Chapter 2 - Six Weeks Earlier
Six weeks before I interrupted the wedding, Landon kissed me goodbye in our kitchen.
At least, that was what I thought he was doing.
He held my shoulders and looked into my eyes with the same practiced tenderness he had used for years.
“You should stay in Boston as long as your father needs you,” he said. “I’ll take care of everything here.”
My father had suffered a stroke during a business conference. I had flown east that night, terrified I might lose the only parent I had left.
Landon knew how vulnerable I was.
He also knew the Santa Barbara estate would be nearly empty.
Our housekeeper, Rosa, had taken temporary leave to care for her sister. The grounds staff came only during the day. My father’s lawyers believed I would remain in Boston for at least two months.
Landon had the garden, mansion, and family offices almost entirely to himself.
I trusted him.
That was my first mistake.
My second was trusting Sienna Vale.
Sienna had been my closest friend since college. She had held my bouquet at my wedding. She had slept in our guest room after her divorce. When she lost her marketing company, I hired her as the events director for our family foundation.
She knew the alarm codes.
She knew where I kept the estate documents.
And she knew the story behind my grandmother’s pearls.
My grandmother, Eleanor, had worn them on the day she took control of our family company after my grandfather died. She later gave them to me with one warning.
“Never let anyone wear these who mistakes kindness for weakness.”
Three weeks into my stay in Boston, I received a call from Rosa.
Her voice was low.
“Maya, are you planning a wedding?”
I almost laughed.
“No.”
“Then why are there hundreds of white roses being delivered to your house?”
I sat up beside my father’s hospital bed.
Rosa explained that she had returned briefly to collect medication she had left in her room. She found rental trucks outside the estate, workers measuring the garden, and Sienna directing them.
When Rosa asked questions, Sienna claimed the foundation was hosting a donor celebration.
But Rosa had seen the garment bags.
One was labeled GROOM.
The other said BRIDE.
I called Landon immediately.
He did not answer.
I called Sienna.
She sent me directly to voicemail.
Then Rosa said something that made my blood turn cold.
“I saw the bride’s jewelry box.”
“What was inside?”
There was a long silence.
May you like
“Your grandmother’s pearls.”
👉 The wedding was not the only thing being stolen from Maya’s house—and the first missing document would reveal how long the betrayal had been planned.
