Chapter 2 - MY MOTHER HAD KNOWN
The reception never recovered.
Dad tried to grab the flash drive.
I closed my hand around it first.
“Give me that.”
“No.”
“I am your father.”
“And she was my mother.”
For the first time in my life, those words seemed to mean different things.
Dad looked around.
Nearly a hundred wedding guests were watching.
Some were confused.
Others had already taken out their phones.
Lisa’s bridesmaid whispered something to another woman.
A rumor moved through the ballroom faster than music.
I hadn’t planned to play Mom’s recording publicly.
At least not at first.
But Dad made that decision for me.
He raised his voice.
“This is a disgusting attempt by a grieving daughter to ruin my wedding.”
I stared at him.
Then at Lisa.
She suddenly looked relieved.
Dad continued.
“Evelyn was heavily medicated near the end. She didn’t always know what she was saying.”
That was the moment something inside me hardened.
He was trying to discredit Mom after betraying her.
So I walked toward the DJ booth.
Dad realized what I was doing.
“No.”
I plugged in the drive.
The screen behind the wedding table went black.
Then Mom appeared.
She looked thin.
A scarf covered her head.
But her eyes were clear.
Completely clear.
“Hello, sweetheart.”
My knees nearly gave out.
I had never seen this video.
My attorney had told me only that Mom left instructions.
Her voice filled the ballroom.
“If you’re seeing this, then I’m gone.”
People lowered their heads.
Dad didn’t move.
Mom continued.
“And if Richard and Lisa are standing together while this is being played, then unfortunately I was right.”
A gasp moved through the room.
Lisa stumbled backward.
Dad whispered:
“Turn it off.”
Nobody touched the controls.
Mom looked directly into the camera.
“I know about the affair.”
Lisa covered her mouth.
“I have known since last Christmas.”
That was six months before I overheard them.
Six months.
Mom had known almost the entire time.
She continued.
“I also know Richard believes I don’t know about the financial documents he has been bringing me to sign.”
Dad suddenly rushed toward the DJ booth.
Uncle Raymond stepped in front of him.
“Don’t.”
Mom’s voice continued behind them.
“I did not sign those documents.”
Dad stopped breathing.
“What?”
Mom smiled faintly from the screen.
“The signatures Richard thinks belong to me do not.”
I stared at the video.
That was new even to me.
Then Mom said:
“I asked my attorney to review every document Richard submitted in my name.”
My father’s face collapsed.
“And we discovered something much worse than adultery.”
The screen went dark.
The recording ended.
Everyone waited.
Lisa turned toward Dad.
“What did she mean?”
Before he could answer, a man near the back of the ballroom stood.
Gray suit.
Silver hair.
Leather briefcase.
I recognized him immediately.
Mom’s attorney.
Mr. Bennett.
May you like
He looked directly at Dad.
“It means, Richard, that Evelyn discovered you had been forging her signature.”
