She has always been jealous of Olivia and obsessed with money.”
My aunt Elaine, who had laughed earlier, lowered her eyes.
One of Margaret’s former employees leaned toward another and whispered something.
Ethan noticed.
“Mr.
Bennett,” he said, “you managed the warehouse inventory at the time, correct?”
A gray-haired man near the back rose slowly.
“For fourteen years.”
“Did Audrey have a key to the downstairs records office?”
“No.
Margaret changed the lock the week before the fire.
She said financial files had gone missing.”
Margaret spun toward him.
“You were fired for incompetence.”
“I resigned because you asked me to backdate invoices,” he replied.
The room shifted again.
Ethan removed another document from the folder.
“The locksmith’s receipt confirms the lock was changed.
Only two keys were issued.
One to Margaret and one kept in the office safe.”
“Then Audrey stole the second key.”
“The second key was recovered inside the locked safe after the fire.”
Margaret said nothing.
Ethan placed three enlarged bank records on the table.
A forensic document examiner had compared my authentic signatures with the loan guarantees.
The report concluded that the disputed signatures had been simulated.
A digital backup from Margaret’s accounting software showed loan proceeds transferred into the company account, then used for venue deposits, personal credit-card payments, and the necklace around her throat.
Margaret touched it reflexively.
I had noticed that necklace the moment I entered the ballroom.
She had once told me it was a gift from a grateful client.
The transaction record showed otherwise.
“The court authorized access to the archived accounts last month,” Ethan said.
“The bank has already removed the fraudulent guarantees from Audrey’s file.”
For the first time that evening, Margaret looked frightened rather than angry.
“Court?”
A woman seated beside Ethan’s parents stood.
Her name was Naomi Carter, and Margaret had assumed she was a family friend.
Naomi was my attorney.
She walked forward carrying a narrow leather case.
“The civil complaint was filed this morning after the final banking affidavit was received,” she said.
“Your counsel will receive the documents through the proper channel.”
Margaret stared at me.
“You sued me on your wedding day?”
“No,” I said.
“I reclaimed my name on my wedding day.”
She tore the cream-colored envelope open and pulled out the agreement she had expected me to sign.
It stated that I accepted responsibility for all business debts and released Margaret from any claims connected to my guardianship, scholarship funds, and the fire.
Naomi took one glance at it.
“Thank you,” she said.
“That will be useful.”
Margaret realized too late that she had carried fresh evidence into a room full of witnesses.
She tried to fold the agreement, but Naomi held out her hand.
“You presented that document to my client in front of approximately eighty people.
Several of them heard you describe its purpose.
Destroying it now would be unwise.”
