part 4
PART 4
Celeste sat down slowly.
Her face had gone pale.
For once, she did not look like the favorite daughter.
She looked like a woman hearing the floor crack beneath a room she had danced in her whole life.
“What does this have to do with my wedding?”
I opened the second section of the folder.
Roland’s chair scraped.
“Seraphina.”
His tone was warning now.
Not command.
Warning.
That meant we had reached the part he feared most.
I removed a bank statement.
“This is the account I used for house repairs.”
I placed it in front of Celeste.
“This is where the money was supposed to go.”
Then I placed a second statement beside it.
“And this is where it actually went.”
Celeste read the first line.
Her mouth parted.
“Bridal salon deposit?”
I nodded.
“That was the dress appointment you told Instagram was a gift from Dad.”
Her face flushed.
“I didn’t know.”
I turned another page.
“Private tasting dinner.”
“That was your catering preview.”
Another page.
“Lake house weekend.”
“Your bridesmaid proposal trip.”
Another.
“Custom floral consultation.”
“Your imported orchid wall.”
Celeste looked at Roland.
“You used her money?”
Roland sat back like the question offended him.
“I moved funds temporarily.”
I almost laughed.
Temporarily.
That was his favorite word for theft.
Vivian whispered, “We meant to replace it.”
“With what?” I asked.
She had no answer.
Because replacement had always been a fantasy.
A future apology written on air.
Celeste’s tears came quickly now.
“So this is my fault?”
I looked at her carefully.
“No.”
“Dad stole the money.”
Her face softened for half a second.
Then I continued.
“But you sat there smirking while he ordered me to give more.”
Her expression hardened.
“I didn’t know about the house.”
“No.”
“You didn’t.”
“But you knew I always paid.”
She looked away.
That one landed.
Because she had known that much.
She knew when I paid for her college apartment after she broke the lease.
She knew when I paid for Vivian’s surgery after Roland claimed his accounts were frozen.
She knew when I covered the property taxes and no one asked why my own car had bald tires that year.
She knew enough to benefit.
Not enough to feel guilty.
That had been the arrangement.
Roland pointed at the folder.
“You’re poisoning her against us.”
I looked at him.
“You did that with numbers.”
Vivian’s voice rose.
“Family helps family.”
I turned on her.
“Family does not forge gratitude into debt.”
The room went quiet again.
Celeste stared at the documents.
For the first time, she whispered, “How much?”
I did not answer immediately.
Roland closed his eyes.
Vivian looked down.
Celeste asked again.
“How much did you spend saving this house?”
I turned to the summary page.
Then slid it toward her.
She read the number.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
The rain outside seemed suddenly louder.
May you like
I leaned over the table and said quietly, “That is why I am not paying for your wedding.”
Read PART 5 👉 Celeste has seen the total, but the next document will show that Roland did not just steal Seraphina’s money—he used her name without permission.
