“Mom, don’t look at it that way.”
She stepped backward.
“Don’t tell me how to look at a betrayal you committed with your own hands.”
The speakerphone remained connected.
Suddenly, a man’s angry voice sounded in the background.
“Tell the old woman we’re here! Daniel said this part of the house was ours!”
His words carried clearly across the ballroom.
Claire turned white.
Evelyn raised the phone slightly.
“Peter, who said that?”
“Mr. Arthur Blake, the bride’s father.”
Evelyn looked directly at Claire.
“Ours?”
Claire pressed her lips tightly together.
Before anybody could respond, a sharp metallic noise came through the speaker.
Someone was striking the gate.
Peter spoke quickly.
“Ma’am, they’re trying to force the side lock. A patrol car is on the way.”
Daniel raised both hands to his head.
“Tell my father-in-law to stop!”
Evelyn regarded her son with an expression of painful disappointment.
