PART 2: The Groom's Family Mocked Her — Until His Father Recognized The Name Blackwood
PART 2:
Daniel kept flipping through the papers like the numbers might magically change if he stared hard enough.
They didn’t.
The silence at the rehearsal dinner became unbearable.
His mother was the first to recover.
“This isn’t funny,” she snapped. “Where did you even get documents like these?”
I took a sip of water calmly.
“My lawyers.”
Daniel laughed nervously. “Okay… seriously, Emily, what is this? Some kind of prank?”
I tilted my head. “Do I look like I’m joking?”
That’s when his father grabbed the folder from him.
Mr. Harper’s hands were shaking now.
Real shaking.
He scanned the final page again before slowly lifting his eyes to me.
“Blackwood Holdings…” he whispered.
Around us, guests exchanged confused looks. Most of them had no idea why the name mattered.
But Daniel’s father knew.
Because five years earlier, his construction company had nearly collapsed during a corruption investigation.
Blackwood Holdings had quietly bought the debt.
And apparently…
They never forgot who owed them money.
Daniel frowned at his father. “Dad, what’s going on?”
His father ignored him completely.
Instead, he looked at me with the cautious expression people use around explosives.
“You’re Eleanor Black
I was the woman who technically owned half the buildings surrounding downtown Chicago.
And judging by the fear spreading across Daniel’s family’s faces…
They understood exactly what that meant.
Daniel still didn’t.
He looked between me and his father, confused and irritated.
“Okay, somebody explain why everyone’s acting insane.”
His father finally snapped.
“Sit down and shut up for once.”
The entire room froze.
Because apparently Daniel Harper had never been spoken to like that in his life.
Daniel stared at him. “Excuse me?”
Mr. Harper slammed the folder onto the table.
“You mocked her?” he hissed. “Publicly?”
Daniel laughed awkwardly. “Dad, it was a joke—”
“No,” his father interrupted sharply. “A joke is something people recover from.”
For the first time since I’d met him, Daniel looked nervous.
And honestly?
It was satisfying.
His mother quickly switched tactics, forcing a smile so fake it almost impressed me.
“Emily, sweetheart… if we misunderstood each other, I’m sure we can move past this.”
Interesting.
Ten minutes ago I was “that girl with nothing.”
Now I was sweetheart.
I folded my hands calmly. “Move past what exactly?”
Nobody answered.
Because saying it out loud would mean admitting the truth:
They never respected me.
They respected money.
Daniel suddenly stood and reached for my hand across the table.
“Baby, why didn’t you tell me?”
I looked at his hand like it belonged to a stranger.
“You never asked about me,” I said quietly. “You only asked what I could do for you.”
That hit harder than yelling ever could.
The room stayed painfully silent.
Then one of the hotel staff hurried inside the private dining room looking panicked.
“Miss Blackwood?” he asked carefully.
I turned.
“There’s… um… someone here requesting to speak with you.”
Daniel rolled his eyes immediately. “Can this wait?”
The employee swallowed hard.
“I don’t think so, sir.”
Something in the man’s expression made me stand.
“Who is it?”
Before he could answer, a deep voice spoke from the doorway.
“She already knows.”
Every head in the room turned.
And suddenly nobody cared about Daniel anymore.
The man standing there was tall, broad-shouldered, dressed in an all-black suit with silver cufflinks glinting beneath the lights. Cold gray eyes swept across the room once before landing on me.
