Chapter 12 - The Sister Who Helped ThemBrooke came to Nathan's attorney's office carrying a cardboard box.
She looked exhausted.
Her hair was tied back.
Dark circles surrounded her eyes.
“I brought everything,” she said.
Nathan sat across the conference table.
“Everything?”
“Every email. Every message. The original wedding schedules. The forms I submitted.”
Dina gestured toward the empty chair.
“Please sit down.”
Brooke remained standing.
“I need to say something first.”
Nathan waited.
“I lied to you.”
He said nothing.
Brooke's eyes filled.
“Not just about the wedding. For months.”
She opened the box.
Inside were neatly labeled folders.
The first contained vendor agreements.
The second contained childcare correspondence.
The third contained messages from Audrey and Celeste.
Brooke pushed the third folder forward.
“That's where it started.”
Nathan opened it.
The earliest messages were from February, nearly four months before the wedding.
Audrey had complained that Eli refused to bond with her.
Brooke had tried to reassure her.
At first, the conversation seemed ordinary.
Then Audrey's messages became more pointed.
Nathan needs to stop letting a child decide how he lives.
Another message followed.
He still acts like Hannah is part of our marriage.
Nathan swallowed.
He remembered Audrey saying Hannah's name with irritation.
He'd excused it as insecurity.
Brooke continued.
“Celeste offered me work at Rosehaven. She said she needed someone she could trust.”
“And you accepted?”
“I wanted to.”
“Did you?”
“I accepted a provisional contract. It depended on Rosehaven securing new financing.”
Nathan looked up.
“So you had something to gain.”
Brooke's face crumpled.
“Yes.”
The room fell silent.
She pulled out another page.
“This was the childcare plan Audrey sent me.”
Nathan read it.
It proposed that Eli spend several weeks with Brooke after the wedding, supposedly to help the newly married couple adjust.
Nathan felt his stomach tighten.
“You agreed to this?”
“I told Audrey you'd never approve.”
“What did she say?”
“She said you were too sentimental to recognize what was best for everyone.”
Brooke wiped her eyes.
“She promised you'd understand after the wedding.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Did you ever think about what Eli wanted?”
Brooke lowered her head.
“Not enough.”
Dina turned toward Brooke.
“Tell us about the signature.”
Brooke took a long breath.
“The wedding-planning tablet had copies of signed vendor forms. Audrey told me to reuse Nathan's stored signature image for the childcare booking. She said he'd verbally approved it.”
“Did you believe that?” Dina asked.
“At first.”
Nathan leaned forward.
“And afterward?”
Brooke began crying.
“Afterward, I knew he hadn't.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Because I told you.”
Brooke nodded.
Nathan remembered arguing with his sister two weeks earlier.
He'd said Eli would attend every part of the wedding.
Brooke had assured him there were no plans to exclude the boy.
She'd been looking directly into his eyes.
“Why did you keep going?” Nathan asked.
“Celeste said the business contract would disappear if I caused problems.”
“So you chose money.”
Brooke looked up.
“I chose the possibility of finally succeeding at something. I told myself Eli would just spend a few hours somewhere safe.”
Nathan's voice hardened.
“He was terrified.”
“I know.”
“No. You know now. He knew then.”
Brooke covered her face.
Dina gave her a moment before asking about the loan application.
Brooke explained that she'd entered Nathan's identifying information into a preliminary online form.
She had selected a field indicating that he was aware of the submission.
She hadn't completed the lender's identity verification.
That was why the application remained incomplete.
Nathan stared at her.
“You submitted my personal information without permission.”
Brooke nodded.
“Yes.”
“Did Audrey tell you to do that?”
“Yes.”
“Did Celeste know?”
Brooke's hands trembled.
“Celeste gave me the application instructions.”
Dina asked Brooke to preserve the original electronic messages.
Brooke agreed.
Then she reached into the box one last time.
“There was one email I almost deleted.”
She placed a printed page on the table.
The sender was Celeste.
The recipients were Audrey and Brooke.
The subject line read:
AFTER THE VOWS.
Nathan began reading.
The message described a private meeting arranged for seven o'clock.
It instructed Brooke to ensure Eli was occupied elsewhere.
And the final sentence made Nathan's throat tighten.
Once Nathan believes the family is settled, he'll be much easier to persuade about the house.
Nathan looked at his sister.
“You saw this?”
Brooke nodded.
“And you still helped them?”
Tears slipped down her face.
“Yes.”
Nathan pushed back his chair.
He couldn't bear to look at her.
But as he approached the door, Brooke spoke again.
“There's one thing Audrey didn't know.”
May you like
Nathan stopped.
Brooke whispered, “Celeste was planning to use the money for something Audrey never agreed to.”
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