Chapter 3 - Seven Thousand DollarsSimone knew her invoices.
She could quote most of them from memory.
Four thousand eight hundred dollars for the Bennett wedding cake.
Luxury design.
Three tiers.
Sugar flowers.
Delivery.
On-site setup.
Not eleven thousand eight hundred.
Renee placed the event ledger on the vanity.
Ashley read it.
“Vendor: Carter Bespoke Cakes.”
Simone leaned over.
Her business name.
Her tax identification suffix.
Her mailing address.
Everything looked legitimate.
Except the amount.
“This isn’t my invoice.”
Renee said, “I know what came to me. Marcus took over vendor approvals three months ago.”
Ashley stared.
“He did what?”
“He said you were overwhelmed and asked him to handle payments.”
Ashley laughed bitterly.
“I thought he was helping.”
Simone looked at the accounting code.
“Who received the money?”
Renee shook her head.
“I only see what corporate approved.”
Ashley called Bennett Hospitality’s controller.
“Monica, I need you to pull every payment to Carter Bespoke Cakes for the last eighteen months.”
“Ashley, aren’t you getting married?”
“No.”
A pause.
“What happened?”
“Pull the payments.”
Ashley hung up.
Simone walked to the window.
Outside, wedding guests stood around cocktail tables pretending not to watch the bridal-suite door.
Her phone showed fourteen missed calls.
One from her assistant, Keisha.
Most from unknown numbers.
Someone had already posted something.
Of course they had.
Ashley said quietly, “Did Marcus ever give you money connected to my company?”
Simone turned.
“No.”
“Think.”
“I am thinking.”
“Large deposits?”
“No.”
“Checks?”
Simone hesitated.
Ashley saw it.
“What?”
“Twice.”
“What twice?”
“Marcus said Bennett accounting accidentally paid me for vendor work that belonged to another company.”
“How much?”
“Once was sixty-four hundred. Once was twelve thousand.”
Ashley stood.
“And what did you do?”
“I sent it back.”
“To Bennett?”
Simone’s silence answered.
Ashley’s face changed.
“To Marcus?”
“He gave me an account.”
“What account?”
“Reed Consulting.”
Ashley closed her eyes.
Simone felt panic rise.
“He said it was his consulting company and finance had routed payments through the wrong vendor profile.”
“When?”
“Last November and February.”
“Do you have records?”
“Yes.”
“Messages?”
“Yes.”
“Emails?”
“Probably.”
Ashley sat again.
“Do not delete anything.”
Simone bristled.
“I’m not stupid.”
“I didn’t say you were.”
“It sounded like it.”
Ashley looked up.
For the first time, anger flashed between them.
Not because either believed the other was guilty.
Because betrayal needed somewhere to land.
Ashley said, “I’m standing in a wedding dress finding out my fiancé used my company to house his girlfriend.”
Simone’s eyes filled.
“And I’m standing here finding out my boyfriend made me look like I stole from that company.”
They stared at each other.
Ashley looked away first.
“You’re right.”
Simone swallowed.
“So are you.”
A knock sounded.
Marcus’s voice.
“Ashley.”
Neither answered.
“Please.”
Ashley opened the door.
Marcus stood alone.
His bow tie was gone.
His tuxedo jacket was unbuttoned.
He looked exhausted.
“You have two minutes,” Ashley said.
He entered.
Then saw the ledger.
His face changed.
Simone noticed.
“There.”
Marcus frowned.
“What?”
“That face.”
“Simone—”
“That’s the face you made when I mentioned the lease.”
Ashley held up the ledger.
“Why did Bennett Hospitality pay eleven-eight for a forty-eight-hundred-dollar cake?”
Marcus looked at Renee.
She stepped back.
“This is above me.”
Ashley did not let him redirect.
“Answer.”
“It’s an internal accounting structure.”
Simone laughed.
“No.”
Marcus looked at her.
“You don’t understand how vendor allocation works.”
“I understand an invoice.”
“The difference covered event-related expenses.”
“Which expenses?”
Marcus paused.
Ashley said, “Name one.”
He looked trapped.
“Marketing.”
“For whose wedding?”
Marcus’s jaw tightened.
“Ashley, not everything can be explained in thirty seconds.”
“You had fourteen months.”
Simone stepped closer.
“What happened to my sixteen hundred dollars every month?”
Marcus’s gaze shifted.
Ashley whispered, “She knows the company paid the full rent.”
Marcus shut his eyes.
“Damn it.”
Simone’s heartbreak hardened.
“Where is my money?”
“I can account for it.”
“Then account.”
“It went into Reed Consulting.”
“Why?”
Marcus rubbed his forehead.
“I was trying to stabilize some things.”
Ashley stared.
“What things?”
“My business.”
“What business?”
Marcus looked at her.
“Reed Development.”
Ashley’s face became blank.
“I thought Reed Development closed.”
“It didn’t.”
“You told me you dissolved it.”
“I restructured.”
“With Simone’s rent money?”
Marcus said nothing.
Ashley’s voice lowered.
“With Bennett’s vendor payments?”
“No.”
Another silence.
Simone whispered, “That wasn’t a no.”
Marcus looked at both women.
For the first time, his composure cracked.
“I can fix this.”
Ashley almost laughed.
“You are standing at our wedding with your girlfriend and an altered vendor invoice.”
She removed the ring completely and placed it on the vanity.
“What exactly do you think is still fixable?”
Marcus looked at the ring.
Something almost desperate entered his face.
“Ashley, if we don’t complete the ceremony today, everything changes.”
She stared.
“What changes?”
He immediately knew he had said too much.
Simone saw it too.
Ashley stepped closer.
“What happens if we don’t get married today?”
Marcus said nothing.
Ashley repeated it.
May you like
![92 The Girl They Called Broke Was a Billionaire’s Daughter—But Her Father’s Arrival Exposed a Secret Powerful People Had Buried for Years]](https://cdn.treeiq.biz/site_590/2026/11/clone-0-0915d882-53d7-4d17-b43a-a010ca1a1068.webp)
This time slower.
“What happens financially if I do not become your wife today?”
Related Stories
