The Unstitching of Secrets – News
“Nathan, please, it’s our wedding day!” Sloane sobbed, reaching out to grab his arm. “Don’t let her do this to us! She came here to ruin my day! She wore that dress on purpose! Look at her, she’s trying to steal my spotlight!”
“I didn’t come to steal your spotlight, Sloane,” I said, looking at her with nothing but profound pity. It was the same pity I felt for patients who couldn’t stop picking at their own wounds, causing them to infect over and over again. “I came because I thought, after eleven years, an invitation meant someone had grown up. Someone wanted to apologize. But you didn’t invite me because you wanted me here. You invited me because you thought I was still that broken little girl, and you wanted to show off the wealthy, handsome man you managed to catch.”
I took a step closer to Nathan, offering him a gentle, professional smile. “You look wonderful, Nathan. The skin grafts healed beautifully. You kept up with the silicone massaging, didn’t you?”
“Every day, Dr. Whitaker,” Nathan said, his voice cracking. “Just like you told me to.”
“Good.” I turned to face my parents and sister one last time. “Have a wonderful life. You wanted me out of your world, and trust me, staying out of it has been the greatest blessing of my life.”
I turned on my heel, the silk of my emerald gown sweeping against the floor as I began to walk toward the grand double doors of the vineyard hall. The satisfaction of the exit was intoxicating. I had faced my demons, spoken my truth, and left them to drown in the pool of their own lies.
But I only made it three steps before the heavy oak doors banged open.
A man in a dark, expensive suit burst into the room, his breathing ragged, his face pale with panic. He didn’t look at the beautiful decorations, the tier cake, or the shocked guests. He scanned the room wildly until his eyes landed on Nathan.
“Nathan!” the man shouted, running forward, ignoring the gasps of the crowd. It was Nathan’s best man and business partner, Marcus, who had supposedly been running late from the airport.
“Marcus? What the hell is going on?” Nathan demanded, stepping away from Sloane entirely.
Marcus stopped, catching his breath, his eyes darting frantically between Nathan, Sloane, and then, strangely, looking directly at my mother, Denise. A look of sheer terror and betrayal crossed Marcus’s face.
“Nathan… we have to stop the wedding. Right now,” Marcus gasped out, his voice carrying an urgency that made my medical instincts instantly kick into high gear. “The audit… the forensic accountants just finished reviewing the venture capital funds for our new medical tech expansion. The three million dollars that went missing from our corporate account last month?”
Nathan froze. “What about it? We thought it was a cyber hack from an overseas entity.”
“It wasn’t a hack,” Marcus whispered, his hand shaking as he pulled out his phone, displaying a document on the screen. “The offshore shell company that received the wire transfers… it isn’t based in Eastern Europe. It’s registered right here in Ohio. And the sole authorized signer on the account…”
Marcus looked up, his gaze locking directly onto my mother, Denise, who suddenly looked like she was about to vomit, and then shifted to Sloane, whose tears instantly froze on her face.
“…is your fiancée and her mother,” Marcus revealed. “They didn’t just steal from the firm, Nathan. They used your own company’s stolen funds to pay for this entire wedding, the vineyard, and the million-dollar mansion they just put a down payment on in your name. And Nathan… that’s not the worst part.”
