Chapter 3 - Unraveling"You..." Bennett stammered, stepping down from the altar. "You bought the estate? Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because every time I tried to talk to you about your family's finances, you laughed," I said, stripping off the red foam nose and dropping it directly into Bennett’s breast pocket. "Every time your mother humiliated me, you told me to 'know my place.' You thought I was marrying you for your name, Bennett. But the Whitmore name is worth less than the costume your mother bought me."
Elise looked as though she had been slapped. "You calculated this! You planned this scene!"
"I bought this estate to surprise Bennett with a clean slate on our wedding day," I corrected her, looking her straight in the eye. "I was going to present him with the debt-forgiveness papers right after we said our vows. I wanted us to start our life without the burden of your family's hidden bankruptcies. But then I walked into my dressing room this morning and saw what you truly thought of me."
I gestured to the cheap, scratchy yellow buttons on my costume.
"You wanted me to know my place, Elise," I said softly. "My place is as the owner of this hall. And you are trespassing."
My head of security—a man I had hired three days earlier to manage the property transfer—stepped through the brass doors accompanied by three officers.
"Mrs. Whitmore," the lead officer announced, his voice carrying over the chatter of the crowd. "We have an order of eviction for the main residence and grand ballroom issued by the county court. You have thirty minutes to clear your personal belongings from the master suite."
Elise's face turned a dangerous shade of purple. She clutched her chest, looking around at her wealthy friends, her foundation peers, and her family members—all of whom were staring at her with utter disgust and disbelief.
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"Bennett!" Elise cried, grabbing her son's arm. "Do something! Tell her to stop this!"
Bennett looked at his mother, then at the eviction notice, and finally at me in my clown costume. For the first time in his life, the reality of his family's grand illusion had shattered completely.
