CHAPTER 5: The Truth About Olivia
Nathan didn't respond well to his grandfather's words.
He stormed out of the ballroom with Olivia trailing behind him. I didn't see them again for three days.
I was busy anyway.
The press had gotten wind of the scandal. Every news outlet in Chicago was running the story. "Bennett Matriarch Arrested at Son's Wedding." "Family Empire Crumbles in Public Humiliation."
My phone wouldn't stop ringing.
I ignored every call.
I spent the week with Grandfather, helping him move into a new private residence—one that my mother had never known about.
"I've been planning this for two years," he admitted one evening. "I knew Caroline would try something. I just didn't know when."
"Couldn't you have stopped her sooner?"
He smiled sadly.
"I could have. But sometimes, Samantha, people need to reveal themselves completely. If I had intervened too early, your mother would have played the victim. She would have twisted everything. This way... the whole world saw her for who she really is."
Nathan showed up at my apartment a week later.
He looked terrible.
Red eyes.
Unshaven.
Dressed in clothes that had clearly been slept in.
"I need your help," he said.
I didn't invite him inside.
"What kind of help?"
"Olivia left me."
I raised an eyebrow.
"She took everything. The wedding gifts. The money we got from the guests. Even my car."
I felt no sympathy.
"Nathan, I'm sorry—"
"She was working with Mom."
I froze.
"What?"
Nathan's voice cracked.
"Olivia... she wasn't in love with me. She was paid. Mom hired her to marry me. To make you look bad. To make sure you felt replaced."
I stared at him.
"You're lying."
"I wish I was." He pulled out his phone and showed me a text message. Olivia's name. The message read:
"Done. Transfer the rest of the money to my account by Friday."
Below it, a response from my mother's number:
"She's destroyed. You did well. I'll double your payment."
Nathan was crying again.
"She used me. Mom used me. They both used me."
For a long moment, I didn't speak.
Then I stepped aside and held the door open.
"Come inside."
He looked up, surprised.
May you like
"Really?"
"Really. Because right now, you need someone who won't use you."
