CHAPTER 8: THE WEDDING DAY
Betsy had followed Alyssa using a tracking application installed on her phone.
The folder contained copies of the forged acquisition documents.
Betsy had found them in Connor’s private office after our meeting.
“I thought he was building a legacy,” she said. “He is preparing to destroy all of us.”
Parker reviewed the documents.
His signature had been copied perfectly.
But the electronic metadata showed the file had been created on Evan’s company laptop.
We finally had enough.
Parker contacted federal financial investigators and the company’s independent directors.
The board scheduled an emergency vote for the morning after the wedding.
Until then, Connor would remain unaware that his authority was about to disappear.
Alyssa refused to cancel the ceremony.
“If I run now, Connor will know I spoke to you.”
“So you’re still going to marry him?”
“I’m going to stand at the altar.”
“That isn’t the same answer.”
She touched her stomach.
“I have to survive this first.”
The wedding day arrived under a perfect blue sky.
The Grand Bellamy Hotel had been covered in white roses and gold fabric.
Luxury vehicles filled the circular driveway.
Reporters waited near the entrance because Connor had leaked rumors about the acquisition announcement.
I dressed Brinley in a pale blue gown.
Not pink.
Not because Connor had mocked the color.
Because blue belonged to my daughter just as much as it belonged to any boy.
Parker handed me three sealed envelopes.
The first contained the medical evidence.
The second contained the financial records.
The third contained something Connor did not know existed.
A court-authorized DNA report confirming Brinley’s paternity.
Connor had challenged her paternity in his divorce filing three days earlier.
Parker had responded immediately.
Connor provided a sample through his attorney, convinced the clinic records had been compromised.
The results had arrived that morning.
Connor was Brinley’s biological father with a probability greater than 99.99 percent.
His only confirmed biological child was the daughter he had called useless.
The ballroom doors opened.
Connor stood at the altar in a black tuxedo.
Alyssa wore a white gown with a blue ribbon tied above her stomach.
Betsy sat in the front row, no longer smiling.
The ceremony began.
Then the rear doors opened again.
I walked inside carrying Brinley in one arm and the first sealed envelope in the other.
Connor saw me.
His jaw tightened.
“You were invited to watch,” he said. “Not to interrupt.”
“I’m not here to stop the wedding.”
I held out the envelope.
“I’m here to give you your first wedding gift.”
Connor tore it open.
The moment he saw the surgical report and laboratory results, every trace of color vanished from his face.
May you like
Then Alyssa whispered behind him.
“Connor, I can explain.”
