Chapter 8 - What Ethan Knew.
Meline looked at her husband as if the wedding had suddenly become a room she no longer recognized.
“You knew about the upgrades.”
It was not a question.
Ethan did not answer immediately.
That hesitation was answer enough.
Sophie remained near the desk and let Meline speak first.
This part belonged to her sister.
Ethan finally nodded.
“Your mom said Sophie had approved them as a wedding gift.”
“Which upgrades?”
“The transportation, the resort, some of the entertainment.”
Meline's voice dropped.
“Why didn't you ask me?”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“With charges you thought my sister was paying?”
“I thought she offered.”
Sophie watched Ethan struggle to fit a reasonable explanation around decisions that no longer looked reasonable.
Diane stepped beside him.
“Do not blame Ethan for trusting me.”
Meline turned toward her mother.
“That is the first honest sentence you have said tonight.”
Diane's face tightened.
Meline looked back at Ethan.
“What else did she ask you to do?”
“Nothing important.”
Sophie glanced at the open office drawer.
“You entered my office with her badge.”
Ethan closed his eyes briefly.
“She said you had a document that belonged to her.”
“And you agreed to take it.”
“I agreed to bring it downstairs.”
Meline stared at him.
“You left our reception to enter a locked office because my mother asked.”
“I was trying to calm this down.”
“No, you were helping her control it.”
Ethan flinched.
The sentence landed because it was true.
Diane reached for Meline's arm.
Meline stepped away.
That small movement seemed to shock Diane more than Sophie's termination notice had.
For years, Diane had understood Meline's loyalty as something permanent.
Sophie understood it differently.
Meline had simply never been forced to examine it.
Grace called Sophie's name through the phone speaker.
“I found the source file for the wedding approval.”
Everyone stopped talking.
“It was generated from Diane's office account yesterday morning.”
Diane rolled her eyes.
“We have already covered this.”
“No,” Grace said.
“We have not covered the attachment history.”
Sophie leaned closer to the phone.
“What attachment?”
“The signature image was uploaded from a folder named Sophie-Signature-PNG.”
Meline stared at her mother.
Diane's face went still.
Grace continued.
“There are six files in the folder.”
Sophie felt a cold pressure settle in her chest.
“Six?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell what they were used for?”
“I can tell what four were attached to.”
Grace began listing them.
The wedding invoice.
The five-year contract renewal.
A vendor authorization.
And a letter granting Diane permission to represent Hale House Events in negotiations concerning Lakeside Pavilion.
Grace paused.
“The fifth file was opened tonight.”
Sophie looked at Diane.
“Attached to what?”
“I don't know yet.”
Then Aaron spoke in the background of Grace's call.
“I do.”
His voice sounded different now.
“It was attached to a transfer request scheduled for 10:10 p.m.”
The room went silent.
The current time was 9:47.
Ethan removed his phone from his pocket and opened a message thread with Diane.
He handed it to Meline without being asked.
Several messages showed Diane instructing him not to bother Sophie with vendor questions because Sophie was “handling everything as a surprise.”
Meline read them silently.
Then she looked at Ethan.
May you like
“You should have asked me anyway.”
“I know.”
