Chapter 6 - Enter the Second Bride
Before Ethan could formulate an answer, the front gate intercom buzzed.
I tapped the screen of my phone, routing the exterior video feed directly to the massive flat-panel display mounted above the fireplace. The high-definition screen lit up to reveal Olivia stepping out of a silver sedan, holding a designer baby registry portfolio.
"Claire, what did you do?" Ethan gasped, his voice choking with terror. "What did you do?!"
"I invited her back," I said calmly. "After all, she was under the impression that we were having a family meeting to discuss the nursery renovations. It seemed cruel to exclude the mother of the future Vance heir."
I tapped the screen once more, remotely unlocking the front door.
A moment later, the front door clicked open. "Ethan? Claire?" Olivia's voice drifted through the foyer, bright and cheerful. She walked into the living room, her face glowing with anticipation, until she crossed the threshold and took in the tableau before her.
Camryn was slumped in the armchair, trembling, staring at the floor. Ethan stood ashen-faced by the hearth, looking like a condemned prisoner at the gallows. And I sat across from them, composed, holding a cup of steaming black coffee.
"What's... what's going on?" Olivia asked, her smile faltering as she instinctively placed a protective hand over her pregnant belly. "Ethan? Why does everyone look like this?"
"Olivia," I greeted her, gesturing toward the empty sofa beside me. "Please, have a seat. Ethan and his mother were just explaining the terms of the Vance family trust."
"Claire, shut up! Shut your mouth!" Ethan shouted, stepping forward, his eyes wild.
"Step back, Ethan," I said, my voice dropping an octave, ringing with such razor-sharp authority that he physically halted in his tracks. "Or the next call I make isn't to the title company—it’s to the District Attorney's financial crimes task force."
Olivia’s gaze darted between us, confusion rapidly curdling into alarm. "Ethan, what is she talking about? What financial crimes?"
I turned toward the pregnant woman. "Olivia, tell me: what did Ethan tell you about his finances? About how this house was purchased?"
"He... he said his trust fund matured upon his thirtieth birthday," Olivia whispered, looking at Ethan with mounting dread. "He said you were his business partner who agreed to front the commercial credit score until the estate assets cleared probate. He said... he said the marriage was a legal formality to satisfy a grandfather clause in his inheritance!"
I let out a soft, pitying laugh. "Ethan doesn't have a trust fund, Olivia. His grandfather died bankrupt twelve years ago. The Vance ancestral estate was seized by the state for unpaid back taxes in 2021. Ethan earns sixty-two thousand dollars a year as an associate consultant, half of which goes toward servicing his mother’s revolving credit card debt."
Olivia gasped, turning to Camryn. "Camryn? Is that true?"
Camryn kept her head down, her lips pressed into a bloodless line, refusing to meet the girl's eyes.
"This house costs two point four million dollars," I continued relentlessly. "The seven hundred and twenty thousand dollar down payment came entirely from my personal accounts. The credit line is backed by my liquid assets. Ethan and his mother planned to have me sign an asset forfeiture agreement today, trick me into moving out, claim marital abandonment, and hand this house to you and Ethan—all while I was left servicing the underlying mortgage notes."
Olivia dropped her portfolio. Color-coordinated nursery swatches scattered across the hardwood floor. She stared at Ethan, horror dawning across her features.
"You lied to me?" she whispered, her voice cracking. "My father gave you a hundred thousand dollars for the 'renovation trust'! He gave you his blessing because you said your family owned half the township!"
"Olivia, listen to me—" Ethan began, taking a frantic step toward her.
"Don't you dare touch me!" she screamed, recoiling as if he were covered in venom. "You took my father’s money! You dragged me into a fraud scheme while carrying your child!"
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"He didn't just take your father's money, Olivia," I added smoothly, pulling another document from my leather folder. "He used your father's deposit to pay off his mother’s overdue luxury car leases so the repossession agents wouldn't embarrass them at our wedding."
***
