Chapter 3 - The Money Behind the Marriage
The wedding reception was canceled.
Guests were escorted into a separate room while police secured the ballroom.
Jessi sat in a private suite upstairs.
Her dress was still stained with cake.
Her veil was crooked.
She didn't care.
On the table in front of her were bank statements, property records, and copies of the disputed prenup.
Phoebe sat opposite her.
“I should have told you earlier.”
Jessi looked up.
“How much earlier?”
“Six months.”
Jessi went still.
Phoebe explained that she had noticed unusual payments while helping Jessi prepare wedding expenses.
Large amounts had been sent from Jessi's investment accounts to companies she didn't recognize.
Every company had one connection.
The Carter family.
Luca's family.
Jessi stared at the documents.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Luca found out I was looking.”
Phoebe's voice trembled.
“He threatened to destroy my career.”
Jessi leaned back.
“What did he say?”
“That once you married him, everything would become family property.”
Jessi looked at the forged documents again.
Suddenly Luca's words from the ballroom made sense.
Once we're married, you'll stop acting like you can just walk away.
He hadn't been talking about love.
He had been talking about control.
The door opened.
A detective entered.
“Ms. Carter?”
Jessi nodded.
“We found something in your fiancé's office.”
The detective placed a small envelope on the table.
Inside was a copy of a financial authorization.
Jessi recognized her signature.
But she had never signed it.
“Who witnessed this?”
The detective pointed to the bottom.
“Wendy Carter.”
Jessi closed her eyes.
Her future mother-in-law hadn't simply approved the marriage.
She had participated in the financial scheme.
But there was something else.
The detective pulled out a second document.
“This one concerns your late father's company.”
Jessi's expression changed.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
The document showed that his company had been transferred years earlier.
The beneficiary was not Jessi.
It was a Carter family trust.
Jessi stared at the date.
Her father had died eleven years earlier.
Luca had been only twenty.
Wendy had been involved.
Jessi whispered:
“They knew about my inheritance before I ever met Luca.”
The detective nodded.
“That appears to be the case.”
And suddenly the wedding looked very different.
It hadn't been a celebration.
May you like
It had been a carefully planned acquisition.
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