Chapter 8
The next decision cost Galen nearly half a million dollars.
He formally canceled the wedding.
Not postponed.
Canceled.
Vendor contracts triggered penalties.
The ballroom staff dismantled the floral installation.
Guests were notified.
The estate renovation was suspended.
Nolan’s company lost the expected project.
Rebecca also sent written notice that Ainsley could collect her personal belongings only by appointment and could not contact Eira directly.
Galen knew how it would look.
A powerful man throwing his fiancée out after hitting her during an argument.
So he did something his older instincts resisted.
He gave Rebecca permission to preserve every witness statement, including those describing his own conduct.
No selective version.
No family pressure.
No quiet cleanup.
Ainsley reacted within hours.
Her attorney sent notice demanding reimbursement for wedding expenses she claimed to have personally covered.
Nolan threatened litigation over architectural and preconstruction costs.
Neither demand surprised Galen.
One sentence in Nolan’s letter did.
Vale Heritage had “reasonably relied upon the anticipated east-wing conversion as a material component of the parties’ post-marital household plan.”
Rebecca read it twice.
“He’s worried about that project.”
“Because he lost the contract?”
“Maybe.”
Galen looked at her.
“What else?”
Rebecca had requested preliminary accounting from Vale Heritage.
Several deposits had already been paid to subcontractors.
Not by Galen.
By Nolan’s company.
Nolan had committed substantial money before receiving final approval.
That was reckless unless he believed the renovation was certain.
Or unless something else depended on it.
That evening Ainsley called Teresa.
She did not ask about Galen.
She did not ask whether the wedding could be saved.
She asked whether Galen had shown Rebecca the behavior logs.
Then she asked:
“Has he talked to Hannah?”
Teresa told Galen immediately.
Ainsley’s priority was clear.
She was not most afraid of losing the wedding.
May you like
She was afraid someone would compare her notes with Eira’s therapist.
And that comparison was about to become unavoidable.
