Chương 6
The ordinary conversation felt dishonest and necessary.
At nine, Arthur called.
Daniel let it ring.
At nine fifteen, Elise called.
He stared at her name until the screen went dark.
At nine seventeen, she sent a message.
I did not forge anything, steal anything, or arrange to have your mother taken anywhere tonight. I researched a temporary assessment because she is not safe. I said something cruel when she refused to listen. I am not asking you to forgive me. I am asking you not to let my father decide what happened.
Daniel read it twice.
A second message appeared.
Your mother asked me not to tell you about the falls because she knew you would postpone the wedding.
He walked into the kitchen. Margaret was rinsing her bowl.
“Did you ask Elise to keep the falls from me?”
The bowl slipped against the sink but did not break.
Margaret turned off the water.
“I asked her not to make a production.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“She has a gift for making everything sound like testimony.”
“Did you ask her not to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I told you why.”
“You didn’t trust me to handle it?”
“I trusted you to cancel the wedding.”
“So you decided for me.”
Margaret gripped the edge of the sink.
Daniel heard the echo before she did.
After the ceremony, you’re going into a home—whether he agrees or not.
He sat down.
Margaret released the counter and folded the dish towel into a narrow rectangle.
“I am sorry,” she said.
It was not a complete apology. It was more than Elise had managed.
Daniel’s phone rang again. This time the caller was his best man, Marcus.
He answered.
“Are you with your mom?” Marcus asked.
“Yes.”
“Is she okay?”
“She’s tired.”
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“Good. I mean—not good. I mean, don’t pretend.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Marcus continued. “A few people are outside your apartment. One has a camera.”
“What?”
“Somebody posted the clip publicly. It has the hotel name in the background.”
“Who posted it?”
“No idea. It’s everywhere.”
Daniel opened the wedding group and found forty new messages demanding that whoever shared the recording remove it. Beneath them, Arthur had written, This matter is private. Any distribution beyond the original recipients is unauthorized.
The absurdity made Daniel angry enough to stand.
“You sent it to two hundred people,” he told Arthur’s message.
Marcus heard him. “Yeah. That statement isn’t going over well.”
“Can you find out who first posted it?”
“I’ll try. But screenshots are already on three platforms.”
“Is Elise at the apartment?”
“I don’t know.”
Daniel looked toward his mother.
“I need you to go there.”
“To your apartment?”
“Make sure she can get inside without walking through cameras. Don’t speak to anyone.”
“What do I say to Elise?”
“Nothing.”
“That has never been my strongest skill.”
“Tonight it is.”
Marcus sighed. “Okay.”
Daniel ended the call and found a message from Arthur.
My attorney advises preserving all communications. Do not delete the original recording.
Daniel called him.
Arthur answered immediately. “Are you safe?”
“That depends. Did you send the video anywhere besides the guest portal?”
“No.”
“Did anyone on your staff receive it?”
“My assistant helped download a backup.”
“Who?”
“Paul.”
“Did Paul send it?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I asked him.”
“And people always tell you the truth?”
Arthur paused.
Daniel continued. “The clip is public. Reporters are outside my apartment.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“No.”
“Daniel—”
“You don’t handle anything else.”
“The video concerns my daughter.”
“It concerns my mother.”
“It concerns all of us.”
“Then why did you act alone?”
Arthur inhaled slowly.
“I believed exposure would prevent Elise from minimizing what she had done.”
“You exposed my mother too.”
“I regret that.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“You sound disappointed that regret is inconvenient.”
Arthur’s voice lowered. “I watched my daughter terrorize a vulnerable woman minutes before she intended to marry you. I acted.”
“You always act. That’s why nobody tells you anything until it’s too late.”
The line silenced both of them.
Daniel remembered Elise at Christmas, asking her father not to contact the caterer over a late invoice. Arthur had called anyway. He remembered her saying, He doesn’t help. He takes jurisdiction.
Arthur spoke carefully. “There may be documents related to Lake Briar.”
“Elise says there aren’t.”
“She said that?”
“She says she researched an assessment.”
“Ask her whether she submitted an intake packet.”
Daniel looked at his mother.
“How do you know there’s a packet?”
“Elise’s laptop was open in the bridal suite. I saw the facility name.”
“You went through her laptop?”
“I saw the screen.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
Arthur did not answer.
Daniel ended the call.
Margaret had heard enough.
“You should speak to Elise,” she said.
“I thought you wanted me to stay away from her.”
“I want many incompatible things.”
“That seems to be the family position tonight.”
She sat at the table.
“Do not forgive her because I made mistakes,” she said. “Do not condemn her because Arthur needs a villain.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Find out what she actually did.”
The request sounded simple. It was not.
The next morning, Daniel woke in his childhood bed wearing tuxedo trousers and his father’s sweatshirt. His neck hurt from the flat pillow. The ceiling fan clicked every fourth rotation.
For several seconds, he did not remember why his wedding shoes were beside the desk.
Then his phone lit the dark room.
May you like
The clip had been viewed more than a million times.
News accounts called Elise the “Bridal Home Bride.” Strangers analyzed her posture, her tone, Margaret’s expression, and the furniture in the hotel lounge. One account falsely claimed Margaret had been drugged. Another said Elise operated a chain of abusive nursing homes. A former classmate of Elise’s posted that she had always been controlling. Someone else found Arthur’s company website and accused him of staging the video to avoid paying for the wedding.
