The Call That Changed the Ceremony
I set the coat across my lap and stared out the rear window as we drove off.
The mansion glowed against the dark coastline. Calm, beautiful — almost exactly how it had looked when I still believed I’d become part of that family.
My driver glanced at me in the mirror.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I said.
The first untrue thing I said that night.
My hands were shaking when I called Reed Callahan, director of corporate security for Crosswell Navigation. Reed had spent years investigating financial misconduct before joining my company.
He picked up immediately.
“Adeline?”
I looked down at the coat that had brought me back into that house.
“Activate the Hawthorne contingency file.”
His tone shifted.
“Does this involve Warren?”
“Warren, Celeste, and Nolan Pierce. Preserve every recording from the estate library between ten and eleven tonight. Secure the wedding vendor records and contact Monica Ellery.”
Monica was my personal attorney.
Reed went quiet for a second.
Then, “Should I cancel tomorrow’s ceremony?”
I looked back at the shrinking lights of the estate.
“No. Let them believe everything’s proceeding exactly as planned.”
