Chapter 5 - THE MILLION-DOLLAR LIE
Nathan placed his phone on the nearest table.
He had an email open from an insurance investigator.
The timestamp was from the previous afternoon.
The message referenced a preliminary loss report for Chloe’s engagement ring.
Estimated insured value: $1.18 million.
Cause of loss: suspected theft during wedding reception.
The problem was obvious.
At the time that report was submitted, the wedding reception was still more than twenty-four hours away.
Chloe looked toward Eleanor.
That tiny movement told me everything.
Nathan noticed too.
“Mom?”
Eleanor snapped,
“Don’t call me that.”
Nathan laughed once.
There was no humor in it.
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
He turned toward Chloe.
“I’m asking your mother why you looked at her.”
Chloe’s voice shook.
“I didn’t.”
“You did.”
Harold stepped away from his wife.
“Eleanor.”
She glared at him.
“This is none of your business.”
“It became my business when our family name was attached to a possible felony.”
My father looked toward Daniel.
“Ask legal to come upstairs.”
Daniel nodded.
“They’re already on their way.”
Eleanor’s confidence finally cracked.
“You cannot interrogate us.”
“No one is interrogating you.”
My father gestured toward the doors.
“You are free to speak to the police instead.”
Eleanor went quiet.
Amanda suddenly raised her hand like a student.
“I want to tell the truth.”
Chloe spun toward her.
“Don’t.”
Amanda looked at the security officer beside her.
“I want an attorney first.”
Daniel nodded.
“That would be wise.”
She looked at Chloe.
“But I’m not taking this fall for you.”
Nathan stared at his wife.
“What exactly did you tell her to do?”
Chloe’s eyes darted around the ballroom.
Then she exploded.
“Fine!”
Everyone went silent.
“Yes, I told Amanda to hold the ring.”
Nathan’s face hardened.
“And plant it?”
Chloe hesitated.
“Yes.”
A gasp traveled through the room.
“But it was supposed to be temporary.”
Nathan looked stunned.
“You framed your brother’s pregnant wife for theft on our wedding night.”
“She needed to be humbled.”
My father actually laughed.
It was one short, disbelieving sound.
Chloe pointed at me.
“She walks around like she’s better than everyone.”
I stared at her.
“I spent three years trying to make myself smaller around you.”
“That’s not true.”
“I wore a sixty-dollar dress to your engagement party because you complained that my original dress looked too expensive.”
Chloe blinked.
“I turned down your mother’s offer to host my baby shower because you said I was stealing attention from your wedding.”
Eleanor looked away.
“I never announced my promotion because Dominic told me you were upset about your job.”
Dominic closed his eyes.
I continued.
“I skipped Christmas with my own parents last year because your mother said married women belonged with their husband’s family.”
My voice shook now.
Not from fear.
From finally hearing the facts aloud.
“And after all of that, you still decided I needed to be humbled.”
Chloe’s mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Nathan slowly removed his wedding band.
Chloe noticed.
“What are you doing?”
He placed it on the table.
Her face collapsed.
“No.”
“I don’t know who I married.”
She grabbed his arm.
“Nathan, please.”
He pulled away.
“You planned an insurance claim before the ring was supposedly stolen.”
“That wasn’t me.”
Nathan looked toward Eleanor.
“Then who?”
Eleanor remained silent.
My father’s attorneys entered the ballroom.
Two men and one woman.
The woman introduced herself as Rebecca Sloan, general counsel for Vale Hospitality.
She carried a thin folder.
“Mr. Vale.”
My father nodded.
Rebecca looked toward Chloe.
“Before anyone makes another statement, you should know the hotel has received a preservation request from your ring insurer.”
Chloe stared at her.
Rebecca opened the folder.
“They are alleging that the appraisal used to insure the ring may also be fraudulent.”
Nathan went perfectly still.
“What?”
Rebecca looked at him.
“The ring may not be worth one million dollars.”
Chloe whispered,
“That’s impossible.”
Nathan’s father spoke from behind him.
“No.”
His expression had gone cold.
“It isn’t.”
He looked directly at Eleanor.
“Because I paid for the real diamond.”
Then he pointed toward the ring lying on the table.
May you like
“And that is not the ring I purchased.”
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