The ballroom emptied slowly. Some guests approached James with apologies, while others seemed too uncomfortable to speak. He barely noticed them. Lily clung to his arm, frightened that Vanessa might follow them. Marcus provided Rebecca with copies of the recording and explained how it had come into his possession. He had worked at a corporate event hosted by Vanessa three evenings earlier. While checking equipment, he heard a conversation through an audio feed left active in an adjacent room. Realizing that the conversation involved possible financial wrongdoing, he preserved the original file and sought legal advice.
James thanked him quietly.
Marcus looked toward Lily.
"She's the one who found me today."
Rebecca asked how the little girl knew to approach him.
Marcus explained that Lily recognized him from Vanessa's event. She'd heard part of the conversation herself while accompanying James to retrieve a forgotten coat. When she saw Marcus at the wedding, she begged him to help her father before the ceremony ended.
James felt ashamed.
His daughter had carried that fear alone for three days.
At home, Lily refused to let go of his hand. James made her hot chocolate and sat beside her on the living room couch, where a framed photograph of Claire still rested above the fireplace.
"Daddy," Lily whispered, "are you mad at me?"
James felt his heart break.
"Why would I be mad at you?"
"Vanessa said you would hate me if I ruined the wedding."
He closed his eyes.
"She told you that?"
Lily nodded.
"She said you waited a long time to find another mommy for me, and if I made you unhappy, you'd send me somewhere else."
James pulled her into his arms.
"Listen carefully, sweetheart. You never have to earn your place in this family. You're my daughter. Nothing changes that."
Lily began sobbing.
James held her until she grew quiet.
Later that evening, after Rebecca arrived with the financial documents she'd collected, James went into his study. The room overlooked the backyard where Claire had planted roses before she died. For years, he avoided changing anything there because the familiar details made him feel close to her.
Now he opened the desk drawer where he kept his business records.
The folder Vanessa had given him was missing.
He searched the filing cabinet, then the locked compartment beneath his desk.
Both were empty.
Rebecca watched from the doorway.
"James, what are you looking for?"
"The company ownership documents."
Her expression changed.
"Where should they be?"
"In here."
James looked toward the empty cabinet.
"Someone took them."
Then his phone rang.
The caller was his company's chief financial officer.
"James, we have a serious problem. Someone submitted instructions to transfer controlling interests in Carter Construction this morning."