Chapter 2: The Footage
Tony Russo was waiting for him in a small private office behind the main dining room.
The restaurant was quiet at that hour. The wedding decorations had already been cleared away. Only a few staff members moved around in the background.
Tony locked the door behind them and gestured toward a laptop on the desk.
“I only showed this to you,” he said. “No one else has seen it.”
Richard sat down without a word.
Tony clicked play.
The video was from the bridal lounge, filmed by a security camera in the corner of the ceiling. The timestamp showed it was taken during the reception, while the guests were dancing downstairs.
Harper sat on the edge of a white sofa, still in her wedding dress. One hand rested on her slightly rounded belly. She looked tense.
A moment later, Eleanor entered the room and closed the door behind her.
Richard’s stomach tightened.
On the screen, Eleanor walked over and sat beside Harper. She did not hug her. She did not wipe away tears like a caring mother-in-law.
Instead, she spoke in a low, firm voice.
“You did well today. Just keep playing your part a little longer.”
Harper looked up at her.
“He signed the deed. The lake house is in both our names now.”
Eleanor nodded.
“Good. Once the baby is born and the trust is adjusted, we can move the rest of the assets. After that… we leave.”
Harper’s voice was quieter.
“What if Preston finds out?”
Eleanor reached out and gently touched Harper’s face — not like a mother-in-law, but like something far more intimate.
“He won’t. Richard is too busy with his empire. And Preston only sees what we want him to see.”
Harper leaned into the touch for a second, then whispered:
“I hate lying to him.”
Eleanor’s expression hardened.
“You knew the plan from the beginning. You wanted the money and the security. Now you have both. Don’t start growing a conscience.”
On the screen, Eleanor stood up, smoothed her dress, and walked toward the door.
Before leaving, she looked back one last time.
“Remember who you’re really doing this for.”
Then she walked out.
The video ended.
Richard sat completely still.
Tony remained silent, watching him carefully.
After a long moment, Richard finally spoke.
“Is there more?”
Tony nodded and opened another file.
“There’s one more short clip from later that night.”
In the second video, Eleanor and Harper were standing near the window of the lounge. Eleanor handed Harper a small black envelope.
“This is the first transfer,” Eleanor said. “Keep it somewhere safe. Once the baby is here, we’ll move the larger amounts.”
Harper took the envelope without looking at it.
“And Richard?”
Eleanor smiled coldly.
“By the time he realizes anything, it will already be too late.”
The video stopped.
Richard stared at the black screen.
His hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
The woman he had been married to for thirty-two years.
The woman who had stood beside him through every success and every failure.
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And the pregnant girl who was supposed to be the mother of his first grandchild.
They had been planning this together.
