Chapter 4 - MY MOTHER’S NEW FAVORITE DAUGHTERI woke the next morning to twenty-seven missed notifications.
Fourteen were from relatives.
Five were from friends who had apparently discovered my marriage through relatives.
Three were from my mother.
And five were from Lucas.
I opened Mother's messages first.
We need to talk before the ceremony.
Then:
I don't appreciate being blindsided.
And finally:
Your father is very hurt.
Classic.
My father had probably said nothing.
Mother had always been excellent at outsourcing her feelings to other people.
Beside me, Adrian was already awake.
He was sitting against the headboard in our hotel suite reading something on his tablet.
“Morning.”
“You've been working.”
“Twenty minutes.”
“On the Kensington thing?”
His mouth tightened.
“Yes.”
I sat up.
“Bad?”
“I don't know yet.”
That was Adrian's language for potentially very bad.
He rarely speculated before having evidence.
I reached for coffee.
“You don't have to deal with it today.”
“Business doesn't care about wedding schedules.”
“I mean for me.”
He set the tablet down.
“Claire.”
“I don't want you thinking you need to destroy someone's company because my mother cut my dresses.”
One eyebrow lifted.
“That wasn't my plan.”
“Good.”
“My current plan involves breakfast.”
I smiled.
He handed me a croissant.
Then his expression softened.
“How do you feel?”
“About which disaster?”
“Pick one.”
I leaned against him.
“Strangely good.”
And I meant it.
Yesterday's humiliation had hurt.
But walking into that ballroom with Adrian had exposed something I hadn't expected.
My mother's power over me depended on secrecy.
Her comments worked best behind closed doors.
Her cruelty thrived when I absorbed it quietly.
Once other people saw it, she looked very different.
My phone rang.
Mother.
I let it ring twice.
Then answered.
“Hello?”
“Where are you?”
“At the hotel.”
“You should be here.”
“The wedding isn't until four.”
“Family photographs start at one.”
“You told me yesterday two.”
“That changed.”
“Then someone should've told me.”
She sighed dramatically.
“Claire, can we please not make today about you?”
I nearly laughed.
“You called me.”
There was a pause.
Then her tone changed.
Softened.
“Your father and I would like to have breakfast with Adrian.”
There it was.
I glanced at him.
He could hear every word.
“Why?”
“Because he's family.”
“He was family yesterday when you destroyed the dress he bought me.”
Silence.
Then:
“I apologized.”
“No, you didn't.”
“Well, I intended to.”
“You had several opportunities.”
Her voice sharpened.
“Claire.”
Adrian reached over and squeezed my hand.
I stayed calm.
“What do you actually want?”
Another silence.
Then she said:
“Your brother has been developing a business concept.”
I closed my eyes.
Adrian's shoulders began shaking because he was trying not to laugh.
Of course.
“Mom.”
“He's worked extremely hard.”
“On what?”
“A luxury residential platform.”
“What does that mean?”
“I'm not sure, but Lucas could explain it to Adrian.”
I looked at my husband.
He mouthed:
PowerPoint?
I nodded.
He nearly lost it.
“Adrian isn't taking investment meetings on Lucas's wedding day.”
“It's not a meeting.”
“You literally want them to discuss an investment.”
Her voice hardened.
“Would it kill you to help your brother?”
And there it was again.
Everything belonged to Lucas.
My time.
My resources.
My accomplishments.
Now apparently my husband.
“No.”
“What?”
“No, I'm not asking Adrian for money.”
“You don't even know the proposal.”
“Neither do you.”
She went quiet.
Then:
“You've changed.”
I stared out the hotel window.
Below us, morning sunlight reflected from the river.
“No,” I said. “I stopped agreeing with you.”
I ended the call.
For several seconds, Adrian stared at me.
“What?”
“That was attractive.”
I threw a pillow at him.
He caught it.
Then my phone buzzed.
Lucas.
Mom says you're blocking me from talking to Adrian.
I stared at the message.
Adrian read it over my shoulder.
“I've met your brother twice.”
“Congratulations. Apparently you're now his venture capitalist.”
Another message appeared.
You owe me after keeping this marriage secret.
My amusement vanished.
“What exactly do you owe him?” Adrian asked.
“According to Lucas? Everything.”
I typed:
Today is your wedding. Enjoy it. Don't turn it into a business pitch.
His reply came instantly.
Easy for you to say. You married a billionaire.
I stopped breathing for a second.
There it was.
Not you married someone who loves you.
Not I'm happy for you.
A billionaire.
Adrian saw my face.
“What did he say?”
I showed him.
He handed the phone back without comment.
But the expression in his eyes was enough.
At twelve thirty, we arrived at my parents' house for photographs.
Everything changed the moment Adrian stepped out of the car.
Mother practically floated toward us.
“Adrian!”
Yesterday, she'd barely been able to speak.
Today, she kissed his cheek.
“My goodness, you look handsome.”
Then she looked at me.
“Claire, your hair is slightly flat.”
Balance restored.
“I missed you too.”
She ignored that.
Photographs became another battlefield.
The photographer arranged Lucas and Jessica with my parents.
Then siblings.
Then extended family.
Mother repeatedly attempted to position Adrian beside Lucas.
“Maybe one with the men.”
Adrian calmly moved back beside me.
“I'm good here.”
The photographer smiled.
At one point Mother whispered:
“You don't have to cling to him.”
I looked at her.
“He's my husband.”
“You're making people uncomfortable.”
“Which people?”
She had no answer.
Then Jessica walked outside.
She looked beautiful.
Truly.
Ivory satin.
Pearls.
Her father's arm linked through hers.
But her face was tense.
When she saw me, she approached quietly.
“Can we talk?”
We stepped away.
“I didn't know about my dad's company.”
“I figured.”
“Lucas thinks Adrian is threatening him.”
“Adrian isn't.”
Jessica looked toward my brother.
“He's been telling people your husband is trying to sabotage the wedding.”
I sighed.
“Of course he has.”
“He's angry.”
“At me?”
“At everything.”
Jessica lowered her voice.
“Apparently Lucas asked Adrian for a meeting this morning.”
My eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“He called Vale Meridian's office.”
I stared at her.
“Today?”
She nodded miserably.
“He said he was family and needed ten minutes.”
I looked toward Adrian.
He was speaking with my father.
Adrian hadn't mentioned it.
Because he knew it would upset me.
Jessica swallowed.
“Claire, there's something else.”
“What?”
“Lucas has been telling my father that your connection to Adrian could help secure financing for the project he wants to launch.”
“What project?”
She gave me a strange look.
“You don't know?”
“No.”
“Lucas says he's opening boutique resorts.”
My stomach dropped.
Resorts.
Vale Meridian's hospitality division was one of the largest privately held luxury hotel groups in America.
“Jessica.”
She looked embarrassed.
“He told Dad he'd discussed it with you.”
“I haven't spoken to Lucas about business in eight months.”
Her face changed.
“Then we have a problem.”
Before I could answer, shouting erupted inside the house.
We turned.
Robert Kensington stood in the foyer holding his phone.
Lucas faced him.
My mother was nearby.
Adrian entered from the patio.
“What happened?” I asked.
Robert looked at Lucas.
Then at me.
Then at Adrian.
“My CFO just called.”
His face had gone gray.
“Someone used Kensington Development's financial statements to guarantee a private loan.”
Adrian's expression sharpened.
“How much?”
Robert swallowed.
“Two million dollars.”
Jessica gasped.
“Who?”
Robert turned slowly toward my brother.
May you like
Lucas's face went white.
And suddenly no one was thinking about wedding photographs anymore.
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