Chapter 12 - Before the Wedding
At twenty-six, I had believed Adrian loved the parts of me that did not fit easily into Dad's world.
I liked quiet bookstores and long walks.
Adrian liked attention, but he had made attention feel like sunlight.
When he proposed, I believed he wanted a marriage, not an alliance.
Dad's letter made me question every tender memory without telling me which ones were real.
The draft described a confidential meeting between Adrian and Peter shortly before our engagement.
Peter had asked whether marriage to Dad's daughter could accelerate access to his investment fund.
Dad refused to discuss it with him.
He later confronted Adrian, who denied any improper motive and told Dad that love could exist alongside ambition.
I folded the letter and sat for a long time.
It did not prove Adrian had never loved me.
It showed that questions about my family's assets had shadowed our relationship from its beginning.
I called Thomas Ellery and asked why Dad had kept it from me.
"He knew how much you loved Adrian," Thomas said.
"And he was afraid that accusing him without proof would push you farther away."
"He should have told me."
"Yes," Thomas said.
There was mercy in hearing someone agree without defending the dead.
The next morning Vanessa requested a meeting through her attorney.
Claire expected another demand.
Vanessa arrived pale and without the diamond necklace she wore in court.
"Adrian lied to me too," she said.
I almost laughed at the familiar script.
She claimed Adrian had promised that she would receive an equity stake after the divorce, and that she had signed consultancy documents without understanding their contents.
Claire asked whether she was prepared to provide the documents.
Vanessa produced them.
Some were ordinary contracts.
One was a handwritten list of personal payments tied to Harborstone and labeled "Celeste reserve."
Vanessa insisted Celeste had arranged everything.
I didn't accept her version simply because it served her current interests.
Still, the numbers matched entries Jonah had flagged.
As the meeting ended, Vanessa hesitated.
"Your son asked me a question at breakfast."
I waited.
"He asked why everyone thought being rich meant they could be cruel."
I hadn't heard Ethan say that.
Vanessa looked down.
"I didn't answer him."
For the first time, she appeared ashamed of something that had nothing to do with her bank account.
May you like
Then she offered one final warning.
"Celeste has a copy of the blue ledger, Mara. And she thinks she can trade it for immunity."
