Chapter 5: The Woman at the Door
“Monica.””
Derrick said the name so quietly that I almost missed it.
But his face told me everything.
The woman standing in the entrance was in her early thirties, dressed in a cream-colored suit with her natural hair pulled into a neat bun. She carried herself with the confidence of someone who had rehearsed this moment a hundred times.
She looked at Derrick without blinking.
“Hello, Derrick.””
Lorraine immediately moved toward her.
“You have some nerve showing your face here.””
Monica shifted her handbag onto her shoulder.
“I could say the same about you.””
“Security!”” Lorraine shouted.
Nobody moved.
Two members of the venue staff stood near the dining area, watching the confrontation unfold.
My father raised one hand.
“Let her speak.””
Lorraine turned toward him.
“You don't know who this woman is.””
“Then perhaps we should allow her to introduce herself.””
Monica walked into the reception hall.
Her heels clicked steadily against the marble. She stopped beside the gift table, leaving a careful distance between herself and Derrick.
I studied her face.
There was something familiar about her, though I couldn't place it.
“I'm Ariana,” I said.
She looked at me, and her expression softened.
“I know.””
That answer made the skin on my arms prickle.
“How do you know me?””
Monica glanced at Derrick.
“Because I've heard your name more times than you can imagine.””
Derrick stepped forward.
“Don't do this here.””
She laughed once.
“Where would you prefer? Your office? Your mother's living room? Somewhere you can control who hears us?””
His jaw tightened.
“You're being vindictive.””
“No, Derrick. I'm being finished.””
Lorraine pointed toward the front entrance.
“Get out.””
Monica didn't move.
“Ask your son why he called me three days before this wedding.””
I turned toward Derrick.
“What?””
He shook his head.
“She has no idea what she's talking about.””
Monica opened her handbag and removed a folded sheet of paper.
“I have the call log. I have the messages. And I have the email you sent me at two seventeen in the morning.””
Derrick's expression changed.
My father extended his hand.
“May I see that?””
Monica hesitated before giving him the paper.
“It's only a copy,” she said.
“I kept the originals.””
Walter unfolded it and read silently.
His face remained composed, but his fingers tightened around the page.
“What is this?”” I asked.
He glanced at me.
“An email.””
“From Derrick?””
Monica nodded.
I looked at my husband.
“Did you contact her before our wedding?””
Derrick dragged a hand down his face.
“This is ridiculous.””
“Answer me.””
“Yes,” he snapped.
“I contacted her. That doesn't mean anything.””
Monica folded her arms.
“You told me you needed to know whether the paperwork had been finalized.””
Lorraine's eyes widened.
“Monica, stop talking.””
“No.””
“You have no right to involve yourself in this family.””
Monica turned toward her.
“That's funny. You didn't seem to think so when you asked me to help.””
A silence fell over the reception hall.
I felt my heartbeat in my throat.
“Help with what?”” I asked.
Monica looked at me for a long moment.
Then she glanced at my father.
“I think you should hear it from him.””
Walter's expression remained serious.
“From whom?””
“Your attorney.””
Derrick let out a sharp breath.
“You see? She has nothing. She's trying to create a scandal because she couldn't accept that our relationship was over.””
Monica's face hardened.
“Our relationship ended because you told me you were going to marry Ariana for reasons that had nothing to do with love.””
The words seemed to drain the air from the room.
I stared at Derrick.
“You were with her?””
He looked at me quickly.
“It was before you.””
Monica shook her head.
“Not exactly.””
My mouth went dry.
“What does that mean?””
She lowered her voice.
“We were together when Derrick started pursuing you.””
For a moment, I couldn't hear anything.
The clinking dishes, the nervous whispers, the soft hum of the lights—all of it seemed to disappear.
I remembered the first time Derrick had approached me at a charity dinner hosted by one of my father's business partners.
He'd been funny and attentive. He'd remembered the smallest things I'd said. He'd sent flowers to my office, learned my favorite songs, and asked about my dreams without making me feel as though my father's wealth defined me.
He'd told me he was single.
He'd told me he wanted a fresh start.
I looked at him now.
“Were you still with her when we met?””
Derrick opened his mouth.
Lorraine interrupted.
“This woman is trying to destroy your marriage on your wedding day. Don't be foolish enough to believe every word she says.””
Monica reached into her bag again.
“I expected you to say that.””
She removed her phone.
Then she showed me a photograph.
Derrick stood beside Monica in a restaurant, his arm wrapped around her waist. He wore the same watch he had worn to our rehearsal dinner.
The date printed beneath the photograph was from two weeks before he proposed to me.
I stared at the screen until the image blurred.
“Derrick?””
He looked at the floor.
“It's complicated.””
