Chapter 7 - THE GROOM'S FATHER
For a full ten seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Flynn laughed.
“No.”
He looked at Marcus.
“No.”
Marcus Reed did not deny it.
That was the problem.
Chloe stood beside her new husband, white-faced.
I looked between Marcus and me.
The possibility hit all at once.
If Marcus was my biological father, Flynn could be my half brother.
My sister had just married—
“No,” Marcus said sharply. “Flynn is not my biological son.”
The room froze again.
Flynn stared at him.
“What?”
Marcus closed his eyes.
One family secret had apparently just triggered another.
Chloe whispered, “What do you mean?”
Marcus looked at his son.
“Your mother was pregnant when we met.”
Flynn stepped backward.
“You told me—”
“I raised you.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
My head hurt.
This was becoming a hall of mirrors.
Nobody was who they were supposed to be.
I looked at Mom.
“Marcus?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
My stomach turned.
“Were you together?”
“For a short time.”
“Before Arthur?”
“Yes.”
“Did Marcus know about me?”
She looked at him.
Marcus answered.
“I suspected.”
“Suspected?”
“Wendy told me the dates could go either way.”
Mom said, “I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
She looked at Dad.
Of course.
Always Dad.
Arthur laughed bitterly.
“You’re all rewriting history.”
I turned on him.
“You raised me knowing I might not be yours.”
“Yes.”
“Then spent my entire childhood treating me like the disappointment.”
His jaw tightened.
“That had nothing to do with biology.”
That was somehow worse.
At least biology would have explained the cruelty.
Instead, he was simply cruel.
Marcus stepped toward me.
“Jessi—”
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
“I’m not ready for you.”
He nodded.
Fair enough.
Luca remained beside me without touching me now.
Giving me room.
Eleanor looked at Marcus.
“You helped Arthur move Jessica’s trust assets after learning she might be your daughter.”
Marcus’s face changed.
“That is not what happened.”
“Then explain.”
He sat down.
“The trust assets were supposed to be transferred temporarily.”
I almost laughed.
There was that word again.
Temporarily.
The favorite word of thieves who plan to return money after they save themselves.
“Why?”
“Arthur was facing exposure.”
“Gambling?”
“Partly.”
“What else?”
Marcus looked at Luca.
“Corporate settlement.”
Luca’s eyes narrowed.
“What settlement?”
Marcus hesitated.
“Twenty-two years ago, Arthur’s firm handled a merger involving one of Eleanor’s holdings.”
Eleanor said, “Badly.”
Marcus ignored her.
“There were undisclosed conflicts.”
Dad snapped, “Careful.”
Marcus looked at him.
“No.”
Another man finally saying no.
The evening was full of miracles.
Marcus continued.
“Arthur needed money to prevent litigation from becoming public.”
“How much?”
“Initially eight million.”
“And you lent him money against my trust?”
“Yes.”
“Then more disappeared.”
Marcus looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because once the first transfer existed, covering it required another.”
A Ponzi scheme built inside my inheritance.
Not exactly, but close enough.
Chloe sat beside Flynn.
Neither looked newly married anymore.
They looked like survivors from different accidents.
Then Luca’s security director approached.
“We located Rebecca.”
Dad stood.
“Where?”
“Maybe.”
He turned the laptop.
A camera feed from the hotel parking garage.
Rebecca entered a black SUV.
Another person was waiting inside.
A man.
He stepped out briefly.
Tall.
Gray hair.
Late sixties.
Eleanor gripped my arm.
“No.”
“What?”
She stared at the screen.
“That’s Daniel Vance.”
Luca went still.
I looked at him.
“Who?”
His face had changed.
“My father.”
Now it was my turn to stare.
Luca’s father had supposedly died twelve years ago.
Car accident in Switzerland.
Luca rarely spoke about it.
I whispered, “Your father is dead.”
“So I was told.”
The words landed with terrible familiarity.
Dead grandmother.
Missing half sister.
Hidden father.
Apparently both our families buried people without requiring reality to cooperate.
The security video showed Daniel Vance open the SUV door for Rebecca.
They embraced.
Not strangers.
Not recent acquaintances.
They knew each other well.
Luca’s jaw tightened.
“When was this footage?”
“Twenty minutes ago.”
“Track the vehicle.”
“We are.”
Dad suddenly sat down.
I looked at him.
He was smiling.
Just slightly.
“What?”
He looked at Luca.
“You really don’t know.”
Luca’s voice became cold.
“Know what?”
Arthur leaned back.
“Why do you think Rebecca had access to Meridian?”
Luca said nothing.
Dad continued.
“She didn’t steal it from me.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then who?”
May you like
Arthur smiled.
“Your father gave it to her.”
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