MY BRIDE DUMPED WEDDING CAKE ON MY 4-YEAR-OLD SON—THEN I DISCOVERED WHY SHE WANTED HIM GONE.

Lena met us in a public library conference room with a tote bag full of receipts.

She had been Celeste's personal assistant for fourteen months. She'd been fired when she refused to sign a false statement describing Oliver as aggressive.

"Celeste wanted him removed from the wedding before the vows," Lena said. "She kept saying the child had heard too much."

"Why the cake?"

"She saw him running to you. She knew he'd been listening at the bridal suite door. She panicked and did something cruel."

Lena showed us a recording of Celeste talking to Miles in the empty suite.

"The child heard about the bank," Celeste said. "What if he repeats it?"

Miles replied, "Then make Daniel think the child is the problem. He'll agree to a placement if he's exhausted enough."

"And if Daniel refuses?" she asked.

"Then we make sure he can't sign anything himself."

The recording ended there.

Nina's expression hardened.

"That last sentence matters. Did they ever discuss declaring Daniel unfit to manage the trust?"

Lena nodded.

"There were doctors' names on a list. I don't know whether anyone agreed to help."

She gave us an appointment card for a private assessment that I hadn't requested.

For weeks I'd been blaming myself for missing Celeste's cruelty. Now I understood she had practiced kindness whenever I was watching and contempt whenever I wasn't.

At the door, Lena turned back.

"There's something else. I heard Miles say they couldn't lose the mill because his creditors had already been promised it."