Chapter 4: The Name on the Screen
The name on Silas Montgomery’s phone was Diane Bennett.
My stepmother.
For several seconds, I couldn't hear anything except the pounding of my own heart.
Diane stood beside my father, one hand pressed against her pearl necklace, her face arranged into an expression of wounded disbelief.
“That is ridiculous,” she said.
“Someone has stolen my information.””
Silas didn't lower his phone.
“The email account was created using your personal address. The message included a copy of Claire's employment records and a bank account number. The account holder also requested that all communication remain confidential.””
Diane let out a brittle laugh.
“And you think that proves I sent it?””
“No,” Silas replied.
“That's why I investigated before responding.””
Felicity suddenly stepped between them.
“Mr. Montgomery, this is getting out of hand. We should discuss this privately.””
Daniel stared at his wife.
“Why are you so desperate to stop him from talking?””
“Because this is our wedding!””
“You've said that six times.””
“Because nobody seems to care!””
Her voice cracked, and several guests shifted uncomfortably.
I stood beside Table Nineteen, gripping the back of my chair.
I wanted to leave.
I wanted to go home, lock my apartment door, take off the dress I had bought for this miserable evening, and return to the life where my biggest problem was whether I could get enough sleep before my next shift.
But I couldn't ignore what Silas had said.
Someone had used my identity to ask for money.
Someone had known enough about my past to make the request believable.
And if that money had been sent, my name would have been attached to the fraud.
“Mr. Montgomery,” I said, “did you send anything?””
“No.””
“Did you contact the hospital?””
“Yes. I verified that the documents were legitimate, but I didn't authorize any payment. The request came from an address that didn't match the contact information the hospital provided.””
I exhaled slowly.
“Thank you for checking.””
Silas inclined his head.
“I wish I could say I had handled it differently. I should have contacted you directly once I confirmed your identity.””
“You didn't have my number.””
“I could have done more.””
For the first time that evening, I saw something other than wealth and authority in his expression.
I saw embarrassment.
He had been trying to thank me, and someone had turned that kindness into an opportunity.
Diane reached for his arm.
“Silas, please. We are both adults. Surely we can agree that electronic accounts can be manipulated.””
He stepped away from her.
“Of course. Which is why I won't accuse anyone without evidence.””
She seemed to relax.
Then he continued.
“But I would like to know why the account requested payment to a bank account belonging to a company registered to your daughter.””
Every trace of color vanished from Felicity's face.
Daniel turned toward her.
“What company?””
She didn't answer.
Silas looked at me.
“Claire, have you ever heard of Bennett Event Consulting?””
I shook my head.
“No.””
Felicity suddenly spoke.
“It's a business I registered last year.””
Daniel stared at her.
“You told me your business was called Felicity Events.””
“It is. Bennett Event Consulting is just the legal name.””
“Then why didn't you tell me?””
“Because it was an administrative detail!””
Her answer came too quickly.
Silas slipped his phone into his pocket.
“I am not here to investigate your finances. But the payment request was for eighty-five thousand dollars.””
A guest near the dance floor gasped.
My father grabbed the edge of the table.
“Eighty-five thousand?””
Diane looked toward him.
“Richard, don't start.””
“Don't start what? I didn't know anything about this!””
She stared at him, and for the first time I noticed how practiced her expression was. She could move from concern to indignation in an instant, selecting whichever emotion would make the person in front of her feel guilty.
“I'm trying to protect this family,” she said.
“From what?”” I asked.
She swung toward me.
“Don't pretend you understand anything about this.””
“I understand that someone tried to get eighty-five thousand dollars using my name.””
“You have no proof that I did it!””
“I haven't accused you.””
“Your expression says otherwise.””
I almost laughed.
Even now, with an entire room watching her, Diane wanted to make my face the problem.
Daniel stepped toward Felicity.
“Tell me the truth. Did you know about the email?””
Felicity's eyes filled with tears.
“No.””
“Look at me.””
She looked at him.
“Did you know someone had contacted my father pretending to be Claire?””
Her lower lip trembled.
“I knew someone had asked for money.””
Daniel went completely still.
“What?””
Felicity reached for him.
“I didn't send the email. I swear. I only heard about it afterward.””
“From whom?””
She glanced at Diane.
That tiny movement answered more than her words.
Diane straightened.
