Chapter 6: The Signature Before the Proposal
I couldn't look away from the photograph.
The document on Monica's phone was dated two months before Derrick had proposed to me.
Two months before he had knelt beside me at a waterfront restaurant and told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life making me happy.
Two months before I had called my father, crying with excitement, and told him I'd finally found someone who made me feel loved for exactly who I was.
The signature beside my name looked like mine.
It wasn't mine.
“Let me see that again,” I whispered.
Monica enlarged the image.
The letters became clearer, but the truth didn't become easier to accept.
I recognized the little curve in the final letter of my first name. I recognized the slant of the surname.
Someone had studied my signature carefully.
Someone had copied it.
And someone had done it before Derrick ever asked me to marry him.
“Who sent you this?”” my father asked.
Monica looked up.
“An unknown number.””
“When?””
“Three days ago.””
Walter's jaw tightened.
“Do you still have the original message?””
“Yes.””
“Don't delete it. Don't forward it to anyone else. Send it directly to my attorney.””
Monica nodded.
Derrick laughed abruptly.
“This is absurd. You're all treating a photograph like proof of some elaborate conspiracy.””
My father turned toward him.
“Nobody has established what the document is or whether it's valid. That's why the attorney will examine it.””
“Then why are you looking at me like that?””
“Because you recognized it before anyone explained what it was.””
Derrick fell silent.
Lorraine stepped forward, her voice sharp.
“Walter, you're determined to ruin my son's life. You've been looking for a reason to reject him from the beginning.””
My father shook his head.
“I welcomed him into my home. I paid for nothing that he demanded, and I never asked him to prove himself worthy of my daughter's love.””
He looked at me.
“I trusted Ariana to choose her own husband.””
Then he turned back to Lorraine.
“But trust is not the same as blindness.””
She opened her mouth, then closed it again.
I stepped away from the gift table.
The reception hall was still bright, filled with white flowers and the remains of a celebration that had collapsed before the cake had been cut.
My wedding cake stood untouched near the dining area. A delicate sugar flower had fallen onto the tablecloth.
I remembered choosing that cake with Derrick.
He had insisted on the flavor I loved, even though he claimed he preferred chocolate. He'd told the baker that the wedding should feel like me.
Had that been a lie, too?
I pressed my hands against my stomach.
“I need to sit down.””
My father immediately pulled out a chair.
“Of course.””
As I lowered myself into it, the torn fabric of my gown caught on the edge. Walter freed it carefully.
“Easy, sweetheart.””
I stared at my hands.
“I gave him a key.””
My father crouched beside my chair.
“I know.””
“I gave him access to your house because I trusted him.””
“You had every reason to believe he was trustworthy.””
“But I brought him into our family.””
Walter took my hand.
“You introduced someone you loved. What he chose to do with that trust is his responsibility, not yours.””
I wanted to believe him.
But shame had already begun to settle into my chest.
I thought of every time I'd defended Derrick when my friends questioned how quickly he wanted us to get married. Every time I'd brushed aside Lorraine's comments because I didn't want to seem difficult.
I'd mistaken my willingness to compromise for proof that our relationship was strong.
Now I wondered whether the person I loved had ever seen me as anything other than an opportunity.
Derrick approached the chair.
“Ariana, can we talk?””
My father stood.
“Not without her permission.””
Derrick looked irritated.
“She's my wife.””
I lifted my head.
“And I'm sitting right here. You can ask me.””
He swallowed.
“Please. Just give me five minutes.””
I studied his face.
“Did you know about that document before you proposed?””
“No.””
The answer came quickly.
I looked at Monica.
She didn't speak.
“Did you ever discuss my inheritance with your mother before we got engaged?””
Derrick rubbed his hands together.
“We talked about your father's business. That's all.””
“Did you ask Monica to find out how family trusts work?””
“She offered to help.””
Monica let out a disbelieving breath.
“You called me at midnight and asked whether a beneficiary could authorize someone else to request confidential information.””
Derrick turned on her.
“You said you wanted to help me!””
“I did. Until I realized you weren't asking hypothetical questions.””
He pointed at her.
“You have no idea what was going on in my life.””
“Then explain it,” I said.
He looked back at me.
For several seconds, he appeared to be searching for the right words.
Finally, he lowered himself into the chair opposite mine.
“My family has been under financial pressure.””
Lorraine stiffened.
“Derrick.””
He ignored her.
“The business has debts. Things have been difficult.””
My father watched him carefully.
“What business?””
Derrick's eyes flickered.
“A few investments. Some property.””
“You told Ariana you were financially secure,” Walter said.
“I am.””
“Then why would her inheritance be relevant to your financial situation?””
Derrick leaned forward.
“Because I was trying to protect our future.””
“By copying her signature?””
“I didn't copy anything!””
His voice echoed through the hall.
Several guests turned toward us again.
Derrick lowered his voice.
“I never signed that document. I never told anyone to sign it. I don't know who created it.””
