Chapter 3 - What Sophie Saw in the Bridal SuitePreston's reaction lasted less than a second.
A tightening around the eyes.
A small breath.
Then it disappeared.
“I wasn't in Victoria's room.”
Sophie immediately shook her head.
“Yes, you were.”
“No.”
“I saw you.”
Preston laughed softly.
Not kindly.
“Sophie, you've had a stressful night.”
Evelyn stepped between them.
“Don't.”
“I'm not attacking her.”
“You're about to tell an eight-year-old she imagined seeing you.”
Victoria looked at Sophie.
“Sweetheart, why were you in my room?”
Sophie lowered her eyes.
“I wanted my ribbon.”
“What ribbon?”
“The blue one for Buddy.”
Evelyn remembered.
Victoria had helped Sophie choose Buddy's wedding ribbon that afternoon. Sophie accidentally left the extra piece of fabric inside the bridal suite.
“I asked Aunt Victoria earlier if I could get it.”
Victoria nodded slowly.
“She did.”
Preston's narrative weakened again.
“So you went inside?” Victoria asked.
“Yes.”
“Was anyone there?”
Sophie hesitated.
“At first, no.”
Evelyn frowned.
“At first?”
“I found the ribbon.”
Sophie's fingers moved nervously through Buddy's fur.
“Then I heard the bathroom door.”
Preston's face remained still.
Too still.
“A man came out.”
Victoria stared.
“Preston?”
Sophie nodded.
“He told me I scared him.”
“What was he doing?”
“I don't know.”
“Did you see the necklace?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“On the table.”
The necklace had still been present while Sophie was inside.
That mattered.
Martin Cole immediately wrote something in his notebook.
“What happened next?”
Sophie looked at Preston.
“He asked what I was doing.”
“I said Buddy's ribbon.”
“He told me to leave.”
“Then?”
“I left.”
Preston interrupted.
“She's lying.”
Victoria snapped toward him.
“Stop.”
His mouth closed.
Sophie continued.
“He was holding something.”
“What?”
“Silver.”
Evelyn leaned closer.
“Like jewelry?”
“No.”
Sophie thought.
“Like Daddy's computer thing.”
Evelyn's husband had died three years earlier in a highway accident. He used to carry USB drives for work.
“A flash drive?” Evelyn asked.
Sophie nodded.
“A little silver one.”
Victoria's expression changed.
She looked toward the bridal suite floor far above them.
“What?”
Evelyn saw it instantly.
“You know what she's talking about.”
Victoria didn't answer.
“Victoria.”
Her sister looked at Preston.
“The audit.”
Diane frowned.
“What audit?”
Preston laughed once.
“This is getting ridiculous.”
Victoria ignored him.
She turned toward Evelyn.
“I hired someone.”
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“For what?”
“To review hotel finances.”
Diane stared.
“Without telling me?”
“I was going to.”
“When?”
“After the wedding.”
Preston moved toward Victoria.
“This is not the time.”
She backed away.
“Why?”
“Because someone just tried to frame me for theft.”
“Or you stole the necklace because you were already in my suite looking for something else.”
The words landed heavily.
Preston's composure finally cracked.
“Are you accusing me?”
“I don't know.”
“You're marrying me tonight and you don't know?”
Victoria glanced at the wedding dress she was still wearing.
The ceremony had already happened.
Legally, Preston Hale was her husband.
Evelyn saw realization hit her sister.
Victoria had spent the last four months insisting Preston was the safest decision of her life.
Now, less than two hours after saying I do, she was wondering whether she knew him at all.
“What was on the drive?” Evelyn asked.
Victoria swallowed.
“Preliminary findings.”
“About what?”
“Missing money.”
Diane looked sharply at her.
“How much?”
“I'm not sure.”
“Victoria.”
“Four million. Maybe more.”
Guests were no longer pretending not to listen.
Four million dollars.
From the Whitmore Hotel Group.
Preston scoffed.
“And you think I took it?”
Victoria stared.
“I didn't say that.”
“But you're thinking it.”
She didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
Evelyn stepped closer.
“Where was the drive?”
“In a locked drawer.”
“Was the drawer open after Sophie left?”
Victoria shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Martin interrupted.
“We need to secure the suite.”
He motioned toward two officers.
Preston immediately spoke.
“I'll come.”
“No,” Victoria said.
He looked at her.
“I said no.”
The ballroom had shifted again.
For the first time, Preston stood alone.
Not entirely.
Diane moved beside him.
“Victoria, whatever is happening, Preston is your husband.”
Evelyn stared at her mother.
“Mom.”
“You don't destroy a marriage over a dog's behavior and an eight-year-old's memory.”
Sophie flinched.
Evelyn's voice went dangerously quiet.
“That eight-year-old is your granddaughter.”
Diane looked away.
Preston noticed the fracture and stepped into it.
“Thank you, Diane.”
He placed a hand gently on her arm.
A son-in-law seeking comfort.
Calculated.
Evelyn saw it.
Then Martin's radio crackled.
An officer from the bridal floor.
Martin listened.
“What?”
Everyone waited.
He lowered the radio.
“The locked drawer has been forced.”
Victoria's face drained white.
“And the drive?”
“Gone.”
Preston spread his hands.
“Then whoever disabled the camera stole it.”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Probably.”
For the first time that night, Preston appeared genuinely angry.
“You keep looking at me like I'm some criminal.”
“You had Victoria's necklace in your pocket.”
“Planted.”
“You were secretly in her room.”
“I wanted to surprise her.”
“With what?”
He paused.
“A gift.”
“Where is it?”
Another pause.
“It isn't important.”
Victoria stared.
“It is now.”
Preston looked at his bride.
For a few seconds no one spoke.
Then Sophie whispered:
“He wasn't carrying a gift.”
Preston turned.
Sophie pressed closer to Buddy.
“He was talking on the phone.”
Evelyn crouched.
“What did he say?”
Sophie thought hard.
“Something about page seven.”
Victoria's eyes sharpened.
“What exactly?”
Sophie looked at Preston.
“He said…”
May you like
Her voice trembled.
“Get them out before she reads page seven.”
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