Chapter 13 - The Missing Deed
Investigators entered the garden with two uniformed deputies.
Nobody screamed.
Nobody ran.
The ceremony had already collapsed into a courtroom without walls.
The lead investigator approached Evelyn.
“We have the emergency order.”
Evelyn handed him the banking records, Dr. Cole’s statement, the preserved champagne glass, and copies of the security recordings.
He turned to Sienna.
“Where is the original estate deed?”
She said nothing.
Landon looked at her.
“You told me it was returned.”
“It was.”
“No,” I said. “The safe is still empty.”
The deed itself could not legally transfer ownership without proper filings, but paired with the forged medical documents, it could create weeks of litigation and uncertainty.
Enough time to hide assets.
Enough time to destroy evidence.
An investigator searched the bridal suite.
Another searched Landon’s study.
They found forged seals, blank signature pages, and copies of my passport.
But no deed.
Sienna watched with a strange calm.
Then I remembered the bouquet.
She had held it tightly throughout the confrontation.
Even when she reached for my phone, she kept it pressed against her waist.
The arrangement was too heavy for roses alone.
I looked at the stems.
A wide ivory ribbon concealed a rigid inner wrap.
“Sienna,” I said. “Put down the bouquet.”
Her eyes snapped toward me.
Landon understood at the same time.
He grabbed for it.
Sienna jerked away.
The flowers struck his shoulder, scattering white petals across the gravel.
She backed toward the arch.
“Stay away from me.”
A deputy raised one hand.
“Place the bouquet on the ground.”
Sienna clutched it harder.
“I said stay back.”
She tore at the ribbon.
The original deed slid partly free beneath the flowers.
A collective gasp rose from the guests.
Sienna looked down.
Her last secret had exposed itself.
Then she ran.
She made it only three steps.
Her long wedding skirt caught beneath her shoe. She stumbled against an ivory chair, recovered, and tried to push through the side aisle.
Rosa closed the garden gate.
Sienna stopped.
Not because Rosa threatened her.
Because every path was lined with guests who had finally understood what she had done.
No one moved aside.
The deputy took the bouquet from her hands and recovered the deed.
Sienna’s shoulders dropped.
The stolen pearls trembled against her neck.
“Take them off,” I said again.
May you like
This time, she obeyed.
👉 Sienna had lost the deed, the money, and the wedding—but Landon still believed apologizing to Maya might save him from the consequences of his own signatures.
