Chapter 6 - The Unmasking
Nathaniel stepped out onto the terrace.
He had changed into a sharp dark grey suit, his hair neatly combed back, but his posture was unnervingly rigid. Standing two paces behind him was Marcus Vance—the chief legal counsel for Whitmore Enterprises—holding an iPad with an active recording screen.
Caroline froze, her arm remaining extended in mid-air, her smile instantly vaporizing.
"Nathaniel..." Caroline stammered, her voice losing its icy composure. "I... I was just offering Erin a severance package! Given the awkwardness of this morning, I thought it best for everyone if—"
"I listened to the last three minutes of your conversation through the security intercom on the patio, Caroline," Nathaniel said. His voice was low, devoid of emotion, like a judge reading a death sentence.
Caroline’s face went entirely white. Her eyes flicked toward the small black dome camera mounted near the roof of the kitchen terrace.
"You recorded me?" she asked, her voice cracking.
"This terrace is part of the estate’s security perimeter," Marcus Vance spoke up, stepping forward. "Every word you just said—including the financial bribe, the threat to falsify a police report regarding antique theft, and the extortion regarding Mrs. Hale's medical care—has been saved to our secure cloud server."
"Nathaniel, please!" Caroline rushed toward him, reaching out to touch his arm. "I was doing this for us! She’s a distraction! She’s driving a wedge between you and me right before our wedding! Look at how you looked at her this morning! Look at how you treated me in front of her!"
Nathaniel took a step back, refusing to let her fingers touch his sleeve.
"You threatened a dying woman's medical treatment to protect your pride, Caroline," Nathaniel said, looking at her with a profound, crushing disappointment. "You threatened to put an innocent person in prison because she made you feel insecure."
"I love you!" Caroline cried out, tears of frustration finally spilling down her cheeks. "I've spent two years preparing to be your wife! I've represented your company, I've organized your social events, I've endured your mother's constant dementia!"
"You didn't endure my mother," Nathaniel snapped, his voice finally cracking with real anger. "You tolerated her when the press was around, and you ignored her when the doors were closed! Erin is the one who endured! Erin is the one who cared!"
Nathaniel turned to Marcus Vance.
"Marcus. Cancel the venue in Chicago. Cancel the caterers. Cancel the florist. Contact the press secretary and issue a formal statement that the Whitmore-Sloan wedding has been called off indefinitely due to irreconcilable personal differences."
Caroline gasped, clutching her chest as if she had been shot. "No... no! Nathaniel, you can't! The invitations! The board! The newspapers! My father’s political campaign! You will ruin us both!"
"I am protecting my family," Nathaniel said coldly. "And you, Caroline, are no longer welcome on this property."
He looked at Marcus. "Escort Ms. Sloan to her suite. Give her one hour to pack her personal belongings. If she is still on the grounds at eleven o'clock, have estate security remove her for trespassing."
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"Right away, Mr. Whitmore," Marcus said, stepping beside Caroline. "This way, Ms. Sloan."
Caroline stood frozen on the stone terrace, watching Nathaniel step past her toward Erin. Her empire, her social standing, her four-hundred-guest wedding, and her future as Mrs. Nathaniel Whitmore had vanished into thin air before the morning sun had even cleared the trees.
