The Father I Chose

"How much?"" I asked.

Rebecca looked as though she wished she could disappear into the carpet.

"Nia, please sit down.""

"How much?""

Darius stepped between us.

"This is ridiculous. Marcus cannot simply cancel a wedding because his feelings are hurt.""

Rebecca opened the folder again.

"Mr. Cole, he hasn't canceled the wedding. He's withdrawn his personal guarantees and sponsorship. Those are two different things.""

"Then use another account.""

"Whose account?""

Darius's jaw tightened.

I stared at him.

For eight months, he had told me he was rebuilding his life. He had described a successful consulting business, promising investments, and plans to become the father he should have been from the beginning.

He had even offered to help with the wedding.

"Don't worry about the money, sweetheart," he had told me over dinner.

"Your father should contribute something meaningful.""

At the time, I had assumed he meant Marcus.

I had never questioned it.

"Rebecca," I said, forcing my voice to steady, "tell me the amount.""

She turned the page.

"The remaining contractual obligations total approximately eighty-six thousand dollars. That's before any applicable cancellation fees or adjustments.""

The number seemed to fill the room.

Eighty-six thousand dollars.

My salary as a marketing director was respectable, but I didn't have eighty-six thousand dollars sitting in an account. Ethan and I had saved for our future home, our honeymoon, and the first year of married life.

That money wouldn't cover a fraction of the outstanding balance.

Darius shook his head.

"This is a negotiating tactic. Marcus knows everyone is watching.""

Rebecca looked at him with undisguised disbelief.

"Sir, Mr. Bennett signed the agreements in his own name. He's entitled to withdraw the guarantees under the conditions specified. The venue and vendors will now require payment or alternative guarantees from the responsible parties.""

I turned to Darius.

"You said you wanted to help.""

"I did help.""

"How?""

"I've been here for you.""

"You told me not to worry about the money.""

"And you shouldn't have to worry. We'll figure something out.""

"With what money?""

His eyes narrowed.

"Don't interrogate me in the middle of your wedding.""

For a moment, I couldn't speak.

This was the man I had defended to everyone.

When my aunt said he had abandoned me, I called her bitter. When my childhood friends asked why I was suddenly spending so much time with a father who had barely visited, I accused them of not understanding forgiveness.

I had told myself Darius deserved a second chance.

Now he was standing in a room filled with flowers Marcus had paid for, telling me not to ask how we would pay for them.

Rebecca cleared her throat.

"There is another issue.""

I closed my eyes.

"Of course there is.""

"The original agreement includes a provision about the identity of the designated family representative for certain ceremonial arrangements. Mr. Bennett's withdrawal means those arrangements must be confirmed by the bride and groom before the ceremony can proceed.""

"What does that mean?""

"It means I need to know whether you intend to continue without his financial support.""

Darius answered before I could.

"Of course she does.""

I looked at him.

"Stop answering for me.""

His face hardened.

"Nia, I'm trying to protect you.""

"From what? The consequences of something I did?""

He exhaled sharply.

"From your stepfather's attempt to punish you.""

The word stepfather stung more than it should have.

Marcus had never once used that word to describe himself.

Not when I was little and asked whether I could call him Dad.

Not when he stood beside me at my high school graduation.

Not when he gave a speech at my twenty-first birthday and said the best thing that had ever happened to him was becoming my father.

Darius, on the other hand, had introduced Marcus as his daughter's stepfather during the first dinner they shared.

He had said it casually, as though Marcus had occupied a temporary position in a house Darius still considered his own.

I had corrected him then.

I should have listened to the silence that followed.

"Where is Marcus?"" I asked.

Rebecca glanced at the hallway.

"He left the building.""

"I need to talk to him.""

Darius grabbed my wrist.

"No, you don't.""

I looked down at his hand.

"Let go.""

He released me, then straightened his cuffs.

"Think about what you're doing. If you go running after Marcus now, you'll prove he can control you with money.""

I almost laughed.

