“Because everybody thinks he’s the good one.”
My anger vanished.
“What?”
“He tells people you’re angry all the time.”
My throat closed.
“He said you kept me from him.”
“Lucas.”
“He said you wanted more money.”
“Who told you that?”
“He did.”
“When?”
Lucas hesitated.
“At Dad’s house.”
I felt sick.
“How often?”
“A lot.”
I sat beside him.
“He told you our custody problems were about money?”
Lucas nodded.
“And that I prevented visits?”
Another nod.
“Sweetheart, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because you get sad when I talk about Dad.”
That sentence tore straight through me.
I had tried so hard to protect him.
Apparently, I had taught him to protect me instead.
I pulled him against me.
“You never have to protect me from the truth.”
He started crying.
Not loudly.
Just small, exhausted tears.
“I hate him.”
“No.”
“I do.”
“You hate what he did.”
“I hate him.”
“You’re allowed to be angry.”
“I don’t want him to be my dad.”
I closed my eyes.
Then said the hardest thing I had ever said.
“He will always be your father.”
Lucas pulled away.
“What if I don’t want him?”
I had no answer.
My phone rang.
Rachel.
I answered.
“What happened?”
“You were right about the wedding.”
“That bad?”
“Worse.”
“What did Ethan do?”
“Called me trash during his speech.”
Silence.
Then Rachel said,
“I’m sorry, what?”
“And Lucas played the recorder.”
Another silence.
Longer.
“Laura.”
“I know.”
“Where is the original?”
“With me.”
“Do not surrender it.”
“I won’t.”
“Where’s Ethan?”
“Inside.”
“Does he know about our filing?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“What filing?”
Rachel exhaled.
“We filed the motion to reopen this afternoon.”
My pulse jumped.
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I was waiting for confirmation from the clerk.”
“Is it official?”
“Yes.”
“When does he get served?”
Rachel paused.
“Possibly sooner than expected.”
“Meaning?”
Before she could answer, the ballroom doors opened.
A man in a dark suit stepped onto the terrace.
Then another.
Ethan followed.
His face had gone gray.
The first man held an envelope.
“Mr. Caldwell?”
Rachel’s voice came softly through my phone.
“Now.”
PART FOUR
The Second Gift
Ethan was served with court papers at his own wedding reception.
I wish I could claim I planned it.
I didn’t.
Rachel’s process server had gone to Ethan’s home.
A neighbor mentioned the wedding.
The server recognized the venue from public social-media posts.
He arrived at 8:17 p.m.
Seconds after Lucas detonated the recorder.
Timing sometimes has a sense of humor.
The ballroom watched as Ethan opened the envelope.
He read the first page.
Then the second.
His face tightened.
Sophia stood ten feet away.
“What is that?”
“Nothing.”
The word came too quickly.
She laughed.
A sharp, humorless sound.
“Apparently ‘nothing’ is your favorite answer tonight.”
Ethan folded the papers.
Charles Mercer stepped closer.
“What was served?”
Ethan ignored him.
Sophia snatched the first page from his hand.
He tried to grab it back.
Too late.
Her eyes moved across the caption.
MOTION FOR RELIEF FROM JUDGMENT BASED ON FRAUD, MISREPRESENTATION, AND CONCEALMENT OF MARITAL ASSETS.
She looked up.
“You told me this was handled.”
“It is.”
“This says fraud.”
“It’s an allegation.”
“Based on the conversation I just heard?”
Ethan’s voice dropped.
“Sophia.”
“Did you lie to me?”
The room had gone silent again.
