He Replaced His Groom, Then Begged for His Mate novel · Chapter 17 of 24

Chapter 17: The Fall

"Rowan," Freddy said, in a voice of warm relief. "Thank God. Tell them these recordings are forged."

Rowan stood swaying in the doorway.

He looked at Freddy for a long moment.

Then he looked at the table, at twenty faces turned his way.

"They're not forged," he said.

Freddy's smile stayed in place.

"You're drunk."

"I'm drunk, and they're real.

"You made me listen to every one of them, Freddy. You said it was a love gift."

Rowan came into the room and put his bottle down on the polished wood.

Nobody told him to remove it.

"For two years you told me you'd leave this house and come to mine. You said the wedding was only paper. You said you'd be waiting for me afterwards."

"Rowan," Freddy said through his teeth.

"On the night of the switch I sat in a hotel room with champagne for two.

"You didn't come. You texted me a photograph of your dinner."

A cousin coughed into his hand.

"Sit down," Freddy said. "You're making a spectacle."

"It's a good one." Rowan turned to the table. "He's been moving Ride trust money into my company bonds for three years, and he told me it was his to move.

"It wasn't. Ask him about the Harbor account. Ask him why his own brother's name is on the statements nobody sends."

The oldest uncle put both hands flat on the table.

"Frederick," he said. "Is that true?"

Freddy opened his mouth, and for once nothing easy came out.

"It was a loan."

"From whom?"

"From the family."

"From the trust, which you do not own." The oldest uncle looked down the table at Felix. "How much?"

"Eleven million," Felix said. "I read the statements on Wednesday night. I was going to tell you after the vote."

He had not planned to say it here.

But Freddy's face was worth it.

"You went through my accounts," Freddy said hoarsely.

"They're my accounts too. I'm a Ride."

"You're a nobody. You ran away."

"I did. I built a company while I was gone, and I've been quietly propping up this house for two years."

Felix said it to the table, not to him.

"I did it so nobody would feel poor. You spent it."

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