Marcus had spent my entire childhood making sure money never became a weapon between us. He never reminded me what my education cost. He never listed the hours he worked to buy me a car. He never asked me to earn his love.

And now Darius was using the one thing Marcus had never used against me to convince me not to speak to him.

Rebecca's phone vibrated.

She checked the screen.

"That was the venue manager. We need a decision in the next fifteen minutes.""

"Why?""

"Because the vendors are requesting confirmation of the payment arrangements. Mr. Bennett's guarantee was the basis for several of the contracts.""

Darius pulled out his phone.

"I'll call my business manager.""

He walked toward the windows and lowered his voice.

I watched him dial.

"Richard, I need eighty-six thousand dollars transferred immediately.""

A pause.

"No, today.""

Another pause.

"Richard, I said immediately.""

His face changed.

He turned away from us.

"What do you mean the account is restricted?""

My pulse quickened.

Darius listened, then spoke through clenched teeth.

"That's impossible. I made the deposit last week.""

He ended the call.

I stared at him.

"What happened?""

"Nothing.""

"Darius.""

"It's a banking issue.""

"With eighty-six thousand dollars?""

He slipped his phone into his pocket.

"I'll handle it.""

Before I could answer, the ceremony hall doors opened.

Ethan appeared in the doorway wearing his black suit and the silver watch his late father had left him. His tie was slightly crooked, and his face was pale.

"Nia?""

I rushed toward him.

"Ethan, there's been a misunderstanding.""

He glanced at Rebecca's folder.

"What misunderstanding?""

Darius stepped forward.

"Your future wife is being upset unnecessarily. Marcus is making a scene about the wedding expenses.""

Ethan didn't look at him.

He looked at me.

"Did you really take the boutonniere off Marcus?""

I lowered my eyes.

"Yes.""

"And you told him you wanted your real father to walk you down the aisle?""

I nodded.

Ethan stared at me for a long moment.

Then he asked a question I wasn't prepared for.

"Did you ever stop to think about how Marcus would feel?""

My throat tightened.

"Of course I did.""

"Then why did you do it?""

I looked toward the open doors. Beyond them, the white aisle stretched toward the altar. Our guests were beginning to whisper.

"Because I wanted my biological father to have a chance.""

Ethan shook his head.

"Your biological father has had twenty years of chances, Nia. Marcus never needed one.""

Darius stepped between us.

"That's enough. You don't get to lecture her.""

Ethan finally turned toward him.

"I'm not lecturing her. I'm asking her to understand what she did.""

He looked back at me.

"I need a minute.""

"Ethan, please. We can talk after the ceremony.""

"No," he said quietly.

"We should talk before it.""

He walked away.

I reached for him, but he didn't turn around.

Then Rebecca's phone vibrated again.

She read the message and looked at Darius.

"Mr. Cole, the venue manager has another question. He wants to know whether your company is still willing to serve as the secondary guarantor.""

Darius went completely still.

I looked between them.

"His company?""

Rebecca nodded.

"Your father offered to cover part of the wedding expenses during the initial planning. Mr. Bennett agreed to list his company as a secondary guarantor if your father's business provided the necessary financial documentation.""

I turned toward Darius.

"You told me you were paying for the honeymoon.""

"I was going to.""

"Then why is Marcus the guarantor?""

"Because Marcus insisted on controlling everything.""

Rebecca shook her head.

"That isn't what the paperwork says.""

She opened the folder to a page marked with a yellow tab.

"Your father never completed the financial guarantee. Mr. Bennett covered the entire amount instead.""

The room fell silent.

I stared at Darius.

"You didn't pay for anything?""

He lifted his chin.

"I was going to contribute.""

"When?""

"When the business deal closed.""

"What business deal?""

He didn't answer.

Rebecca looked down at the paperwork, then back at me.

"There's one more thing you should know. Mr. Bennett left a sealed envelope with instructions that it be given directly to you if the financial arrangements changed.""

She reached into her folder and handed me a cream-colored envelope.

My name was written across the front in Marcus's familiar handwriting.

Beneath it were five words.

Read this before trusting Darius.