Right now.”
“No.”
“I’m your husband.”
“For two days.”
He stared at me.
I hadn’t planned to say it that way, but once the words were out, I knew they were true in more than one sense.
The man I had married under the white tent was already gone.
Maybe he had never existed.
Reagan suddenly grabbed her own phone from the counter and started tapping the screen.
“My card isn’t working either.”
The bank representative answered without looking at her.
“If it is tied to one of the suspended discretionary accounts, that would be expected.”
Her mouth fell open.
“I need that card.”
“Then you should speak with the account controller.”
Everyone looked at me.
Reagan’s expression shifted from anger to disbelief.
“You control my account?”
“I control the company that funds that particular account.
There’s a difference.”
“You’ve been paying for me?”
“Keystone Horizon has been paying approved family distributions connected to Tate Hospitality.
You enjoyed the benefit.
You never cared where it came from.”
Cynthia sat down slowly.
The truth was doing what shouting never could.
It was forcing them to remember signatures, meetings, agreements, and financial structures they had treated as boring because someone else handled the details.
Colton still wasn’t ready to surrender his version of reality.
“Fine,” he said.
“You have money.
Congratulations.
You still assaulted this family financially because I made one mistake.”
“You didn’t make one mistake.”
I pointed to the camera.
“You hit me.
Then you threatened to do worse.
Your mother defended you.
Your sister humiliated me.
Your father told me not to be emotional.
Every one of you had a chance to decide what kind of family you were after your hand touched my face.”
I looked at Reagan.
“You poured coffee on the floor.”
At Cynthia.
“You told me to mop it.”
At his father.
“You told me to stop making a spectacle.”
Then back at Colton.
“And you threatened me because you thought I couldn’t answer back.”
Silence.
Lilah broke it.
“There is another matter.”
Colton swore under his breath.
She removed a small tablet from her case but kept the screen turned toward herself.
“Security preserved the kitchen footage, including audio.
My client may decide how she wants to proceed with counsel regarding the assault and threat.”
Colton’s confidence cracked.
