Holly looked at him.
“It became about money the moment you came here before apologizing to her.”
Kelsey lifted her phone.
“I already told the photographer Alex is back in.”
“Then call again.”
“Do you know how humiliating this is?”
Holly held her gaze.
“Yes.”
That single word made Kelsey look away.
Graham finally spoke.
“The payment was intended as a gift.
Once a gift is given, it cannot be taken back merely because the giver becomes angry.”
Holly opened the catering contract and turned it toward him.
“It was not a gift.
It was a conditional business authorization.
Logan signed a repayment note.”
She removed another page from the file.
Logan’s face lost color.
Dean picked it up.
The note was brief but clear: Logan agreed to repay Jasper Home Manufacturing from wedding gifts and future earnings, with a twelve-month schedule beginning thirty days after the event.
“You signed this?” Dean asked.
Logan glared at Holly.
“She made me.”
“I protected my employees’ money,” Holly replied.
“The company is not a family piggy bank.”
Diane reached for the paper, but Dean pulled it away.
“Did you ever plan to repay her?”
“Of course,” Logan said too quickly.
Kelsey looked at him.
“What repayment note?”
That was the first crack between them.
Logan had apparently told his fiancée that the catering had been covered by a family connection, not by a loan from Holly’s company.
Kelsey turned slowly toward him.
“You said the caterer gave us a promotional arrangement.”
“I was handling it.”
“You lied to me.”
Diane stepped between them.
“This is exactly what Holly wants.
She wants everyone fighting while she sits there feeling powerful.”
Holly’s phone rang.
The catering coordinator.
It was 10:42 a.m.
Holly answered on speaker.
“Mrs.
Jasper, I need to update you.
Someone contacted our accounting office and attempted to replace the billing email and authorize the payment under your name.”
Every face in the kitchen became still.
“Who?” Holly asked.
“The caller identified herself as Diane Bell.
She could not provide the security code, and our staff terminated the call.
We have documented the attempt.”
Diane’s cheeks flushed.
“I was trying to fix the mess you created.”
“You tried to impersonate me,” Holly said.
“Do not be absurd.”
