PART 3
I walked upstairs.
I went into the bedroom, closed the door, and sat on the edge of the bed.
Five days.
We had been married for five days.
Five days since I’d stood beside Elden beneath white flowers and promised to love him for the rest of our lives.
Five days since I’d believed I was starting over.
Five days since I’d placed my trust in a man who had apparently already placed a value on the house where I’d spent most of my adult life.
My phone rang.
Christine.
I answered.
“June, don’t confront him again until we know exactly what we’re dealing with.”
“I already did.”
“And?”
“He denied meeting anyone Tuesday.”
There was a pause.
“Did he?”
“I don’t know.”
“I’m sending you something.”
A minute later, an email arrived.
There was an attachment.
I opened it.
It was a copy of a calendar invitation.
Tuesday.
2:30 p.m.
Location: First Tennessee Private Banking Conference Room.
Attendees:
Elden Sayers.
Dean Sayers.
Martin Kessler.
And one name I didn’t recognize.
Harold Vance.
Christine called back.
“Harold Vance is a senior loan officer.”
I stared at the screen.
“Why would Elden meet a loan officer if he wasn’t looking for financing?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Can you find out?”
“I already started.”
That sentence frightened me.
“How long have you been looking?”
“Since you sent me the LLC.”
I swallowed.
“And?”
“I found something else.”
Christine’s voice became quieter.
“There’s a second entity.”
I sat up.
“What entity?”
“Whitlock Hospitality Holdings.”
I had never heard the name.
“Is Elden involved?”
“Indirectly.”
“What does indirectly mean?”
“It means his name isn’t on the public filing.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then how do you know?”
“Because one of the managers is Dean.”
I closed my eyes.
“Christine…”
“I know.”
“No. You don’t understand.”
“I think I do.”
“I just married this man.”
“I know.”
“And his son is creating companies.”
“I know.”
“And my house is somehow connected to them.”
“I know.”
“And there’s a loan officer.”
“I know.”
Her calmness almost made me cry.
“Then tell me what to do.”
“Do nothing tonight.”
“I can’t just sit here.”
“You can.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Because right now, information is more valuable than confrontation.”
I looked toward the bedroom door.
“What if he asks me to sign something?”
“Don’t sign anything.”
“What if he asks why?”
“Tell him you want your attorney to review it.”
“And if he gets angry?”
Christine paused.
“Then his reaction will tell us something too.”
I hung up.
For the next hour, I sat on the bed and listened to Elden moving around downstairs.
Cabinet doors opened.
Water ran.
The television came on.
Everything sounded normal.
That was the strangest part.
The world hadn’t changed.
The refrigerator still hummed.
The clock still ticked.
The neighbor’s dog still barked somewhere across the street.
But my marriage had become a question.
At 7:14, Elden knocked on the bedroom door.
“June?”
I didn’t answer.
He opened it slightly.
“Can I come in?”
I nodded.
He sat beside me.
“I know you’re upset.”
“I am.”
“I shouldn’t have lied.”
I turned toward him.
“So you admit you lied?”
He rubbed his hands together.
“I wasn’t thinking.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
He sighed.
“Yes. I met someone Tuesday.”
“Who?”
“A lender.”
“Why?”
“Because the hotel project needs additional capital.”
“And you told me you hadn’t met anyone.”
“I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“That you’d leave.”
I stared at him.
“You lied because you thought I’d leave if I knew the truth.”
“Yes.”
“And what truth were you afraid I’d learn?”
He didn’t answer.
I waited.
Finally, he said, “The project is under pressure.”
“How much?”
He looked away.
“Elden.”
“About two-point-three million.”
I nodded.
“And your plan was to use my house?”
“Not use it.”
“Secure the loan with it?”
He didn’t answer.
That was enough.
I stood.
“You knew.”
“I was trying to protect everything.”
“Everything?”
“Our future.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You were trying to protect your project.”
He stood too.
“June, listen to me. If the hotel succeeds, everyone benefits.”
“Everyone?”
“Yes.”
“Does Cecily benefit?”
He frowned.
“Your daughter?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She’d have a successful family business.”
I almost laughed.
“You don’t even know my daughter.”
“I’ve met her.”
“You’ve met her twice.”
“She likes me.”
“She tolerates you.”
His face reddened.
“That’s unfair.”
“Maybe.”
I walked toward the window.
“My late husband never once asked me to risk our daughter’s home for his business.”
Elden’s jaw tightened.
“Jack isn’t here anymore.”
I turned around.
“Don’t use his absence against me.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
“You just did.”
Silence.
Then he said something that I knew would stay with me for the rest of my life.
“Jack left you thirty-eight million dollars, June. You can’t pretend you’re not sitting on resources that could save this.”
Everything inside me went still.
I looked at him.
“What did you just say?”
He froze.
The color drained from his face.
I said nothing.
He stared at me.
Then I realized something.
He knew.
Or at least he thought he knew.
I slowly walked toward him.
“How much money did you say?”
He swallowed.
“I was speaking generally.”
“No.”
“June—”
“You said thirty-eight million.”
He looked down.
I watched the calculation happen behind his eyes.
He had just revealed something I had spent months protecting.
He didn’t know the exact details.
He couldn’t.
Because I had never told him.
Jack’s inheritance had been deliberately kept private.
