Chapter 9 - THE WEDDING THAT STOPPED
The wedding did not happen at two.
Nathan canceled it at 12:18.
He did not yell.
"I love you, but I don't know which decisions are yours anymore."
"I didn't steal from Harold."
"You signed things without reading. You hid Michael for eight months. You let your mother humiliate the man who raised you."
That conversation belonged to them.
Guests were already arriving.
Claire wanted to proceed anyway.
"People traveled."
Nathan's mother stared at her.
"My son is not a centerpiece."
That ended it.
I told Elena to serve the food.
Let the guests eat.
The flowers were already cut.
The musicians were already paid.
No reason to punish workers for family failure.
Rosewood became the strangest lunch in Nashville.
No bride.
No groom.
Just two hundred confused people eating chicken under wedding lights.
Detective Cole took statements upstairs.
Michael denied everything.
Jason blamed Michael.
Claire blamed Jason.
Each person pointed toward someone else.
Then Cole showed us something recovered from Jason's laptop.
A spreadsheet.
HAROLD EXIT OPTIONS.
Medical incompetency.
Divorce settlement.
Life insurance.
Business sale.
One row had a date.
TODAY - POST SIGNING.
Next to it:
MEDS IN CHAMPAGNE IF NECESSARY.
"You weren't supposed to leave Rosewood with control."
"I didn't know about that."
Michael snapped:
"Shut up."
That was the first time I saw fear between them.
Not partnership.
Hierarchy.
Michael had promised Claire freedom.
He was planning around her too.
"What happens to Mom?"
"That depends on what she did and what she knew."
"Harold, please."
I did not answer.
Then Cole searched Michael's car.
Inside was a small medication bottle.
Label removed.
Dr. Lawson's office inventory number remained on the cap.
May you like
The same doctor who had started my competency record.
And the prescription was for a sedative strong enough to make me look confused.