I wanted to believe that there was a simple explanation.
A misunderstanding.
A forged photograph.
A mistake that could somehow restore the man I thought I had married.
But I remembered his face when my father mentioned the inheritance documents.
I remembered how he'd tried to stop him from opening the folder.
I remembered the message on his phone.
She mustn't know.
“Then tell me what you do know,” I said.
Derrick stared at the table.
“I know my mother was worried about us.””
“About us or about my money?””
“Both, perhaps.””
Lorraine made a sharp, offended sound.
“Don't you dare put this on me.””
Derrick looked at her.
“You told me her father would eventually transfer control of the company.””
“I said it was possible.””
“You said the inheritance would make everything easier.””
“I said it might.””
My father stood completely still.
I felt sick.
“You discussed my inheritance as though it belonged to you.””
Lorraine turned toward me.
“Don't be dramatic. We were discussing possibilities.””
“My future isn't a possibility for you to plan.””
Her eyes narrowed.
“You have no idea how much pressure Derrick has been under.””
I looked at my husband.
“Did you marry me because you thought I could solve your family's problems?””
He didn't answer.
“Derrick?””
He lifted his head.
“I loved you.””
“That isn't an answer.””
“I loved you, Ariana. I still do.””
“Did you know about the document before you proposed?””
His silence stretched between us.
Then he said, “I knew there were discussions about your father's estate.””
My heart seemed to stop.
“What discussions?””
“I never saw the document.””
“But you knew.””
He looked down.
“Yes.””
I gripped the edge of the chair.
“How long?””
“I don't know exactly.””
“Before the proposal?””
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.””
A strange calm settled over me.
It wasn't forgiveness.
It wasn't acceptance.
It was the quiet moment when a person finally stops arguing with the truth.
I looked at the wedding ring on my finger.
“You asked me to marry you while you knew my inheritance was being discussed.””
“I didn't propose because of money.””
“But you knew.””
“Yes.””
“And you never told me.””
He reached across the table.
I pulled my hand away.
“Don't.””
He let it fall.
My father stepped beside me.
“We've heard enough for today.””
Lorraine immediately stood.
“You cannot simply dismiss us.””
“I can ask you to leave.””
“This is our family celebration!””
My father looked around at the ruined decorations.
“No. This was my daughter's wedding celebration. You turned it into something else.””
He took out his phone again.
“The attorney is on his way.””
Derrick shot to his feet.
“You called him here?””
“I called him to preserve the relevant documents and advise us on the next steps.””
“You can't do that!””
“I can seek legal advice about documents bearing my daughter's name.””
Derrick paced toward the entrance, then turned back.
“You're going to destroy everything over a piece of paper.””
I stood slowly.
“No, Derrick. You destroyed something when you decided I didn't deserve to know the truth.””
He stared at me.
For once, he had nothing to say.
Monica slipped her phone into her handbag.
“I should go. I'll make sure the attorney gets the original messages.””
My father nodded.
“Thank you for coming forward.””
She looked at me.
“I'm sorry.””
I believed that she was sorry.
I didn't know whether I could forgive her, but I understood the fear in her eyes. She had been part of something she no longer understood, and now she was trying to step out of it.
“Tell the attorney everything,” I said.
“I will.””
She walked toward the entrance.
Just before she reached the doors, she turned around.
“Ariana?””
I looked up.
“There was one other message.””
My father immediately stepped closer.
“What message?””
Monica pulled out her phone again.
“This one came from Lorraine.””
Lorraine's face changed.
“I never sent you anything.””
Monica opened the message and held the screen toward us.
The text was short.
Once the wedding is over, make sure she signs the final papers before her father interferes.
My mouth went dry.
I turned toward Lorraine.
“What final papers?””
She didn't answer.
Derrick stared at the screen.
For the first time, he looked genuinely horrified.
“Mother,” he whispered.
“You said those papers had been taken care of.””
Lorraine spun toward him.
“Shut your mouth!””
The entire reception hall went silent.
My father stepped between them.
“What papers, Derrick?””
Derrick looked at me.
His lips trembled.
“I thought the signature was only supposed to authorize an inquiry.””
“An inquiry into what?”” Walter demanded.
Derrick swallowed hard.
“The estate.””
I felt my knees weaken.
My father reached for my arm.
“Keep talking.””
Derrick looked toward his mother.
She stood frozen beside the gift table, her carefully arranged composure finally gone.
Then Derrick said the words that changed everything.
“Your mother-in-law wasn't trying to find out what Ariana would inherit.””
He looked directly at me.
“She was trying to make sure Ariana would sign away her rights before she ever knew what they were worth.””
My father went completely still.
I stared at Lorraine.
She said nothing.
May you like
And when the front entrance opened again, revealing a man carrying a briefcase and wearing a serious expression, I realized the worst part of my wedding might not have been the humiliation.
It might have been how close I had come to signing away my future without ever knowing it.
