“Eighteen months ago,” he said, his voice dangerously soft, staring out the window, “I personally authorized the financing that kept Cross Meridian Hotels out of receivership.

Since then they’ve missed two major covenant tests on their loans. By rights I should have moved to liquidate in January. I held off, bent my own firm’s rules — because I thought my daughter loved their son.”

A cold understanding started to move through me.

“Daniel began rushing the wedding in late February,” I murmured, fitting the timeline together. “Right after—”

“Right after Hartwell Capital approved the final forbearance extension on their debt,” Mother finished. She pulled a manila folder from her tote. “While you were sleeping, I had former colleagues run a quiet metadata sweep on the emails Daniel handed over during the drafting of your prenup.

He ran deep searches on your father’s name, net worth, and holdings exactly three weeks before he proposed.”