Chapter 8 - THE HOUSE THEY PLANNED TO BUY AFTER MARRYING ME
Derek intended to marry me on a Thursday.
Then, three days later, he planned to close on a California house with Clara.
For several minutes, I couldn't understand how both things could be true.
Then I opened the restructuring documents again.
The answer was there.
Derek wasn't planning to leave me immediately.
He wanted the wedding to proceed.
He wanted me to sign the financial documents.
He wanted access to Rosehaven's development rights.
He wanted the business to complete its restructuring.
Only then would he have the money and leverage to end our marriage on his terms.
The wedding wasn't a romantic commitment.
It had become another step in his financial plan.
I felt physically sick.
“Why would Clara agree to that?” I asked Nolan.
“She may have believed Derek would leave you afterward.”
“Or maybe she didn't care.”
He didn't argue.
That was one of the things I loved most about my brother.
He never insisted I find a comforting explanation for something cruel.
The next morning, I drove to Rosehaven House.
The property stood above Lake Geneva, surrounded by century-old oak trees and gardens my grandmother had planted herself.
She had raised me there during summers.
My father had taught me to swim from its old wooden dock.
After he died, restoring Rosehaven became my way of keeping part of him alive.
It was the first hotel in the Bellwether collection.
The property belonged to my family trust, while Bellwether operated it under a lease.
Derek knew how much it meant to me.
And he had been trying to turn its future into collateral for his secret plans.
I walked through the empty wedding pavilion.
White flowers had already been ordered.
Crystal chandeliers hung above the dance floor.
The seating chart stood near the entrance.
EMILY HART & DEREK LAWSON.
I stared at our names.
Then I took the card from its frame.
Not dramatically.
Carefully.
As if handling something that had already died.
Our wedding planner, Tessa Morgan, found me there.
“Emily?”
I looked up.
She was holding a clipboard.
“Is everything okay?”
Tessa had known me for three years.
Unlike Clara, she had never claimed to be my sister.
She was simply a competent woman who did what she promised.
That suddenly felt more valuable than a lifetime of declarations.
“The wedding is canceled.”
Her expression changed.
“Oh, Emily.”
“Derek and I aren't getting married.”
She set the clipboard down.
Then she hugged me.
No questions.
No demand for an explanation.
Just a hug.
I cried against her shoulder.
Afterward, she helped me review the contracts.
Some deposits were refundable.
Others weren't.
The catering arrangements could be modified.
The florist had already ordered the flowers.
The musicians had turned down other work.
I didn't want innocent vendors losing money because Derek and Clara had betrayed me.
So I asked Tessa to hold the date temporarily.
“I'll decide what to do with it.”
She nodded.
Then her expression changed.
“Emily, there's something I need to tell you.”
My stomach tightened.
“What?”
“Clara asked me to make a change to your wedding paperwork last month.”
“What change?”
“She said Derek wanted the marriage license application and the prenuptial agreement delivered together.”
I stared at her.
“The prenuptial agreement?”
“Yes.”
“Derek told me he wasn't asking for one.”
Tessa looked confused.
“Clara said your lawyers had already approved it.”
She opened her email.
Attached was a document titled:
HART-LAWSON PREMARITAL AGREEMENT.
I scanned the first page.
Separate property.
Business interests.
Trust distributions.
Then I reached the attached schedule.
It proposed that certain future income and development rights associated with Rosehaven be contributed to a jointly controlled holding company after the wedding.
My hands started shaking.
Derek had prepared another path to Rosehaven.
One through the business.
Another through our marriage.
Then Tessa opened the email that accompanied the document.
From Clara.
Please keep this away from Emily until Derek is ready to explain it. She gets emotional about family property.
I stared at the screen.
The friend who helped me choose my wedding flowers had been helping my fiancé prepare a legal trap.
Then Tessa said quietly:
“There's one more attachment.”
A draft marital settlement agreement.
May you like
It was dated six months after our planned wedding.
Derek had already prepared the paperwork for our divorce.
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