Part 2: The Wedding Gift
The officiant began to speak.
“Dearly beloved—”
“Before we continue,” I interrupted, “I have a wedding gift.”
Carter visibly relaxed.
Diane even applauded.
“I knew she’d come around,” she said loudly.
Margaret stood and handed me a black folder.
Carter looked delighted.
Facing the guests, I announced, “Carter believes this folder contains fifteen million dollars.”
Silence swept through the ballroom.
His expression changed.
“Rachel,” he muttered.
“I had planned to transfer that money to us today.”
Diane gasped happily.
“But there will be no transfer.”
Carter seized my arm.
“What are you doing?”
I pulled free.
“Finishing the lesson you started.”
I held up the note he’d left behind.
“This was waiting on my pillow after Carter drugged me last night and shaved my head while I was unconscious.”
The guests erupted in shocked conversation.
“That’s a lie!” Diane shouted.
I faced her.
“Would you like everyone to hear Carter explain who held the flashlight?”
The color drained from her face.
I passed the microphone to the technician.
Seconds later, Carter’s recorded voice rang out:
My mother was right. You needed to understand that marriage means your husband leads.
Then came his admission:
She held the flashlight.
From the rear, someone whispered, “Jesus.”
Vanessa stood abruptly.
“Carter, what the hell?”
He rushed toward the audio booth, but two hotel security officers blocked him from reaching it.
“You recorded me?” he yelled.
“Yes.”
“You psychotic bitch!”
Once the noise subsided, I spoke again.
“Now we get to the real reason Carter wanted this wedding.”
Margaret handed the emails to Carter’s father and several senior Whitmore Development employees.
Their faces changed as they read.
I outlined the company’s debts, unpaid contractors, approaching loan deadlines, and the emails about my inheritance.
I explained how the proposed amendment would give Carter control over any money transferred after the marriage.
His father stared at him.
“You told me the financing was secured.”
“It was going to be!”
“With her money?”
Carter couldn’t answer.
Diane rose.
“Rachel, enough. You’re humiliating this family.”
I looked back at her.
“You shaved a sleeping woman’s head to intimidate her into surrendering millions.”
I opened the last envelope.
“And now comes your surprise.”
