Chương 8
“You said it was handled.”
“I said the financing was handled.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No.”
Hazel looked at me.
“This is why secrets rot.”
I rubbed the back of my neck.
Garnet glanced from Hazel to me.
“How long have you known?”
Hazel shook her head.
“I knew Martin helped.”
“Helped?”
“I didn’t know the legal structure.”
Garnet laughed again, but this one was quieter.
“Fantastic.”
Amber stepped closer to him.
“Now you see.”
He turned on her.
“Don’t.”
“I’m just saying—”
“Don’t use this.”
She stopped.
Garnet looked at me.
“What else?”
“This isn’t the place.”
“Apparently every place is the place except when I ask a question.”
“Your trust is still under my control while I’m alive.”
He stared at me.
“My trust.”
“Yes.”
“The one you told me was set up for me.”
“It is.”
“But I don’t control it.”
“Not fully.”
He shoved both hands into his pockets.
The posture looked defensive and childish at once.
“What else don’t I know?”
I had spent years telling myself that withholding details protected him from entitlement.
Standing in my driveway, it suddenly looked a great deal like power.
“More than you should have been kept from.”
Garnet’s eyes hardened.
“That is a very polished answer.”
“It’s the true one.”
“Did you ever plan to tell me?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
I had no answer that didn't sound insulting.
Hazel said, “Martin.”
“I know.”
Garnet paced once toward the curb and back.
Amber watched him closely.
Her earlier panic had changed into something calculating.
Not cruel exactly.
Alert.
She saw the crack between us and understood that it might give her room.
“You’ve spent your whole life letting him hold the leash,” she said.
Garnet turned toward her.
“Stop.”
“It’s true.”
“You stole from my company.”
“I borrowed from it.”
“You forged approvals.”
“You are not going to say that word like I hacked a bank.”
“You used my authentication app while I was out of town.”
“You left the iPad at home.”
“That is not permission.”
Amber’s mouth opened, then closed.
Hazel said, “What were the charges for?”
Amber gave her a look.
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“It matters if you’re saying you intended to repay them.”
Amber looked toward Garnet.
He nodded.
“Show us.”
Her expression changed again.
“I don’t have everything.”
“You have the invoices.”
“Some.”
“Show me.”
“I said I don’t have them here.”
“Where are they?”
“On my laptop.”
“Then send them.”
She folded her arms.
“You’re putting me on trial in your parents’ driveway.”
“No.”
Garnet’s voice was tired now.
“I’m asking what you spent forty-eight thousand dollars on.”
“I told you.”
“The wedding.”
“Yes.”
“Which vendors?”
“Why does that matter?”
“Because the ballroom was paid by the venue package.”
Amber looked at me.
I had said nothing about what was covered.
Garnet noticed.
His brow furrowed.
“The catering was included too.”
She said nothing.
“And the flowers were twenty-two.”
“Plus upgrades.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know off the top of my head.”
“You knew the company charges were forty-eight.”
“Because I looked last night.”
“Then show me what they paid for.”
Amber shook her head.
“Not like this.”
Garnet’s phone buzzed.
He ignored it.
Amber’s did the same.
She looked at the screen and swore softly.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Show me.”
“No.”
“Amber.”
She stepped away.
“This is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
“Because I’d ask questions?”
“Because you panic.”
“I am standing here remarkably calm for someone who just found out his wife used his company card without permission.”
“You panic quietly.”
Garnet looked at me.
I almost objected on principle, then remembered myself.
She wasn't entirely wrong.
Garnet said, “Who texted you?”
Amber shoved the phone into her sweatshirt pocket.
“Nobody.”
Hazel said, “That was fast.”
Amber shot her a look.
Hazel lifted both hands.
“I’m not interrogating you.”
“Feels like it.”
A car slowed in front of the house.
All four of us looked toward it.
It kept going.
Amber pulled the sunglasses off her head again.
“I need to leave.”
Garnet said, “Why?”
“Because I do.”
“Who texted you?”
She started toward the SUV.
He didn’t touch her this time.
“Amber.”
She opened the driver’s door.
Garnet stepped closer.
“If there is something else, tell me now.”
She turned.
For a second, her face looked exhausted rather than angry.
“There is always something else with money.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means weddings cost money.”
“You already said that.”
“And your company wasn’t exactly drowning in cash before this.”
Garnet went still.
“What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything else.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It is.”
“Did you move money?”
“No.”
“Did you sign anything?”
“No.”
She looked at the ground.
That tiny delay made the answer useless.
Garnet saw it too.
“Amber.”
Her eyes filled again.
“I signed one vendor agreement.”
“What vendor?”
She shook her head.
“What vendor?”
“It wasn’t supposed to matter.”
Garnet stepped back.
I could see him beginning to understand before he had the facts.
“Which vendor?”
“The production company.”
“What production company?”
“The lighting and staging.”
Hazel frowned.
“I thought Hawthorne handled lighting.”
“It handled basic lighting.”
Amber looked at Garnet.
“You wanted the ceiling wash and the projection wall.”
“I said it looked nice.”
“You said you loved it.”
“That is not the same as approving twenty thousand dollars.”
“It wasn’t twenty.”
“How much?”
She said nothing.
Garnet closed his eyes.
“How much, Amber?”
“Thirty-two.”
His face went pale.
“That’s in addition to the forty-eight?”
“No.”
She hesitated.
“Some of it overlaps.”
“Some?”
“Twelve.”
Garnet stared at her.
“So there’s another twenty thousand.”
“It was supposed to be covered by gifts.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it’s true.”
“No, it’s not.”
He pulled the phone out again and opened a calculator.
“What else?”
“Nothing.”
“What else?”
“I said nothing.”
“Did you put down deposits anywhere else?”
Amber’s mouth tightened.
“That wasn’t me.”
Garnet stopped moving.
“What does that mean?”
“The honeymoon.”
May you like
“What about it?”
“The villa.”
