Chapter 4 - Ashley Finally Answered
The emergency bank freeze happened fourteen minutes before the transfer was scheduled to clear.
Christopher called it lucky.
I called it the first useful thing that had happened since my wedding.
Dwight apparently learned about the freeze almost immediately.
His calls became frantic.
Then Ashley started calling again.
I ignored the first four.
On the fifth, she left a voicemail.
“Liz, please.”
Her voice cracked.
“There are things you don’t understand.”
I stared at my phone.
Amy watched me from across the kitchen.
“Don’t call her.”
“I’m not.”
I forwarded the message to Christopher.
He advised the same thing.
“No direct communication.”
Ashley sent another message.
DWIGHT LIED TO ME TOO.
Then another.
I CAN EXPLAIN EVERYTHING.
Then the one that mattered.
I HAVE DOCUMENTS YOU NEED.
Christopher told me to answer only in writing.
I typed four words.
Send them to Christopher.
Nothing arrived.
Instead, Ashley appeared outside Amy’s apartment that evening.
She had been crying.
Or at least she wanted me to believe she had.
Amy refused to open the door.
Ashley stood in the hallway and spoke through it.
“Liz, I know you can hear me.”
I said nothing.
“Dwight told me you knew the marriage was financial.”
My anger sharpened.
“He said you were getting married because your grandmother’s trust required it.”
That was a lie so ridiculous I almost opened the door just to look at her.
Ashley continued.
“He said you two had an arrangement.”
I finally spoke.
“Then why were you hiding?”
Silence.
“Why did you kiss him in a parking garage?”
Nothing.
“Why did you ask when my money would clear?”
Her voice became smaller.
“He told me we were going to start a business.”
I laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
Because I finally understood how much she had been willing not to question.
“You stood beside me while I put on my wedding dress.”
“I know.”
“You held my flowers.”
“I know.”
“You gave a speech about our friendship.”
“I know.”
“You knew he was planning to take my money.”
“No.”
Her answer came too quickly.
I stepped closer to the door.
“The video says otherwise.”
She started crying harder.
Then she said something unexpected.
“Jared was running the whole thing.”
I exchanged a look with Amy.
Ashley continued.
“He promised Dwight the family apartment would eventually belong to him if he brought investment money into Harbor House.”
“What investment money?”
“Yours.”
My fists tightened.
“How much?”
“I don’t know.”
“Try again.”
“More than a million.”
The hallway became silent.
Ashley whispered one last thing.
“There was supposed to be a document at breakfast the morning after the wedding.”
My mind flashed back to Susan carrying the fruit plate and the thick envelope.
“What document?”
“I never saw the final version.”
“Who prepared it?”
Ashley hesitated.
Then she answered.
“Gemma.”
That changed everything.
Because Gemma had spent years working as a paralegal.
May you like
And according to the family, she had only been angry because she wanted someone to wash her clothes.
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