Page 86 of It Happened Duo

“You said the prenup was signed, but my lawyers haven’t received a copy yet. What’s the hold up?”Wait. That was Miriam’s voice. What prenup?

“I’ll deliver it personally to your lawyers.”My heart dropped hearing Rex say that.

India’s phone rang, and I jumped out of my skin.

“Hello? Oh, hi.” She turned down the volume of the video she was editing, but I could still hear my words playing over and over. “It’s coming along perfectly… I’m almost ready to drop the bomb… Yes, the minute they get this video in their email, I guarantee every word from Chelsea’s lips will make Miriam pissed…”

What was she talking about, and to whom? I couldn’t move. Then an idea struck. There were so many times in my life when I thought I should have filmed something but didn’t or didn’t get my phone out to catch it in time.

I definitely needed to film this. I fumbled with my phone out of my pocket, clicking it open and trained my camera on her and the monitor at the edited piece, catching every soundbite and every word of her conversation.

“Sure, Richard’s money would have been nice. But cousin, you fucked that up real good. At least this way we get the satisfaction of revenge on the Buchanans, Janet.”

What the hell? This whole time India was a cousin to Janet, the woman who ripped Richard’s life apart? I stopped breathing, but my heart raced like crazy. My skin crawled because I knew it from the beginning. There was something not right about India, but I could never figure out what.

“We threaten to show this video live on television, embarrassing their family, or they pay us an enormous sum to keep us quiet. Either way, we win... So what? Our grandfather didn’t deserve to get booted from Buchanan Energy and our family shamed by Mr. Buchanan years ago. It’s time for the Buchanan’s to pay.”

With my stomach in my throat, I backed quietly away and immediately went to the station manager’s office with this.

A few days later,I still hadn’t told Rex everything that had happened, and for good reasons. The TV studio fired India and stripped her name from all credits on our wedding segments.

The manager ended up having me work diligently with an editor to produce and redo the final segment, ironically adding another notch to my career as a new producer and gaining editing experience.

Because of that, though, I had to watch through several hours of film India and the cameras caught. Which meant I also witnessed conversations between Rex and his mother and brother about the prenup.

It bothered me that Rex couldn’t bring up the subject to me for an open conversation about it. I suppose I should have known better, that a man and family like him with so much money would want to take certain measures to protect it. Money being more important than love and trust.

But I understood basic motivations, whether that of the likes of India and Janet or of the Buchanans. Love, money, power, passion all caused people to do crazy things.

I finished the edit and submitted it to the station manager for approval when I received a text from Rex.

Rex: You’ve been working too hard the past few days. Miss you. What time will you be home for dinner?

Chelsea: I’m on my way now. And I have a surprise for you.

By the time I arrived at his apartment, my surprise was already there. I’d invited Miriam over to dinner. Rex greeted me at the door and I melted into his arms. I wanted to believe the good in him, that a prenup wouldn’t cause difficulty in our relationship.

I had so much to tell him and Miriam, but where to start?

“Wish you would have told me my mother was coming to dinner,” he whispered in my ear.

“I thought it’d be a nice way to thank her for everything. Here,” I said and handed him a bag of takeout. “Chinese. Warm this up. I’ll go change.”

On the way to change clothes, I waved at Miriam. “Hello, I’m glad you could come tonight on short notice. Be right back.”

Several minutes later, we sat to eat, and I kept the conversation light, knowing the hard part would come soon enough. We finished, and I did the dishes, then joined them again at the table with cups of coffee. “Rex, did you have the quote for the transportation to and from the church? I don’t think Miriam has seen that yet.”

“Sure, be right back.” He headed down the hall to his home office.

“Transportation? Why Chelsea, I hadn’t given that a thought. Good for you for thinking ahead.” Miriam cast an appreciative look at me. But I wasn’t sure if it would last after tonight.

“He found a beautiful white vintage Bentley to drive usaround for the day, back and forth between the church and the Plaza. And of course, with weather permitting, stops at Central Park for photos,” I supplied.

“That’ll be lovely. There are a hundred things that go through my mind daily about the wedding giving me splitting headaches all the time.” Miriam leaned forward. “I don’t know how Agnes coordinates dozens of these a year.”

“I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done and are doing, and paying for this wedding. Truly, I’m grateful, and I just want you to know that.” I reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.

All things considered, even though Miriam enjoyed having her way and bossing people around, there could be worse in-laws. I knew in her heart she only had good intentions, even if she went about them in a different way.

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