The Wedding He Turned Into a Funeral Chapter 07
Her face froze–just for a second, but he caught it.
“You were in different high schools back then,
right? You didn’t even know her. You told me you were bullied in high school–so how could she have arranged anything?”
Melanie’s smile wavered. “I might have
misspoken. Maybe it wasn’t high school. My memory’s all blurry–that time was so traumatic.”
Vincent thought her explanation sounded off, but he didn’t push it. Still, something didn’t sit right.
That all changed when he bumped into someone from Melanie’s high school days.
With his biggest investor suddenly pulling out,
Vincent was scrambling to find new funding anywhere he could.
He was down to begging small investors he wouldn’t have even looked at before. But he talked his
way into one deal, finally managed to secure a lifeline for the company. He let out a breath and decided to
grab coffee at The Daily Grind to clear his head.
He was about to leave when someone walked up
and said hi. Vincent smiled politely, but he couldn’t quite place the guy’s face.
“Hey, do I know you? I’m drawing a blank.”
The guy looked a little awkward. “We met at
Melanie’s high school reunion. I was her classmate.
You came as her date–ring any bells?”
It clicked. That’s why he looked familiar. Vincent
invited him to stay for a coffee and chat about Melanie’s high school days.
They talked for a bit, and then the guy let
something slip. “You wouldn’t believe it–back then,
Melanie ran the school. Total queen bee. We all
wondered who’d end up with her. Guess we got our answer. You two are something else.”
Vincent’s brow furrowed. “That’s weird–Melanie told me she got bullied in high school. How does that add up?”
The guy’s hand froze mid–stir. He realized he’d
said too much. “Uh, maybe I’m mixing things up. It’s been years, you know how it is.‘
That half–baked cover–up was all Vincent needed.
The seed of doubt had officially taken root. He made an excuse and left. As soon as he was outside, he called his assistant.
“Derek–I need you to dig into Melanie Crawford’s
high school records. Everything. And I mean everything. Fast.”
The file landed on his desk that night. His fingers flipped through it, hunting for anything that didn’t add up.
What he found was nothing like the good–girl story she’d sold him. She’d been a known troublemaker–fights, suspensions, nearly got
expelled.
Her mom had to beg the principal on her knees for
a whole day just to get her one last chance.
then she found the one he’d been looking for.
And
The bullying story? Completely staged. Melanie had set the whole thing up with her friends, a sympathy play to guilt–trip her mother. And it worked -her mom had groveled to keep her in school,