Chapter 4 - SAVANNAH'S REAL PLAN
I turned slowly toward Savannah.
"What did you do?"
She shook her head.
"I didn't know."
"You didn't know what?"
"I didn't know Claire would call you."
That answer terrified me more than any confession could have.
The venue manager locked the ballroom doors.
Outside, guests were already leaving.
Inside, my family stood surrounded by evidence of a crime that apparently had been growing for years.
I walked toward Savannah.
"You said you ordered the food."
"I did."
"You knew you couldn't pay."
She looked down.
"Yes."
"You knew my parents had been stealing from me."
She nodded.
"You knew about Claire."
Another nod.
"And you still expected me to cater your wedding?"
Savannah finally looked at me.
"I needed the wedding to happen."
"Why?"
She began crying.
"Because if it didn't, Dad would lose everything."
I stared at her.
"That's not my problem."
"I know."
"Then why?"
"Because he threatened me."
That stopped me.
"Who?"
"Dad."
I looked at my father.
He shook his head.
"She's lying."
Savannah screamed:
"You told me you'd send me to jail!"
Everyone froze.
Dad's face changed.
Savannah wiped her tears.
"He said if I didn't help him, he'd tell the police I was responsible for the transfers."
I looked at Marcus.
"Is that true?"
Marcus didn't answer.
Instead, he opened his briefcase again.
"There is something you should see."
He pulled out a flash drive.
"This contains the original security recordings, bank records, and emails between your father and Savannah."
I stared at him.
"Emails?"
"She wasn't just helping him."
Marcus looked at me.
"She was planning to steal your company."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
"After your father's debts became impossible to hide, he planned to transfer ownership of your catering company."
"To Savannah?"
Marcus nodded.
"She was supposed to take control after your wedding."
Savannah shook her head violently.
"I didn't want it!"
"But you signed the documents."
"I was scared!"
I turned toward her.
"You signed them."
She broke down.
Then something occurred to me.
"Why would Dad need my company?"
Marcus answered.
"Because your company owns something far more valuable than catering equipment."
"What?"
He hesitated.
"Your commercial property."
I frowned.
I had purchased the building two years earlier.
It had been expensive, but manageable.
"What about it?"
Marcus said:
"The property is sitting on land that has recently become extremely valuable."
"How valuable?"
"Approximately twelve million dollars."
I stared at him.
Suddenly, my father's behavior made sense.
The pressure.
The family favors.
The demand that I keep the business "in the family."
The fake signatures.
They weren't stealing from a small catering company.
They were trying to steal a twelve-million-dollar property.
And they needed me out of the way.
"Why the wedding?"
Marcus looked at Savannah.
"Because the plan was to make it appear that you had abandoned your responsibilities."
I felt sick.
"What responsibilities?"
"Your company."
They intended to claim that I had become unstable.
That I was unreliable.
That I had walked away from a major contracted event.
That I had endangered hundreds of guests.
Then they would use the fabricated scandal to force an emergency transfer of control.
I stared at Savannah.
"You were going to destroy my reputation."
She whispered:
"I'm sorry."
I shook my head.
"No."
I wasn't angry anymore.
I was cold.
Very cold.
Then the ballroom lights flickered.
The venue manager checked his phone.
His face changed.
"What?"
He looked at me.
"The police are outside."
My heart stopped.
"Why?"
He swallowed.
"They received a report that someone stole expensive wedding property."
I looked at Savannah.
She stepped backward.
"I didn't call them."
Dad suddenly reached for his phone.
Marcus shouted:
"Don't!"
Too late.
Dad's phone displayed a message.
UNKNOWN NUMBER:
THE GIRL KNOWS.
DELETE EVERYTHING.
Dad dropped the phone.
I stared at him.
"Who sent that?"
He whispered:
"Claire."
Then someone knocked on the ballroom doors.
Three hard knocks.
A woman's voice came from the other side.
"Lila."
I knew that voice.
It was Claire.
May you like
And she said:
"Don't let your father leave."