“Felicity, don't you dare drag me into this.””
My sister recoiled as though she'd been slapped.
“You told me it was handled!””
A collective gasp swept through the room.
Diane's face hardened.
“Be quiet.””
The command came out so sharply that even my father flinched.
Felicity stared at her stepmother.
“You said nobody would ever find out.””
Silas looked at Daniel.
Daniel looked at his wife.
And I felt the last fragile thread holding the evening together snap.
My father moved toward Diane.
“What have you done?””
She turned on him immediately.
“Richard, I will not be interrogated like a criminal in front of strangers.””
“You just told Felicity to be quiet!””
“Because she's hysterical!””
Felicity made a strangled sound.
“I am not hysterical!””
She pulled her bouquet from the table and hurled it onto the floor.
White roses scattered across the marble.
“I did everything you told me to do!””
Diane stared at her.
“Stop talking.””
“No! You said Claire would never matter to the Montgomerys. You said her hospital story was old news. You said if we made the right request, they would pay to keep everything quiet!””
My stomach turned.
“Keep what quiet?”” I asked.
Felicity looked at me.
For a moment, I saw the little girl she had been before our mother died, before the family learned to reward her tears and punish my silence.
Then her expression hardened again.
“You wouldn't understand.””
“Try me.””
She laughed bitterly.
“You always have to be the good one, don't you? The one who works hard, never asks for anything, never complains. Everyone looks at you and thinks you're so noble.””
“Felicity—”
“No! Do you know what it's like being your sister? Everyone tells me how dependable Claire is.
How selfless Claire is. How lucky your father is to have Claire.””
I stared at her.
“You have never been jealous of my job.””
“Don't tell me what I feel!””
“Then tell me why you tried to use my name.””
She looked away.
Diane stepped forward, her heels clicking sharply against the marble.
“This conversation is over.””
Silas shook his head.
“Not quite.””
He took out his phone again.
“I have the original email, its attachments, and the correspondence that followed. I also have the name of the person who supplied the bank details.””
Felicity's breathing became shallow.
Diane's eyes narrowed.
“You said you weren't accusing anyone.””
“I'm not. I'm preserving evidence.””
Then Silas turned to the wedding planner.
“Please ask your staff to keep the service corridor clear. No one needs to be trapped in this room, and no one needs to be prevented from leaving.””
It was a calm instruction.
But it changed everything.
Until that moment, Diane had behaved as though the reception belonged to her.
Now she understood that she couldn't control who spoke, who left, or what happened next.
My father approached me.
“Claire, sweetheart, come sit down.””
I stepped back.
“Why?””
He looked startled.
“Because you're upset.””
“I was upset when Felicity mocked me. I was upset when you applauded. I was upset when Diane called me unstable. You didn't ask me to sit down then.””
His mouth tightened.
“That's not fair.””
“No. It isn't.””
I reached for my purse.
“I want to go home.””
Daniel looked at me with exhausted eyes.
“Claire, I'm sorry.””
“You didn't do anything to me.””
“I married someone I thought I knew.””
I couldn't find an answer to that.
He looked toward the head table, where the wedding cake stood untouched beneath a cascade of sugar flowers.
“I need to understand what happened.””
“Then ask questions,” I said.
“But don't ask me to make the answers easier.””
Silas nodded quietly.
“That's good advice.””
I turned toward the exit.
I had taken three steps when Diane called after me.
“Claire!””
I stopped but didn't turn around.
“You cannot leave without hearing my side.””
I looked over my shoulder.
“You've had years to give me your side. You chose to give everyone else a version of me instead.””
Her face twisted.
“You ungrateful little—”
“Diane,” my father warned.
She ignored him.
“You think you're better than us because you have a respectable job and a sad little story about saving someone. But you have no idea what it takes to maintain a family.””
I looked at the woman who had spent years teaching me that love was something I had to earn by being convenient.
Then I said the one thing I had never dared say aloud.
“I maintained this family when you couldn't be bothered.””
Diane went silent.
My father stared at me.
Felicity stopped crying.
And from somewhere near the head table, Daniel said, “What does she mean by that?””
I felt the past rise inside me like floodwater.
May you like
Because the money was only the beginning.
And if Daniel wanted the truth about my family, he was about to discover that the person who had tried to steal my identity wasn't the only one who had taken something from me.
