Chapter 5 - The Signature.
Sophie closed the office door behind them and placed the black folder on her desk.
Grace remained on speaker while Aaron joined the call from home.
Meline stood near the window with one hand pressed against the waist of her wedding dress.
Ethan stayed beside her but did not try to touch her.
Diane remained closest to the door.
Sophie noticed that detail.
People revealed priorities when they believed they might need a quick exit.
“Send me the document,” Sophie said.
A second later, the renewal appeared on her phone.
It looked legitimate at first glance.
The Hale House Events logo was in the correct position.
The contract number matched Diane's current agreement.
The compensation schedule was formatted exactly like Grace's standard templates.
At the bottom sat Sophie's digital signature above a date from the previous afternoon.
Sophie enlarged it.
She had seen that exact signature before.
It came from a sponsorship agreement she had signed six months earlier.
The slight upward hook on the final letter and a tiny gap in the digital pen stroke were identical.
“This was copied.”
Diane folded her arms.
“You cannot know that from looking at a phone.”
Grace answered before Sophie could.
“We can know from the document history.”
Diane's face stiffened.
Grace continued.
“The renewal was created this afternoon from a local account assigned to Diane's office laptop.”
Meline slowly turned toward her mother.
“Mom?”
Diane exhaled with visible frustration.
“I drafted a renewal because Sophie and I had discussed continuing my work.”
“Did she sign it?” Meline asked.
Diane did not answer directly.
“We had an understanding.”
“That is not what I asked.”
For the first time that night, Meline sounded like Sophie.
Diane looked at both daughters and seemed to realize the old method of separating them was beginning to fail.
“You are both letting business poison a family night.”
Sophie almost admired the speed of the reversal.
Five minutes earlier, Diane had been defending unauthorized access to a private office.
Now she was the guardian of family peace.
Aaron spoke through the phone.
“There is another issue.”
Sophie closed her eyes briefly.
“Go ahead.”
“The renewal gives Diane authority to approve client expenses up to two hundred thousand dollars.”
Meline looked sharply at Sophie.
“Why would she need that?”
“She wouldn't.”
Aaron continued.
“And there is an attached amendment.”
Sophie scrolled.
The final page transferred management responsibility for the company's new Lakeside Pavilion project to Diane for eighteen months.
Lakeside Pavilion was not a simple venue.
It was Hale House Events' largest expansion, a property Sophie had spent four years acquiring and planning.
The project was worth more than every wedding expense combined.
Sophie stared at the amendment.
This was no longer about flowers, catering, or an extravagant reception.
Diane had been reaching for control.
Meline whispered the question Sophie had not wanted to ask.
“Was my wedding just cover for this?”
Diane's phone vibrated.
She glanced down.
Sophie saw the name on the screen before Diane turned it away.
Victor Lane.
The owner of Hale House Events' largest competitor.
Sophie remembered Victor's last offer for Lakeside Pavilion and the confident promise he had made when she rejected it.
He had told her that every owner eventually became tired enough to accept help.
May you like
At the time, Sophie dismissed the line as salesmanship.
Now she wondered whether Victor had stopped calling because he had found someone inside her circle who was willing to listen.
