Chloe suddenly stepped forward.
“This is ridiculous.”
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed at me.
“You deliberately waited until my wedding to announce this.”
I stared at my sister.
“I didn’t announce anything.”
“You brought him here!”
“No.”
I glanced toward Luca.
“He came because you all humiliated me.”
Chloe’s face reddened.
“This is supposed to be my day!”
“And it still is.”
I took a step toward her.
“Nothing I’m doing is stopping you from getting married.”
She looked at my father.
“Dad, do something!”
My father didn’t answer.
He was still staring at Luca.
Because he had finally recognized the man standing in front of him.
Not from magazines.
Not from television.
But from a deal his law firm had been trying to close for almost two years.
Luca noticed.
“Mr. Sterling.”
My father stiffened.
“You know who I am?”
“Yes.”
Luca smiled without warmth.
“Your firm submitted a proposal to represent one of our subsidiaries.”
My father’s face became even paler.
“You rejected us.”
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew your daughter.”
My father looked at me.
Luca continued.
“And because Jessi warned me that your firm had a serious conflict of interest.”
My father’s jaw dropped.
“What conflict?”
I finally spoke.
“Your firm was representing a company that was negotiating against one of Luca’s acquisitions.”
My father stared at me.
“You knew?”
“I knew everything.”
My mother suddenly whispered:
“Then why didn’t you tell us?”
I looked at her.
“Because you never asked.”
PART 4 — THE DOCUMENT
One of the men standing near the door stepped forward.
He handed Luca a folder.
Luca opened it.
Then he looked at my father.
“There is one more reason I came tonight.”
My father’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
Luca removed several pages.
“Three months ago, your law firm attempted to transfer confidential information belonging to Vance Global to a competing investment group.”
My father shook his head.
“That is absurd.”
“Is it?”
Luca handed him the documents.
My father read the first page.
Then the second.
His hands began trembling.
My mother leaned over his shoulder.
Her expression changed.
“What is that?”
Luca answered.
“Internal emails. Billing records. Account access logs.”
He looked directly at my father.
“And the authorization signature belongs to you.”
My father stared at the paper.
“I didn’t sign this.”
“Then someone used your credentials.”
His eyes moved slowly toward my mother.
Then toward Chloe.
Nobody spoke.
The room had become unbearably quiet.
My father finally whispered:
“Where did you get these?”
I answered.
“I found them.”
He looked at me.
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
His face drained of color.
“And you knew all this time?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you expose me?”
I looked at my sister in her wedding dress.
“Because I didn’t want to destroy my family.”
I paused.
“But tonight, you destroyed the last reason I had to protect you.”
PART 5 — THE TRUTH ABOUT THE WEDDING
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