CHAPTER 4
From the second-story balcony of my farmhouse, I watched through a pair of vintage brass binoculars as the crowd slowly began to dissolve into chaos.
Guests were arguing in small groups, ladies in floor-length gowns were stumbling across the gravel toward their vehicles, and Greg was shouting hysterically at his father.
I took a slow sip of cold lemonade, feeling the quiet afternoon breeze carry the sweet scent of ripening Cabernet grapes across the patio.
For twenty-seven years, I had put my daughter's happiness above my own pride, absorbing her subtle disrespect because I believed it was just youthful arrogance that she would eventually outgrow.
I watched Samantha drop her bridal bouquet into the dirt near the gate, hiding her face in her hands while Greg continued to yell at the security guard inside.
He didn't comfort her, he didn't put his arm around her shoulders, and he didn't care that her dress was being ruined in the dust.
His true nature, stripped of the glossy veneer of wealth and privilege, was fully exposed for every guest to witness.
He wasn't angry because the wedding was ruined; he was furious because the eight-million-dollar estate had slipped through his greedy fingers.
My desk phone in the office began to ring on a secondary landline that only my estate attorney possessed.
I set the binoculars down, smoothed my faded cotton apron, and walked calmly inside to answer the call.
"Andrea," Arthur Miller’s steady voice came through the speaker. "The Montgomery family's corporate lawyers are already trying to file an emergency injunction for breach of contract regarding the wedding venue."
"Let them file whatever they like, Arthur," I replied, sitting down at my oak desk. "The property is entirely in my name, the event contract was signed solely by me, and I funded every dime."
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"They're threatening a public relations smear campaign in the local newspapers," Arthur warned gently.
"Tell them to print whatever they want," I said, looking at a framed photograph of Michael and me standing on this very land thirty years ago. "The truth always harvests clearer than rumors."
