Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN HOLDING THE CAMERA
It was the word please that stopped me.
Vanessa didn't plead. She demanded, bargained, or cried until someone surrendered. Now her eyes kept darting between me and Mom.
“Why shouldn't I show her?” I asked.
Mom's camera rose again. “You're upsetting your sister.”
“Mom, turn that thing off.”
“I want a record of how you're behaving.”
Rachel stepped between us. “Then get the ruined dress in the frame too.”
For once, Mom didn't have an answer. She lowered the phone just as our wedding coordinator, Janelle, opened the door.
“Evelyn? We need final photographs in fifteen minutes.” She saw my dress and went still. “What happened?”
“Vanessa did this,” I said.
“Accidentally,” Mom replied.
“The bottle was uncapped before she walked in,” Rachel said. “It was on the bathroom counter. I saw it.”
Vanessa folded her arms. “You can't prove anything.”
Janelle looked at the carpet, then at the empty dye bottle in the trash. “I can ask security to preserve the hallway footage.”
Vanessa's jaw moved. She knew the suite hallway had cameras.
I was not canceling my wedding because my sister had planned a disaster. “Is there another dress?” I asked.
Janelle glanced at her watch. “I know a woman who runs alterations for the venue. I'll call her.”
Mom looked offended. “And leave your sister out of the ceremony?”
“She was never in my bridal party,” I said. “And she's leaving this room.”
Mom put a hand on Vanessa's shoulder. “We're all family.”
“That's what makes this worse.”
Rachel collected the bottle using a clean towel. Janelle photographed the stains and called the security desk. Vanessa headed for the door, then stopped beside me.
“You think Ethan loves you because you're special?” she whispered. “He only loves what comes with you.”
I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the wet dress.
May you like
Before I could ask what she meant, my phone buzzed with a message from Ethan.
I'm outside the suite. There's something else you need to know about your grandmother's money.
