My parents and younger sister laughed loudly at my wedding. “Of course only a cripple would marry a failure like her,”

My mother gripped my father’s arm. He stared at Adrian, then at Samuel, as if waiting for someone to admit this was a performance.

“That’s impossible,” he said. “Our majority lender would never approve a sale.”

“They requested it,” Samuel replied. “After reviewing the evidence of covenant fraud, falsified inventory, and diverted loan proceeds.”

My father’s face hardened. “Claire.”

I said nothing.

For eight months, I had reconstructed the records he ordered employees to delete. Adrian’s investment group quietly purchased the company’s distressed debt from the banks. Every time my father borrowed more to fund Vanessa’s reckless expansion, Adrian bought another piece of the chain tightening around them.

They thought I was choosing centerpieces.

I was mapping accounts.

Vanessa pushed through the guests and pointed a sharp finger at me. “You stole confidential information.”