Chapter 4 - Grandma's Last Decision
Daniel drove us to Bellamonte that afternoon.
Elena was waiting in the administrative building with Rebecca Sloan.
That alone told me the situation was serious.
On the conference table sat a thin brown file.
Rebecca opened it.
Years earlier, Grandma Evelyn had helped finance Bellamonte's restoration.
Mason's father, Charles Whitmore, had also attempted to invest.
His proposal had been rejected.
“Why?” I asked.
Rebecca slid a document toward me.
Grandma had written a recommendation opposing his involvement.
She believed Charles wanted to turn the estate into a private corporate resort.
The preservation board sided with her.
Charles never forgot it.
Now his son was marrying my sister.
And apparently Bellamonte still mattered to him.
Daniel leaned back.
“So Chloe doesn't just want Avery's wedding venue.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Her future father-in-law wants access to Bellamonte.”
Elena added, “A wedding here would give his family the social connection to the property he's wanted for years.”
Suddenly Chloe's obsession made sense.
Maybe not all of it.
But enough.
I felt exhausted.
“I don't want a war.”
Rebecca smiled slightly.
“Then don't have one.”
“What?”
“Get married.”
That simple.
Again.
Get married.
Live.
Stop rearranging my life around everyone else's demands.
Bellamonte formally rejected Charles's request.
We changed nothing.
The weeks passed.
And slowly, something surprising happened.
Wedding planning became fun.
Daniel chose the music.
I chose flowers.
His grandmother helped design a small remembrance table for family members who had died.
Grandma Evelyn's photograph would sit there.
Mom stopped calling every day.
Dad sent one text:
I'm trying to do better.
I didn't know what that meant yet.
Then Chloe called.
“Can we meet?”
I almost said no.
But something in her voice sounded different.
We met at a coffee shop.
She looked tired.
No makeup.
No carefully styled hair.
For once, she didn't look like the sister who had always won.
She looked scared.
“Mason and I are fighting.”
I waited.
“About Bellamonte.”
“Why?”
“His father won't let it go.”
“That's not my problem.”
“I know.”
I nearly dropped my coffee.
Chloe stared at the table.
“I didn't know about Grandma's investment.”
“Neither did I.”
“Mason did.”
That changed everything.
“What?”
“He knew before we took Villa Serenity.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
“His father knew Grandma had left you something connected to Bellamonte. They didn't know exactly what.”
I stared at her.
“So why take Villa Serenity?”
She looked ashamed.
“Because Mason suggested it.”
“Why?”
“He thought if you lost your venue, you might use Grandma's money to book Bellamonte.”
My skin went cold.
“And then?”
“His family thought they could convince you to switch with us.”
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
“You knew?”
“Not all of it.”
“How much?”
“I knew Mason wanted Villa Serenity. I knew he thought you'd find something better. I thought…”
She stopped.
“What?”
“I thought you'd give it to me.”
There it was.
The ugliest truth because it was also the simplest.
She expected me to surrender.
Because I always had.
“Why would you think that?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Because you always do.”
Neither of us spoke.
Finally, Chloe whispered, “I think I've been a terrible sister.”
I didn't rescue her from the sentence.
She needed to sit with it.
“I let Mom make everything easier for me,” she continued. “And whenever you complained, I told myself you were jealous.”
“I wasn't jealous.”
“I know.”
She wiped her face.
“I was.”
That surprised me.
“Of what?”
“You.”
I laughed softly.
“Chloe, you got everything.”
“Exactly.”
She looked at me.
“You never needed to be saved.”
“That wasn't strength. Sometimes nobody offered.”
She closed her eyes.
“I know that now.”
We talked for almost two hours.
Not everything was repaired.
Not even close.
But for the first time, Chloe apologized without asking me to make her feel better afterward.
Before leaving, she said she was reconsidering her wedding.
Not the venue.
The groom.
Three days later, Mason called me.
I didn't answer.
Then Charles Whitmore called.
I blocked him.
That evening, Chloe appeared at my door.
Her engagement ring was gone.
“I ended it.”
I stared at her.
“What happened?”
“Mason admitted his father had been pushing the Bellamonte plan from the beginning.”
She started crying.
“I don't know if he ever wanted our wedding or just what our family could get him.”
I let her inside.
This time, I hugged her.
Not because everything was forgiven.
Because she was my sister.
And boundaries didn't require cruelty.
Two weeks before my wedding, Chloe officially canceled hers.
Villa Serenity became available again.
Mom called me.
For one terrifying second, I thought she was going to suggest I take it back.
Instead she said, “I told the venue we don't need it.”
I smiled.
“Good.”
“And Avery?”
“Yes?”
“I'm sorry.”
This time, I believed she understood at least part of what she was apologizing for.
Then, four days before the wedding, Daniel and I arrived at Bellamonte for the final walkthrough.
Elena met us near the terrace.
Something was wrong.
“What happened?”
She handed me an envelope.
No return address.
Inside was a copy of our wedding schedule.
Every private detail.
Arrival times.
Vendor entrances.
The rehearsal.
Even the room where I would get dressed.
Daniel's face hardened.
“Who has access to this?”
“Only staff and authorized vendors.”
I turned the page.
Someone had written one sentence across the bottom.
You should have stayed at Villa Serenity.
Daniel looked toward the main building.
Elena immediately called security.
Then my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
It had been taken minutes earlier.
Daniel and I were standing on the terrace.
Someone was watching us.
May you like
And beneath the photograph were four words:
I'm already inside Bellamonte.
