My Sister Said I Wasn’t Rich Enough for Her Wedding—Then Her Groom Humiliated Her in Front of 300 Guests / Chapter 7 / 20

Chapter 7 - The Subpoena and the SaviorA cornered animal is the most dangerous kind. Eleanor Hawthorne had retreated, but her son was a different breed of desperate.

Two weeks after Eleanor’s visit, a process server walked into my office and slapped a subpoena on my desk.

Bennett Hawthorne was officially suing me in civil court. His claim? That I had maliciously manipulated his financial documents to frame him, out of jealousy over my sister’s upcoming marriage. It was a laughable, desperate legal maneuver, designed to drain my resources in legal fees and force a settlement before his criminal trial began.

I was sitting in my living room that evening, surrounded by towering stacks of legal documents, when there was a knock on my door.

I opened it to find Julian.

He was wearing a dark, tailored suit, holding two boxes of takeout Chinese food and a thick legal briefcase. He looked exhausted, but his eyes lit up the moment he saw me.

"I heard about the subpoena," Julian said, stepping inside. "I brought dinner, and I brought a strategy."

Julian had been the attorney who helped me navigate the initial fallout of the wedding. Over the past year, our professional relationship had slowly, quietly bled into something else. Something warm. Something steady. He didn't demand attention. He didn't perform. He simply showed up.

We sat on the floor around the coffee table, eating chow mein straight from the cartons.

"Bennett’s lawyer is a shark named Richard Vance," Julian explained, pulling out a legal pad. "Vance specializes in drowning small businesses in discovery requests. He wants every email, every client file, every tax return you’ve touched in five years. He’s trying to bury you."

"I have nothing to hide, Julian," I said, setting my chopsticks down. "My books are spotless."

"I know that. You know that," Julian sighed, running a hand through his dark hair. "But the process of proving it will cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. Bennett is using a legal defense fund paid for by his father’s remaining silent partners. They want to break you."

The door to my guest room opened, and Claire walked out. She was wearing sweatpants and one of my old college hoodies. She looked at the legal documents covering the table, her face falling into an expression of profound guilt.

"This is my fault," Claire whispered, wrapping her arms around herself. "If I had just opened my eyes... if I hadn't been so obsessed with the wedding... he wouldn't be doing this to you, Viv."

I stood up instantly and walked over to her. I grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look at me.

"Do not do that, Claire," I said fiercely. "Do not take ownership of a liar’s actions. Bennett is doing this because he is a criminal and a coward. You did not cause this. You survived it."

Tears welled in Claire’s eyes. She nodded slowly, leaning forward to hug me. "I hate that he’s coming after your business."

"Let him come," I said, pulling back and looking at Julian. "If Bennett wants to open up my books in a public deposition, then he has to open up his. Julian, can we file a countersuit for corporate harassment?"

Julian smiled, a slow, dangerous expression that made my heart flutter. "We absolutely can. And during discovery, we can subpoena the records of the silent partners funding his defense."

"Exactly," I said, my mind racing with numbers and strategies. "If Bennett wants a war of attrition, he picked the wrong opponent. I don't get tired of paperwork. I thrive on it."