“No one accused you.”
“You’re looking at me like I did.”
Tiffany backed away from both men.
“What were you planning?”
Daniel looked at her with naked panic.
“Nothing. I bought the policy because the agent said it was part of protecting the event.”
“In whose name?”
“Mom’s.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“I thought it was a financial safeguard.”
“For whom?”
He had no answer.
The silence that followed was different from the one after the slap. That silence had been shock. This one was recognition.
People began stepping away from Daniel and Tiffany. A few guests moved toward the doors. Others remained, trapped between discomfort and the need to understand what they were seeing.
Margaret’s phone vibrated.
The screen showed a message from the venue manager.
He had sent a file.
She opened it.
A scanned email appeared. The sender was Daniel’s private address. The recipient was the insurance agent.
The message read:
My mother is unstable and refuses to cooperate. If something happens before the wedding, I need the benefit released directly to me. Keep all contact with her limited.
Margaret read it twice.
Daniel saw her face.
“What is it?”
She turned the phone toward him.
He did not reach for it.
Roland moved quickly.
“This document could be fabricated.”
