Chapter 3 - The Secret in the Wedding Planner’s Ledger
"Elise, please open the door," Chelsea pleaded through the wood, her voice muffled but carrying a desperate edge. "Please. I’m alone. Mason doesn't know I'm here."
I kept the chain lock on and cracked the door open just an inch. "What do you want, Chelsea? Come to plan my daughter’s first birthday party while you're at it?"
Chelsea winced, the jab hitting its mark. She looked around the hallway nervously before looking back at me through the gap. "I made a mistake. A huge mistake. You need to know what Mason is planning. If he finds out I'm here, he'll ruin me."
I stared at her, trying to read her expression. She looked genuinely terrified. "Why should I trust you? You helped him destroy my marriage."
"Because I didn't know the whole truth!" she whispered fiercely, tears welling in her eyes. "He told me you two were separated for a year. He told me the baby wasn't his, that you cheated on him. I only found out the truth last week, but the wedding was already paid for, my agency’s reputation was on the line, and... and his mother threatened to blackball my business if I backed out."
"So you married him anyway," I said, coldness coating my words.
"I did. And it’s a nightmare," she admitted, her voice trembling. "Mason doesn't want Clara because he loves her, Elise. He wants her because of the Carrington Trust. His grandfather left a ten-million-dollar trust fund that only activates if Mason has a legitimate heir before his thirty-fifth birthday. Which is in three months."
My breath caught in my throat. The pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place with terrifying precision. Mason’s sudden urgency, his mother’s frantic push for pictures, the demand to see the baby hours after birth. It wasn't about love. It was about a massive fortune.
"If he doesn't have custody of Clara, or at least legal recognition as her father with shared custody, the money goes to his sister's estate," Chelsea explained rapidly. "They are planning to declare you unfit. Linda has hired a private investigator to dig up anything they can find on you. They are going to doctor photos, Elise. They’re going to frame you for neglect."
She reached into her bag and pulled out a sleek, black USB drive, sliding it through the narrow opening of the door.
"What is this?" I asked, looking down at the metal drive.
"It’s Mason’s personal financial ledger and emails from his mother," Chelsea said, her voice barely a whisper. "I found it on his home computer. It proves they planned to dump you the moment you became pregnant because Mason needed an heir, but he didn't want you as a wife. He wanted someone he could control. Please, Elise... take it. Just don't tell him I gave it to you."
May you like
Before I could answer, Chelsea turned and hurried down the hallway, her high heels clicking rapidly against the floor until the stairwell door slammed shut behind her.
I closed the door, my heart hammering against my ribs. I looked at the USB drive in my hand. This was the weapon we needed. But playing with a cornered beast like Mason Carrington was a highly dangerous game.
