“Mom, I was stressed. Daniel’s mother was pressuring me.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
She looked down.
“When did I become too distant to watch you get married, but close enough to pay your debts?”
Neither of them answered.
I set my mug down.
“The bank of mom was closed.”
Emily’s eyes filled with tears.
“I never wanted to exclude you. Patricia kept saying your style was too simple. She said, ‘You wouldn’t fit with their social circle.’ I just wanted everything to look perfect.”
“So, you agreed with her.”
“No.”
“Yes, Emily, you did.”
I kept my voice calm.
“You looked at the woman who worked extra hours to pay for your school trips, your prom dress, your tuition, and part of your first home, and decided she wasn’t good enough for your wedding photographs.”
I pushed the folder back toward her.
“And there’s something else.”
Emily froze.
“I spoke with Nathan.”
Her face immediately told me she knew what was coming.
“I know you put my name on the catering and florist contracts.”
Daniel’s head snapped toward her.
I continued.
“And I know you forged my signature.”
Daniel stared at Emily.
“You did what?”
Emily went pale.
“You told me your mother agreed to guarantee those contracts.”
She said nothing.
So she had lied to him too.
“I agreed to nothing,” I told Daniel. “I never saw those contracts. I never signed them.”
Then I looked directly at Emily.
“If a vendor contacts me, I’ll tell them exactly that.”
Her voice dropped almost to a whisper.