PART 19
Fiona whispered,
“Your what?”
Damian looked at her.
“My wife.”
Mom stared at me.
Dad actually laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because his brain could not process it.
“Mabel?”
“You’re married to Damian Vale?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Eleven months ago.”
Mom’s mouth opened.
Then closed.
Tiffany looked physically ill.
PART 20
Fiona stepped away from the head table.
“You’re lying.”
Damian turned toward her.
“About my own marriage?”
She flushed.
“No.”
“I mean she never said anything.”
He looked at me.
Then back at Fiona.
“Perhaps she had reasons.”
That landed exactly where it needed to.
PART 21
My father tried to recover.
“Well.”
“This is certainly a surprise.”
He gave a forced laugh.
“Family misunderstanding.”
Damian’s face remained expressionless.
“A family misunderstanding?”
Dad nodded too quickly.
“Just teasing.”
“Nothing serious.”
I looked at him.
“Pouring wine on me was teasing?”
His eyes snapped toward the waiter.
“I didn’t pour anything.”
That sentence mattered.
Because Dad had just separated himself from the act.
Interesting.
Damian noticed too.
PART 22
Gabriel leaned toward Damian.
“Sir.”
He handed him a phone.
Damian glanced at the screen.
Then looked toward the ballroom’s security cameras.
I knew that expression.
He was calculating.
My father looked nervous.
“What is this?”
Damian said,
“Your venue has fourteen interior cameras.”
Fiona’s new husband, Callum, finally stood.
“This is my wedding.”
Damian looked at him.
“I’m aware.”
Callum swallowed.
PART 23
Damian turned to Gabriel.
“Preserve the footage.”
Dad stepped forward.
“You can’t just take security footage.”
Damian looked at him.
“I’m not taking anything.”
“I’m asking the venue to preserve evidence of an incident involving my wife.”
Then he looked toward the manager.
A pale man near the entrance immediately nodded.
“Of course, Mr. Vale.”
Dad’s face tightened.
PART 24
The waiter began backing toward the kitchen.
Gabriel noticed.
“So did I.”
He moved before the waiter reached the door.
Not aggressively.
Just enough to block him.
“What’s your name?”
“Eli.”
“Eli what?”
The waiter looked toward Fiona.
Again.
That was the second time.
Fiona whispered,
“Oh my God.”
Callum turned toward her.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Nothing.”
PART 25
I looked at Eli.
“Did someone tell you to spill the wine?”
He stared at the floor.
Dad snapped,
“Don’t entertain this nonsense.”
Damian looked at him.
“Be quiet.”
Dad froze.
I had never heard anyone speak to my father that way.
Not once.
Damian asked Eli again.
“Were you instructed to hit my wife with that tray?”
Eli’s face went pale.
Then Fiona shouted,
“He’s just a waiter!”
Damian slowly looked at her.
“That wasn’t the question.”
