At least she didn’t lie.
“It was wrong.”
“You think?”
She looked genuinely ashamed.
“I called Marcus three days later and told him I’d put her back in.”
“Then what happened?”
Jenna pointed at Marcus. “He told me not to.”
“You could have fixed this?” I asked Marcus.
Marcus rubbed both hands over his face. “It wasn’t that simple.”
“It sounds very simple.”
“It wasn’t.”
“She offered to put Sophie back in, and you said no.”
“That’s not really it.”
“Then what? Why?”
Jenna crossed her arms. “Tell her.”
Marcus shot her a look. “That’s enough, Jenna.”
“No. You wanted all of this kept quiet. Look how well that worked.”
I said, “What are you talking about?”
Jenna looked at me. “Marcus borrowed money from me.”
“What money?”
Marcus said, “We’ll talk at home.”
“No, I need answers now.”
“How much?”
“Six thousand dollars.”
I actually laughed because the number sounded ridiculous.
“Six thousand dollars? For what?”
Jenna didn’t answer.
Marcus did. “It was an emergency.”
“What emergency?”
“I will tell you later.”
I looked around. Guests were starting to notice us.
The ceremony hadn’t started yet, but people were gathering nearby.
I lowered my voice.
“What emergency required you to borrow $6,000 from your sister without telling me?”
He said nothing.
Then I noticed Ryan standing about 10 feet away.
Marcus’s younger brother. He was staring at us.
When I looked directly at him, he immediately looked away.
I felt a sickening feeling again.
“Ryan knows?”
Marcus said, “Leave Ryan out of this.”
“So he does know.”
Ryan looked miserable.
Jenna said, “Everyone knows except you.”
That hurt.
Marcus’s head snapped toward her.
“That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?”
He turned and walked away.
I started after him.
Ryan stepped in front of me.
“Please, we can discuss this later.”
I glared at him. “Get out of my way.”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Then what is going on?”
“The money wasn’t for Marcus.”
“What?”
Ryan looked toward his brother.
Then back at me. “It was for me.”
I didn’t understand.
Ryan had a decent job.
At least I thought it paid well.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “I got into trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
He closed his eyes. “I lost some money while gambling.”
I didn’t even know he gambled.
Ryan continued.
“It started online. Sports betting. Then cards. Then I started trying to win back what I’d lost.”
