“Yes.”
He discreetly held up a flash drive.
“Mr. Hayes sent the files to our event manager. She asked me to take this to the band.”
“Thank you.”
Mateo looked toward the ballroom.
“Are you sure?”
I thought about Susan’s microphone.
Her laughter.
Michael’s silence.
“Yes.”
I returned to table seven.
Susan was laughing with her bridesmaids.
Then the music stopped.
The lead singer stepped forward.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve been asked to pause for a special presentation.”
A screen descended.
Susan frowned.
Michael looked confused.
Then Susan’s own voice filled the room.
“It’s like stepping back into 1980.”
Nobody laughed.
Next came the engagement-frame clip.
“She’s just cheap.”
Michael’s face drained of color.
Susan stood.
“What is this?”
Then:
“I didn’t marry Michael to become a charity case for his pathetic mother.”
Someone gasped.
Susan grabbed Michael’s arm.
“Turn this off.”
He pulled away.
The final video began.
Susan appeared on-screen.
“Your mother is becoming a real problem.”
Michael’s recorded voice answered.
“She’s doing her best.”
“She’s going to be our responsibility forever.”
The screen went black.
The ballroom became silent.
Michael stared at his wife.
“What the hell was that?”
Susan looked around desperately.
“Those were private conversations.”
I stood.
“You were very curious about my financial situation.”
Susan turned toward me.
I walked to the head table and removed the folded document from my purse.
When she recognized Robert’s letterhead, her face changed.
I unfolded it.
“This isn’t a check.”
Her mouth tightened.
“It is confirmation that six months ago, my Aunt Eleanor left me an estate currently valued at approximately **$2.7 million**.”
For a second, nobody reacted.
It was as though the words had landed in a language nobody understood.
Michael stood.
“Mom?”
Susan’s fingers closed around the tablecloth.
I continued.
“There was one condition. I had to keep it private for six months and continue living exactly as I had before.”
Susan stared at me.
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor wanted me to see how the people closest to me behaved when they believed I had nothing to offer.”
