption claimed a jealous relative had disrupted a perfect celebration after her child suffered a minor stumble.
Within an hour, thousands of people had reacted.
Some believed her.
Others noticed that she'd never identified the injured child.
Then an anonymous account posted a single question beneath the picture.
If the fall was minor, why was there a medical helicopter?
Sarah deleted the comment.
But a screenshot had already spread.
And by nightfall, the same account posted a name that nobody outside my legal team should have known.
ELENA VALE — BENEFICIAL OWNER, HAVEN ISLAND.
I hadn't chosen to reveal my wealth.
May you like
Someone else had chosen the moment for me.
