Chapter 5: The Wedding She Planned With My Money
The email had been sent to Vanessa's personal account, but the payment confirmation was attached to a bank statement Dad had downloaded months earlier.
He had apparently received a notification about an unusual transaction that afternoon. He'd opened it while sitting in his car outside the house.
That was why he'd come home carrying his phone instead of his usual grocery bag.
And that was why he had looked so angry before he even reached the stairs.
"Read the total," he said.
I leaned closer.
The bridal boutique had charged $6,400 for a wedding gown, alterations, and a deposit on accessories.
The payment had come from an account linked to the money Vanessa had transferred out of my savings.
I looked at Dad.
"You're getting married again?""
His expression tightened.
"Not to Vanessa.""
He tapped the email.
The bride's name appeared beneath the invoice.
*Vanessa Brooks.*
I read it twice.
Brooks.
Daniel's last name.
"She was going to marry him?""
Dad nodded.
"Apparently.""
My mind struggled to catch up.
Vanessa was married to my father. She had spent years telling everyone that Madison's biological father was dead. She'd stolen my college savings to pay a man she'd apparently intended to marry.
And she'd bought a wedding dress with the money.
"Does she know you found this?"" I asked.
"She knows I found the bank transactions. I don't think she realizes how much information the bank has sent me.""
He looked toward the kitchen.
Vanessa was sitting at the table, staring at nothing. Madison had gone upstairs and shut her bedroom door.
Dad lowered his voice.
"Emily, I need you to do something for me.""
I tensed.
"What?""
"Take pictures of everything you can remember about the dress. The receipt, the damage, the paint. Don't throw anything away.""
"Why?""
"Because I don't want anyone telling you tomorrow that this never happened.""
I looked down at the stained white fabric still clutched in my hands.
"I couldn't forget it if I tried.""
Dad's face softened.
"I know.""
He reached out and brushed a dried fleck of paint from my cheek.
"I'm sorry I didn't see what was happening sooner.""
I wanted to tell him it wasn't his fault.
But I couldn't.
Not yet.
Instead, I asked the question that had been hurting me since I saw my name on the bank statement.
"How much money did she take?""
He hesitated.
"Twenty-seven thousand, six hundred dollars.""
My knees nearly buckled.
"That's everything?""
"Almost.""
I stared at him.
Twenty-seven thousand dollars.
That was college tuition. A used car. Rent for a tiny apartment while I studied. A chance to move away from the house where every dream I'd had seemed to offend someone.
"Can we get it back?""
"We're going to try.""
"But what if we can't?""
Dad pulled a chair out for me.
"Then we'll figure out another way to get you where you need to go.""
I sat down.
For the first time that night, I let myself cry without trying to hide it.
Dad sat beside me until I could breathe again.
Then a door slammed upstairs.
Madison appeared at the top of the staircase carrying a large cardboard box.
She dragged it down one step at a time, her face swollen from crying.
"What are you doing?"" Vanessa called from the kitchen.
Madison ignored her.
She placed the box on the living room floor and tore away the packing tape.
Inside were photographs, old letters, and a stack of envelopes tied together with a faded blue ribbon.
"I found these in your closet," she said.
Vanessa rushed into the room.
"Put those back!""
Madison pulled out a photograph.
It showed a much younger Vanessa standing beside a man with dark hair. They were outside a courthouse, smiling at the camera.
The date written on the back was seventeen years earlier.
Madison stared at it.
"Is this Daniel?""
Vanessa stopped.
The photograph trembled in Madison's hand.
"Yes," Vanessa whispered.
Madison looked through the rest of the box.
There were birthday cards signed by Daniel. Letters addressed to Vanessa. Photographs of a little girl in a pink dress.
Madison.
One letter had been opened so many times that the folds were beginning to tear.
She read the first line aloud.
"'Vanessa, I won't keep sending money if you continue telling me I can't see my daughter.''"
Vanessa lunged for the letter.
Madison snatched it away.
"How long have you been receiving money from him?""
"Give me that!""
"HOW LONG?""
Vanessa's face twisted.
"Since you were a baby!""
Madison looked at Dad.
Then at me.
Then back at her mother.
"So you were taking money from him while telling me he was dead?""
Vanessa started crying harder.
"I didn't know how to explain everything.""
"You could have told me the truth!""
"You were a child!""
"I'm seventeen!""
"And I was trying to keep this family together!""
Madison laughed bitterly.
"Which family? The one you built with Michael? Or the one you were planning to build with Daniel?""
Vanessa's mouth fell open.
I saw the answer before she spoke.
Madison saw it, too.
She dropped the letter.
"You were really going to leave?""
Vanessa reached for her.
"I love you.""
"That's not what I asked.""
Vanessa looked at the floor.
Madison backed away.
Then she turned toward me.
For a moment, I thought she was going to blame me again. She'd done it so many times before that my body instinctively tensed.
Instead, she looked at the red-stained dress in my arms.
"I didn't know about the money," she whispered.
I said nothing.
"I didn't know she was taking it from you.""
"But you knew you were hurting me.""
Her eyes filled.
"Yes.""
The honesty startled me.
Madison wiped her nose with her sleeve.
"I knew you worked for that dress. I knew you couldn't afford another one. And I ripped it anyway.""
She looked down.
"I'm sorry.""
I wanted to accept her apology.
But an apology couldn't put the fabric back together. It couldn't return the eight months I'd spent working. It couldn't erase the sound of her laughing while my graduation dress lay ruined beneath a coat of paint.
"I'm not ready to forgive you," I said.
Madison nodded.
"I understand.""
Vanessa stood abruptly.
"Enough of this! You're all acting like I'm some kind of criminal!""
Dad looked at her.
"Tomorrow, the bank will give us a full record of every transfer. The lawyer will review the documents. And you'll explain everything.""
Vanessa's face went rigid.
"You can't do this to me.""
"I didn't empty Emily's account.""
"You think money makes you a better person than me?""
"No," Dad replied.
"But what you did with it tells me who you are.""
Vanessa grabbed her purse and stormed toward the front door.
Madison followed her with her eyes.
"Where are you going?""
Vanessa didn't turn around.
"Somewhere I can think.""
Dad stepped aside.
"Take your keys. We'll discuss the rest in the morning.""
The door slammed.
For a few seconds, the house was silent.
Then Madison sat down on the floor beside the box of photographs.
I stood at the foot of the stairs, uncertain whether to comfort her or leave her alone.
Before I could decide, Dad's phone buzzed.
A message from the bank.
He read it, then frowned.
"What is it?"" I asked.
He turned the screen toward me.
The bank had flagged another transaction connected to my savings account.
It had been scheduled for the following morning.
The recipient was a law firm.
The payment description read:
*MARRIAGE DISSOLUTION AND ASSET TRANSFER — FINAL RETAINER.*
Dad's face hardened.
"She wasn't just planning a wedding.""
I looked at the date.
Tomorrow.
The same day as my graduation.
Then I noticed the name on the legal document attached to the notification.
It wasn't Daniel's.
It wasn't Vanessa's.
May you like
It was mine.
And beneath my name was a signature that looked almost exactly like my own.
