Chapter 5: The Person Behind The Plan
The ballroom doors closed behind the last guest, but the silence remained.
The wedding decorations were still everywhere.
White flowers.
Golden candles.
A giant photo of Brielle and James smiling beneath the words:
FOREVER STARTS TODAY.
But forever had lasted less than one evening.
James stood near the stage, staring at his wife.
“Who else was involved?””
Brielle wiped her tears.
“I didn’t want it to happen this way.””
“That’s not an answer.””
She looked exhausted.
For the first time all night, she looked like someone who had lost control of a situation.
“I didn’t plan everything.””
“Then who did?””
She looked toward Richard.
Then away.
That movement was enough.
James noticed.
“Dad?””
Richard shook his head.
“No.””
“Don’t lie to me.””
“I’m not.””
“Then why did she look at you?””
Richard’s jaw tightened.
“I told you. I only witnessed documents.””
Brielle suddenly spoke.
“Your father helped me find someone.””
Everyone turned.
Richard closed his eyes.
“Brielle.””
“What?”” she snapped.
“You don’t get to pretend you’re innocent.””
My heart raced.
“What someone?””
Brielle looked at me.
“A lawyer.””
James frowned.
“What lawyer?””
“I don’t know his name.””
“You don’t know the name of the person helping you steal your mother’s house?””
“I didn’t say that.””
James stared.
“You just did.””
Brielle looked down.
“I thought I could fix it.””
I stepped closer.
“Fix what?””
She didn’t answer.
“Brielle.””
Finally, she whispered:
“The debt.””
James froze.
“What debt?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“My business failed.””
The confession hung in the air.
I felt a strange mixture of anger and sadness.
Because suddenly I understood something.
My daughter hadn’t woken up one morning and decided to destroy me.
She had been drowning.
But instead of asking for my hand, she grabbed my throat.
“How much?”” I asked.
She looked surprised.
“What?””
“How much debt?””
She hesitated.
“Almost two hundred thousand dollars.””
James looked shocked.
“And you thought stealing your mother’s house would solve that?””
“I thought I could pay it back before anyone knew.””
“By lying to everyone?””
Brielle covered her face.
“I was scared.””
I wanted to hate her.
Part of me did.
But another part remembered the little girl who used to hold my hand crossing the street.
The little girl who once cried because she accidentally stepped on a flower.
I looked at her.
“Why didn’t you come to me?””
Her eyes met mine.
“Because I knew you would say yes.””
The answer hurt.
“What?””
“You always save me.””
My throat tightened.
“So you decided to destroy me because you knew I loved you?””
She started crying.
“I didn’t mean to hurt you.””
“But you did.””
Nobody spoke.
Then James’s phone buzzed.
He looked down.
A message.
His expression changed.
“What is it?”” I asked.
He didn’t answer immediately.
He showed Richard.
Then me.
The message was from an unknown number.
Attached was a photo.
A photo of a document.
My document.
The caption underneath read:
“Ask your mother why she hid the original.””
I looked at James.
“What does that mean?””
He zoomed in on the image.
Then his face changed.
“Mom…”
“What?””
He handed me the phone.
The document showed my house transfer papers.
But this version was different.
At the bottom, there was another signature.
A second witness.
Not Richard.
Someone else.
Someone whose name I recognized.
My hands started shaking.
Because the second witness was someone who had visited me in the hospital every week.
Someone who had held my hand while I cried.
Someone I trusted.
“Who sent this?”” James asked.
Nobody answered.
Then another message appeared.
May you like
This time, only four words.
“Your mother knows why.””
