I stared at him.
“What papers?”
He handed them to me.
The first page contained the letterhead of BENNETT & ASSOCIATES.
My father’s firm.
Below it was a private agreement dated six months before Grace and Daniel’s wedding.
I read the first paragraph.
Then the second.
Then I saw a number.
$300,000.
My eyes snapped toward Daniel.
“What is this?”
He said nothing.
I kept reading.
There were scheduled payments.
A down-payment release after marriage.
A second payment after twelve months.
Another after three years.
And a final provision involving legal guardianship and housing arrangements for Grace.
My father had signed it.
My mother had signed it.
Daniel had signed it.
I couldn’t breathe.
“You took money?”
“Lauren—”
“You took money to marry Grace?”
My voice echoed down the corridor.
A nurse looked around the corner.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Please.”
“Don’t tell me to be quiet.”
“I’m not.”
“My sister is in surgery fighting for her life, and you’re telling me my parents PAID YOU to marry her?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
I laughed once.
A horrible sound.
“What exactly does a paid marriage look like if not this?”