I Wore White While He Told Me I Was Never the Bride Chapter 07

I Wore White While He Told Me I Was Never the Bride Chapter 07

Grandma ordered the gates opened.

Dad assumed I had given in and immediately tried to walk inside.

Two attorneys stepped in front of him.

“Mr. Sloan, we’ve submitted evidence to the police concerning the forged signature used to mortgage the property, the unlawful entry into the residence, and the misappropriation of inherited belongings.”

Dad’s expression changed sharply.

“Who are you trying to scare?”

One of the attorneys handed him several documents.

“This is the preliminary report from the handwriting expert.”

“This is video of Mrs. Sloan threatening Ms. Bennett with the key to the house.”

“And this is footage from the hotel showing you directing security guards to restrain Ms. Bennett.”

Dad’s hand trembled.

My stepmother hurried to intervene.

“That was a misunderstanding.”

“Evelyn was extremely emotional. We were only trying to keep her from hurting Mia.”

I looked at her.

“Mia was never pregnant.”

My stepmother’s expression froze.

Dad spun around.

“What did you say?”

I flung Mia’s hospital report at him.

“You used a fake pregnancy to force me to give up my fiancé, my wedding dress, and my mother’s house.”

“There was never a baby.”

“Are you still going to keep up the act?”

My stepmother’s lips went pale. For a long time, she could not say a word.

Julian stood off to one side as though all the strength had been drained from his body.

He asked quietly, “Evelyn, when did you find out?”

“A little before you did.”

His lips moved, but no words came out.

Mia showed up too.

Still wearing a hospital gown, with her hair loose and disheveled, she rushed to Julian’s side.

“Julian, don’t listen to them.”

“The report could be wrong.”

Her tears fell even harder.

“I only did it because I love you so much.”

“Evelyn has everything. She has you, her grandmother, and that house.”

“What do I have?”

“All I have is my place as your wife.”

I let out a laugh.

“So you decided to steal what was mine?”

Mia suddenly pointed at me.

“What gives you the right to look down on me?”

“Didn’t your mother steal my mother’s place first?”

Grandma struck the floor hard with her silver-handled cane.

“Shut up.”

Mia flinched.

Grandma looked at her, her voice turning icy.

“Your mother was the one who was never anything more than the other woman.”

My stepmother’s face changed completely.

“Mrs. Bennett Sr., don’t make things up.”

Grandma ignored her.

She looked only at me.

“Evelyn, there are things I had planned to tell you after you had more time to recover.”

“But they’ve been using your mother’s reputation to hurt you.”

“So we’ll set the record straight today.”

She raised one hand.

The butler brought over an old wooden box.

Inside lay a small brass key.

Grandma looked at the antique locket around my neck.

“Your mother told you never to lose that locket.”

“That was because the other half of this key is hidden inside it.”

I froze.

My fingers moved to the edge of the locket.

Grant stepped forward.

“Would you like me to help?”

I shook my head.

I found the hidden clasp on the back and opened it myself.

Grandma’s voice was soft.

“Your mother left something in the study at her old house.”

“She said that if they ever left you with nowhere to turn, you were to bring the truth into the open.”

Dad’s face went deathly pale.

He lunged forward and tried to grab the box.

The guards restrained him.

He struggled wildly and shouted, “You are not going there!”

“Everything she said was a lie!”

As I watched him struggle against the guards, I suddenly understood.

My mother’s final words, “I wasn’t the other woman,” had not been a farewell.

They had been testimony.