4: 4
"You'd tear up my declaration?"
I pulled the bank statements and transfer receipts from the file folder and set them in front of Roland.
"Four hundred thousand down. Three hundred fifty of it wired from my mother's account to you."
"The other fifty thousand was mine."
"After the purchase, twenty-one months of mortgage payments were pulled from my housing fund and my paycheck."
Roland shoved the statements aside.
"The deed's in my name."
"That's exactly why I'm here to settle up."
I laid the loan IOU he'd written in his own hand on top of everything else.
"This IOU says plainly: three hundred fifty thousand advanced toward the apartment, with ownership shares to be registered after the wedding."
"The wedding's off now. So either you sell the apartment and pay me back, or you're in court next Monday."
"I'll file an asset-preservation petition before the case even opens."
Roland picked up the IOU, and his face changed.
"I only wrote that to keep your mother happy back then. It doesn't count."
"That's your signature and your thumbprint."
"Evelyn, you're really going to sue me?"
"Yes."
Virginia snatched the IOU away.
"A mother buying her son-in-law an apartment—that's the natural order of things."
"And she still has the nerve to want it back? Has she fallen straight into a pit of money?"
"She's not your in-law yet, and Roland isn't her son-in-law."
"The wedding invitations are already out. You say it's off and that makes it off?"
"There's no Roland on any marriage certificate."
Roland jabbed a finger at my face.
"Don't think knowing some guy with a run-down grocery store lets you ride over my head."
"Your mother can fry breakfast pastries her whole life and she'll never get into our circle."
"She doesn't need to get in."
"She just has to sit down at my wedding in a padded coat with the cuffs worn through, and my whole department will laugh at me."
Five years ago, fresh out of school, he ran a high fever.
My mother walked an hour in that same coat to bring him chicken soup and medicine.
That night he held her hand and called her Mama a dozen times.
I squared all the documents back into a neat stack.
"Roland, from this moment on, there is nothing between us."
"You walk out that door, and on the wedding day you can guard an empty hall."
The door of the private room opened from the outside.
Lucius Delgado walked in.
He had a red gift list in his hand.
He crossed to my side and set the list on the table.
"It won't be empty."
Roland looked him up and down.
"So you're the actor?"
Lucius ignored the question and looked only at me.
"Mama Fox is waiting for you downstairs."
"She was worried, so she asked me to come up and check."
I nodded.
Virginia opened the gift list, and her voice cut off for a moment.
Gold jewelry, the gown, the reception, the wedding car procession, the marital home—every line spelled out the brand, the receipt, and who it belonged to.
The last line read clearly: all gift money and gifts belonged to me alone.
Lucius set down another document, a photocopy of a business license.
"This is proof of actual controlling interest in six company-owned supermarkets."
"It isn't a bride price. I just want Evelyn to know I can carry a household, and that I'm willing to look after Mama Fox."
Roland grabbed the photocopy.
"You make up a fake certificate and think you can bluff people?"
One of his subordinates glanced at the company name and spoke quietly.
"Supervisor Head, that company's on our supplier list."
"All six stores are company-owned. Director Lawrence had me pull their annual contracts just last month."
Roland whipped his head around and glared at him.
"Shut up."
Lucius drew the photocopy back out of his hand.
"On the wedding day, sixteen cars will be at the corner of Old Market Street."
"I'll pick up Mama Fox first, then Evelyn."
"The center seat at the head table stays reserved for Mama Fox."
Roland sneered.
"Sixteen cars can't come cheap."
"How much did Evelyn pay you?"
"The three-thousand groom's deposit at the hotel, I paid that."
"The cars and the gift list are on me too."
"What are you after with her?"
Lucius looked at him.
"She and Mama Fox don't deserve to be treated the way you treat them."
Roland raised his arm and pointed at the door.
"Cut the act in front of me."
"On the wedding day, I'll expose the two of you right in front of Director Lawrence."
"I'd love to see who a small-time grocer can actually get to show up."
Lucius didn't look at him again. He picked up my file folder.
"Let's go. Mama Fox is still waiting."
As I reached the door, Roland smashed his glass on the floor.
"Evelyn, if you dare leave with him today, you can crawl back begging later and I still won't turn around!"
I didn't stop.
Lucius pulled the door open for me.
"The cars and the guests are all arranged."
"The chief engineer of the supply division and the director of the Inspection and Acceptance Office just confirmed. They're coming to the wedding."
The door closed behind us.
On the wedding day, Roland would see with his own eyes exactly who the actor he kept talking about really was.