I let out a breath that felt as if it had been trapped in my chest for months.
“No. It isn't.””
He looked up.
“You don't understand what was happening between us.””
“Then explain it.””
He glanced at Monica.
She spoke before he could.
“He told me he loved me. Then he started asking questions about your father.””
My stomach twisted.
“What questions?””
“Whether your father owned his company outright. Whether you were the only child. Whether you had access to family documents. Whether your father had ever discussed leaving you a controlling interest in the business.””
I looked at my father.
His expression was unreadable.
“Why would Derrick ask you those things?”” I whispered.
Monica swallowed.
“Because I work in financial administration. He said he needed help understanding how family trusts worked.””
Derrick shook his head.
“I never asked you to do anything illegal.””
“No,” Monica replied.
“You just kept asking me for information you had no legitimate reason to need.””
Lorraine stepped between them.
“That's enough. You have no proof of any of this.””
Monica turned toward her.
“I have your messages, too.””
Lorraine went silent.
My father looked up sharply.
“Your messages?””
Monica nodded.
“She contacted me after Derrick and I stopped seeing each other. She said she wanted to make sure Ariana's marriage was stable.””
I stared at Lorraine.
“You contacted his ex-girlfriend to discuss my marriage?””
Lorraine lifted her chin.
“I was protecting my son.””
“From what?””
“From making a mistake.””
I couldn't stop the bitter laugh that escaped me.
“By helping him marry me?””
Her expression hardened.
“You were the one who insisted on becoming part of this family.””
The words cut deep.
For months, I'd tried to prove I deserved to be Derrick's wife. I'd swallowed small insults, ignored strange conversations, and blamed myself whenever Lorraine made me feel unwelcome.
Now she was admitting that she had evaluated me like a business decision.
Derrick stepped toward me.
“Ariana, listen to me.””
I moved back.
“Don't.””
“I did love you.””
I searched his face.
“Did you?””
“Yes.””
“Then why did you need to know about my inheritance before you married me?””
He looked at Monica.
That was all it took.
My father placed the email on the table.
“Monica, you said you kept the originals. Did you give copies to anyone else?””
“Yes,” she replied.
“I sent everything to a lawyer.””
Derrick's face tightened.
“Which lawyer?””
Monica held his gaze.
“The one you told me you would never have to deal with.””
Lorraine suddenly reached for Derrick's arm.
“Tell her to leave.””
He pulled away.
“Mother, stop.””
“Don't you dare speak to me like that!””
For a moment, mother and son faced each other with the same furious expression.
Then Monica said something that made them both go still.
“There's another reason I came here.””
She looked directly at me.
“Three days ago, I received a message from Derrick. He wanted to meet me privately. He said the wedding was happening exactly as planned, but he was worried someone had discovered the documents.””
I felt my fingers curl into my father's jacket.
“What documents?””
Monica glanced at Walter.
“I don't know what was inside the sealed folder. But I know what Derrick asked me to do.””
Derrick's voice rose.
“Monica, don't!””
She ignored him.
“He asked me to tell him whether the authorization bearing Ariana's signature could still be used.””
My father stood abruptly.
“Could it?””
“No,” Monica said.
“Not without additional verification. That's why I told him to stop.””
Derrick shook his head.
“You don't know what you're talking about.””
Monica looked at me.
“I came because I thought you deserved to know that someone was trying to use your name without your permission.””
My throat tightened.
“Why didn't you contact me earlier?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because I was ashamed. I knew I had helped him look into your family's finances, and I didn't want to admit what I'd done.””
She drew a shaky breath.
“I'm sorry, Ariana.””
I couldn't answer.
There was too much pain in the room, too many broken promises, too many pieces of a life I had thought I understood.
Then my father reached for his phone.
“I'm calling my attorney.””
Derrick's face changed instantly.
“Walter, don't.””
My father looked at him.
“Why?””
“Because once you do that, you can't take it back.””
Walter held his gaze.
“That's the point.””
He dialed.
While the phone rang, Monica quietly stepped closer to me.
“There is one more thing,” she whispered.
I turned toward her.
“What?””
She looked at Derrick, then at Lorraine.
“Before I left, I received a photograph of a second document.””
My pulse quickened.
“What document?””
Monica opened her phone and searched through her messages.
Then she held the screen toward me.
It showed a page covered in legal language, with several lines highlighted.
Near the bottom were three names.
Derrick's.
Lorraine's.
And mine.
But it wasn't the names that made me stop breathing.
It was the date.
The document had been created two months before Derrick proposed.
And beside my name, in a space marked *AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE*, someone had already signed.
May you like
Monica's voice trembled.
“Ariana, whoever did this started planning long before you ever put on that wedding dress.””
