Chapter 4 - The Wedding Became an InvestigationThe police arrived twenty-three minutes later.
Marcus tried to explain everything.
He failed.
The officers didn't arrest him immediately.
Instead, they requested documents.
David provided them.
Bank records.
Emails.
Contracts.
Financial statements.
Messages.
Every piece of evidence Marcus thought was buried beneath layers of corporate paperwork.
Lydia sat alone near the window.
Her wedding dress was stained from champagne someone had knocked over during the chaos.
Her makeup had begun to run.
She looked smaller than she had that morning.
I approached slowly.
“Lydia.”
She didn't look up.
“Did you ever love me?”
The question stopped me.
“Yes.”
“Even when I was horrible to you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you're my daughter.”
She finally looked at me.
“I don't deserve you.”
I sat beside her.
“No.”
She flinched.
“You don't.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
“But that doesn't mean I want you destroyed.”
She whispered:
“Why didn't you stop me?”
“Because I needed you to make your own choices.”
“I chose him.”
“Yes.”
“And I almost destroyed you.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
“He almost did.”
She lowered her head.
“What's going to happen to him?”
“That depends on the investigators.”
“And me?”
I sighed.
“That depends on what you do next.”
She looked confused.
“What can I do?”
“Tell the truth.”
She stared at me.
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
An hour later, Lydia walked into the police interview room.
She told them everything she knew.
She explained how Marcus had pressured her.
How he had asked questions about my assets.
How he had insisted that I sign the fifty-million-dollar agreement.
How he had told her that marrying her would make them “untouchable.”
She also admitted something else.
Something that hurt me deeply.
“I helped him.”
The investigator asked:
“How?”
Lydia swallowed.
“I gave him information about my mother's properties.”
I closed my eyes.
She continued.
“I thought he was planning our future.”
The investigator wrote something down.
Then he asked:
“Did your mother know?”
Lydia shook her head.
“No.”
When she came back outside, she looked exhausted.
She walked toward me.
“I told them everything.”
I nodded.
“Thank you.”
She started crying.
“I’m sorry.”
This time, I hugged her.
Not because everything was forgiven.
It wasn't.
But because sometimes forgiveness begins with the first honest sentence.
Across the room, Marcus was escorted away.
Before he left, he looked at me.
“You think you've won?”
I said nothing.
He smiled bitterly.
“You're going to regret destroying my company.”
I calmly answered:
“Marcus, I didn't destroy your company.”
May you like
I glanced at the investigators.
“You did.”
Related Stories
