Chapter 12 - What Owen Signed
Celia asked Owen to meet her at the coffee shop across from the courthouse. She brought her cousin, the livestream videographer, and she recorded the conversation on her own phone after checking with Detective Brooks about the law.
Owen arrived carrying her engagement ring in its blue box.
"Can we please stop making this worse?" he asked.
"You signed Laurel's name onto a document."
"Maren prepared it. She said Laurel had already approved it verbally."
"You know what a signature is, Owen."
He pushed the box toward her. "This wedding cost us sixty thousand dollars. People took time off work. My mother isn't sleeping."
Celia left the ring where it was. "A woman went into emergency surgery, and you're worried about centerpieces."
Owen stared into his coffee. Finally he explained that Westvale Renewal had bought an option on an old riverfront warehouse. The warehouse could be sold to a luxury developer for a significant profit, but the option required a cash deposit. Maren had used Harbor House donations to cover the deposit, promising to replace the funds when the land deal closed.
"She said it was for six weeks," Owen muttered. "She showed me projections."
"Did you know the charity couldn't do that?"
"I knew it wasn't how the money was supposed to be used. I thought she had a lawyer make it okay."
Celia went very still. "You knew enough."
When she left, Owen followed her onto the sidewalk.
"Celia, I love you."
"Then why did you watch your sister attack Laurel and act like the ceremony mattered more?"
He had no answer.
Celia called me afterward. Her voice sounded scraped raw. I told her she didn't have to keep choosing between a wedding she'd planned and the person she wanted to be.
"I already chose," she said. "The ring's still on the table."
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That afternoon Dean came into the NICU with a strange expression. Detective Brooks had visited the bank holding the charity account. The bank had given her enough information to establish where the first transfers went. Westvale had moved the money again, splitting it among three accounts.
"There's a payment scheduled for tomorrow," Dean said. "If it clears, most of what's left will be gone."
