Chapter 7 - The Setup
I couldn't look away from the photograph.
Establish pattern that Lily is unstable in public.
Document Nora's aggression.
Today's date.
The whole evening rearranged itself in my mind.
The fake email told staff Lily had behavioral problems. The dessert restriction guaranteed a conflict. Diane stood over a four-year-old and humiliated her in public. Then, when I intervened, she shoved me first.
And I slapped her.
Exactly what she wanted.
"She set me up," I said.
Ethan's face went pale.
Robert nodded slowly. "That's what it looks like."
"She wanted witnesses to me hitting her."
"And Lily crying," Ethan said.
I thought of the man from Family Placement Services standing near the hallway.
A custody consultant at the wedding. A public confrontation. A fake paper trail describing my daughter as unstable.
"Was he supposed to see it?" I asked.
No one answered.
A knock sounded at the library door. The venue manager stood there with a police officer.
"We found the man from the photo," he said.
"Where?" Mateo asked from behind him.
"In the parking lot. He was sitting in a rental car."
The officer introduced herself as Sergeant Kelly. "He says his name is Aaron Price. He works for Family Placement Services. He claims Mrs. Whitmore hired him to observe a family interaction for a private consultation."
"Observe?" I said. "At a wedding she wasn't hosting?"
"That's what we're clarifying. He says he was told all relevant parties knew he would be present."
"We didn't," Ethan said.
Kelly nodded. "He showed us an email giving him permission to enter the venue."
My stomach dropped.
"Whose name was on it?"
She looked at me.
"Yours."
Of course it was.
The fake account again.
I laughed, but there was no humor in it. "I want copies of everything."
"We'll document what we can. The venue can also issue a trespass notice if you want."
Claire stepped into the hallway, still in her wedding dress, still wearing one satin glove and one bare hand because she had apparently forgotten she removed the other after smashing the cupcake.
"I want both of them off my property," she said.
Mateo quietly reminded her, "We rented the property."
"Then off the property I rented."
Sergeant Kelly almost smiled.
Outside, Diane had finally stopped shouting. She stood under the portico with her arms crossed, waiting.
Waiting for what?
For Aaron Price to come out?
For a scene to become evidence?
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A text message.
You assaulted an elderly woman in front of two hundred witnesses. Think carefully about what you do next.
Attached was a ten-second video.
It showed me slapping Diane.
Nothing before it.
Not Diane hitting Lily.
Not her grabbing Lily's arm.
Not her shoving me.
Only my hand crossing Diane's face.
May you like
Someone had filmed exactly the piece she needed.
And sent it to me before the reception was even over.
