Chapter 2 - What My Father Wrote
Daniel read the first line slowly.
"A marriage is only as strong as the obedience of the wife entering it."
Someone gasped.
My fingers went cold around the stem of my water glass.
My father had always said things like that behind closed doors.
Hearing them aloud in a ballroom full of people was something else entirely.
Daniel continued.
"Claire has always been useful to this family, but she has recently mistaken usefulness for authority."
Across the table, Eleanor shut her eyes.
"You are marrying into the Mercer name," Daniel read.
"If you want the financial advantages that come with it, persuade her to move the ceremony."
A stunned murmur spread through the guests.
The letter then named a specific sum.
Fifty thousand dollars.
My father had offered Daniel fifty thousand dollars as an early wedding gift if he convinced me to surrender.
If Daniel refused, the letter promised that I would lose my job, my family connections, and any future claim to the company.
There was one last paragraph.
"I expect you to understand that Vanessa will inherit the position and prestige Claire has been borrowing."
Daniel folded the pages.
"I didn't accept the money," he said.
"And I didn't marry Claire for her last name."
I stood beside him.
"He gave us an ultimatum," I told the room.
"He said those chairs would teach me respect."
I pointed toward the empty seats reserved near the head table.
"They taught me something, all right."
My voice shook, but I didn't stop.
"They taught me I was never supposed to have a choice."
Aunt Marjorie pushed away from her table.
"Your father only wants what's best for you."
Eleanor rose with surprising speed.
"No, Marjorie," she said.
"He wants what's easiest for him."
Then she lifted her champagne glass.
"To Claire and Daniel."
The room stood.
Applause broke across the ballroom, loud enough to drown out Marjorie's objection.
I thought that was the end of it.
Twenty minutes later, my phone lit up with a message from an unknown number.
Enjoy your applause.
Tomorrow you'll learn what it costs.
Attached was a photograph of my grandmother's office, taken that very night.
Someone had been inside it.
May you like
And the desk drawer containing her private corporate records stood wide open.
