“Can we help you?”

Trevor Dwyer’s voice echoed through the ballroom, but the confidence behind it had already begun to disappear.

Silas Bellori stopped beside the wedding cake.

He glanced at the blue confetti scattered across the frosting, then at the newlyweds standing near the head table.

“Actually,” he said quietly, “I believe I can help your sister.”

Nobody moved.

Laurel stared at the stranger.

Silas turned toward Trevor.

“You just announced that you’re taking a honeymoon in Italy.”

Trevor cleared his throat.

“It’s a family arrangement.”

“Interesting.”

Silas reached into his jacket and withdrew a black leather folder.

“Because the villa you mentioned belongs to me.”

A murmur swept through the room.

Trevor’s smile faltered.

“You own the villa?”

“The entire property. Including the private beach, the surrounding estate, and the company managing its reservations.”

Dennis Dwyer stood.

“Mr. Bellori, I’m sure there’s been a misunderstanding.”

Silas looked at him.

“I’m certain there has.”

He opened the folder.

“Mrs. Harrow, would you mind answering a question?”

Laurel hesitated.

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“Yes?”

“Did you authorize the transfer of your honeymoon reservation?”

“No.”

“Did you request that your brother and his wife replace you as guests?”

“No.”

“Did you authorize anyone to change the airline tickets?”

“No.”

Silas closed the folder.

“Then someone has committed fraud.”

The word landed like a glass breaking.

Jenna’s hands flew to her stomach.

Trevor laughed nervously.

“Come on. That’s ridiculous. We’re family.”

Silas didn’t smile.

“Family relationships do not constitute legal authorization.”

Dennis stepped forward.

“I paid the difference.”

“No,” Laurel said.

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Everyone turned.

She straightened.

“You didn’t pay for any of it.”

Dennis frowned.

“Laurel, sweetheart—”

“Don’t.”

The single word silenced him.

She had never spoken to her father like that.

Not at sixteen when he made her give Trevor the money she’d saved for college books.

Not at twenty-three when Trevor wrecked her car and Dennis insisted she should understand because her brother was going through a difficult time.

Not even when Dennis tried to convince her to use her savings to rescue Trevor’s failed restaurant.

But something had changed.

Perhaps it was the confetti.

Perhaps the microphone.

Perhaps the realization that her husband had watched her family humiliate her and asked her to remain quiet.

“I paid thirty-eight thousand dollars for that honeymoon,” Laurel said.

A collective gasp traveled through the ballroom.

Trevor’s face flushed.

“Why would you spend that much on a vacation?”

Laurel looked at him.

“Because it was mine to spend.”

Silas’s expression changed almost imperceptibly.

Approval.

Then he turned toward Dennis.

“Mr. Dwyer, my office received a telephone call three days ago requesting an amendment to that reservation.”

Dennis folded his arms.

“And?”

“The caller claimed to be the bride’s authorized representative.”

“I was arranging a family surprise.”

“A surprise involving someone else’s money?”

Dennis opened his mouth.

Silas continued.

“The caller also provided personal information belonging to Mrs. Harrow.”

Laurel felt a chill.

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“What information?”

“Her passport number. Her billing address. Her security verification answers.”

Miles suddenly looked up.

Laurel noticed.

And Silas noticed Laurel noticing.

“Those details,” Silas said, “would not normally be available to a relative without the traveler’s knowledge.”

Laurel turned toward her husband.

“Miles?”

He looked pale.

“Laurel, I can explain.”

Her heart dropped.

“What did you do?”

“I gave your father some information.”

The ballroom became impossibly quiet.

“Why?”

“He said he was arranging a wedding gift.”

Laurel stared at him.

“You gave him my passport information?”

“I thought he was upgrading something.”

“You didn’t ask me?”

“He asked me to keep it a surprise.”

Trevor smirked.

“See? Miles knew.”

Miles turned sharply.

“I did not know you were stealing our honeymoon.”

“Stealing is a dramatic word.”

Silas stepped forward.

“Then allow me to provide a more accurate one.”

He held up a document.

“Forgery.”

Dennis’s smile vanished.

Silas placed the paper on the nearest table.

“This is a digital authorization submitted to my reservations department.”

Laurel leaned closer.

Her name appeared at the bottom.

LAUREL DWYER HARROW.

The signature looked almost perfect.

Almost.

But Laurel knew her own handwriting.

She never wrote the final letter of her surname that way.

“I didn’t sign that.”

Silas nodded.

“I know.”

Trevor looked toward the exit.

Two hotel security officers had quietly taken positions beside the doors.

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Dennis’s expression hardened.

“Are you threatening my family?”

“No,” Silas said. “I’m preventing your family from threatening someone else’s rights.”

Then he turned to Laurel.

“Mrs. Harrow, your reservation has not been transferred. The fraudulent amendment was flagged before it could be completed.”

Laurel blinked.

“So the honeymoon is still ours?”

“Every room. Every service. Every reservation.”

Relief struck so suddenly that she nearly lost her balance.

Miles reached for her.

She stepped away.

Silas noticed that too.

But Trevor wasn’t finished.

“You can’t humiliate us like this!”

Silas looked genuinely surprised.

“Mr. Dwyer, you brought a microphone.”

A few guests laughed.

Trevor’s cheeks turned crimson.

Dennis slammed his glass onto the table.

“This wedding is over.”

Laurel looked at him.

“Yes,” she said. “I think it is.”

She pulled the small silver hairpin from her veil.

Then another.

And another.

Her hands trembled.

Miles took a step toward her.

“Laurel, please.”

She looked at the man she had married only hours earlier.

“I asked you to stand beside me.”

“I am standing beside you.”

“No. You’re standing close to me. There’s a difference.”

Miles looked as if she had struck him.

Silas quietly offered her a chair.

But before she could sit, Jenna spoke.

“Wait.”

Her voice sounded frightened.

Trevor turned.

“Jenna, don’t.”

She ignored him.

“Laurel, there’s something you need to know.”

Trevor grabbed her arm.

“Not now.”

Jenna pulled away.

“You promised me she knew.”

The entire ballroom froze.

Laurel stared at her sister-in-law.

“Knew what?”

Jenna’s eyes filled with tears.

“The honeymoon wasn’t the only thing they were planning to take.”

Dennis’s face turned gray.

Trevor whispered, “Shut up.”

Jenna shook her head.

“They used your name for something else.”

Laurel felt the floor tilt beneath her feet.

“What else?”

Jenna looked toward Dennis.

Then toward the man holding Laurel’s wedding ring on his finger.

Finally, she whispered four words.

“Your father’s house isn’t his.”

And Silas Bellori, who had remained composed through everything, suddenly looked very interested.