Beatrice answered for him.
“Ours.”
Mara turned slightly toward her.
“Would you like to explain that?”
Beatrice realized too late that everyone was listening.
She folded her arms.
“There is nothing to explain.
Lucas is the eldest son.
He has responsibilities.
His uncles helped our family when times were difficult.
His cousins need somewhere to stay when they work in Scottsdale.
I am getting older.
A large house should support the whole family.”
“A house you did not buy,” I said.
“A house my son would have through marriage.”
There it was.
Not love.
Not partnership.
Acquisition.
Lucas rubbed both hands over his face.
“Mom, stop talking.”
Beatrice turned on him.
“Why? She needs to hear the truth.
You said she was easy to manage.
You said once the wedding was over, she would not risk the embarrassment of leaving.”
A murmur passed through the relatives.
Lucas went pale.
“I never said that.”
Mara lifted the tablet.
“The security archive may help us determine what you said.”
He glared at her.
“You think you are clever? This is a family matter.”
“No,” Mara replied.
“It is my client’s property matter.”
Beatrice pointed at me.
“Do you really think anyone else will marry you after this? A woman who puts paperwork above her husband?”
I looked down at my engagement ring.
Only hours earlier, it had represented the future I thought we were building.
Now it felt like a prop from a story Lucas had written for me.
In his version, I was quiet, grateful, and easily pressured.
My parents’ house became his achievement.
My boundaries became selfishness.
My resistance became embarrassment.
I removed the ring.
Lucas’s anger disappeared for a second.
“What are you doing?”
I placed it beside the copied keys.
“Ending the misunderstanding.”
His eyes widened.
“You cannot cancel our wedding over one bad night.”
“This night did not create the problem.
It revealed it.”
He stepped closer.
“Felicity, think carefully.
Deposits have been paid.
