Chapter 5: The Gift He Bought With My Savings
For several seconds, Savannah couldn't move.
Her father stood beside her, one hand resting protectively against her back.
Brandon was no longer trying to approach her.
He was watching Kelsey with the desperate expression of a man who had just realized that the person helping him conceal a secret might be the one to expose it.
Savannah looked at Kelsey.
“What did he buy?””
Kelsey shook her head.
“I don't know everything.””
“Tell me what you know.””
Kelsey glanced at Brandon again.
He shook his head.
“Please don't do this here.””
Savannah's father stepped forward.
“She asked you a question.””
Brandon looked at him.
“Sir, I know this is terrible, but I need a chance to explain.””
“You've had plenty of chances,” Savannah's father replied.
His voice was quiet, which somehow made it more intimidating.
“You had four years to be honest with my daughter. You had months to tell her about this affair. You had six weeks to tell her about the baby. And apparently, you had enough time to take her money without permission.””
Brandon's face reddened.
“I never intended to hurt her.””
Savannah's father looked at him for a long moment.
“Then you should have stopped doing things that hurt her.””
Brandon fell silent.
Savannah turned back to Kelsey.
“What did he buy?””
Kelsey unlocked her phone.
“There was a receipt in his email. I saw it when he asked me to help him find a confirmation for one of the appointments.””
“You were looking through his email?””
“No. He handed me his phone and asked me to search for a message. The receipt was open.””
Savannah waited.
Kelsey swallowed.
“It was for a car.””
Savannah frowned.
“A car?””
“He bought a car about three weeks ago.””
Brandon shook his head.
“That wasn't what happened.””
Savannah looked at him.
“Then tell me what happened.””
He pressed his lips together.
Kelsey continued.
“It was expensive. More expensive than anything he usually buys. He said it was a business purchase, but I saw the amount.””
“How much?””
Kelsey hesitated.
“Almost thirty thousand dollars.””
Savannah felt the air leave her lungs.
Twenty-eight thousand dollars missing.
Almost thirty thousand dollars spent on a car.
The numbers were too close to ignore.
She turned toward Brandon.
“Did you use my money to buy yourself a car?””
“It was more complicated than that.””
“Did you?””
He looked away.
That was enough.
Savannah's father muttered something under his breath.
She barely heard him.
A strange sensation spread through her body, somewhere between numbness and disbelief.
She remembered Brandon telling her that they needed to be careful with money because the house would stretch their budget.
He had suggested postponing a vacation.
He had asked whether she could take over a few extra household expenses while he dealt with work.
He had even joked that they should skip buying new furniture until the following year.
Meanwhile, he had bought himself a car.
With money she had saved for their home.
“You told me we needed to cut back,” Savannah said.
Brandon rubbed his hands together.
“I was going to explain the purchase.””
“When?””
“After I sorted out the financial situation.””
“You mean after the wedding?””
He didn't answer.
Savannah stared at him.
“Was the car a surprise for yourself?””
“No.””
“Then who was it for?””
He looked at Kelsey.
Savannah followed his gaze.
A terrible possibility opened in her mind.
She turned slowly toward her friend.
“Did he buy it for you?””
Kelsey shook her head immediately.
“No. Savannah, no. I swear.””
Brandon seized the opportunity.
“See? It had nothing to do with Kelsey.””
Savannah looked at him.
“Don't mistake her answer for an excuse.””
He stopped talking.
She wanted to believe Kelsey had no part in the financial betrayal.
She wanted to believe that at least one part of the story was simpler than it seemed.
But she had learned what believing without evidence could cost her.
“Whose name is on the car?”” she asked.
Brandon hesitated.
Then he said, “Mine.””
Savannah nodded.
“So you used my savings to buy yourself a car.””
“I intended to repay you.””
“With what money?””
“My salary.””
“You told me your salary was already committed to the house.””
“I could have worked it out.””
“You could have worked it out,” she repeated, “but you couldn't work out how to tell me the truth?””
Brandon looked desperate.
“Savannah, I was under pressure.””
“From whom?””
He glanced toward Kelsey.
Savannah's eyes narrowed.
“Was she pressuring you?””
“No,” Kelsey whispered.
Brandon shook his head.
“No one was pressuring me. I made the decision.””
It was the first time he had taken responsibility without immediately trying to soften it.
But the admission came too late to comfort Savannah.
She looked toward the ocean.
The tide was beginning to rise, washing over the spot where her bouquet had fallen.
The flowers had been pushed farther up the beach by the breeze. Some of the petals were scattered across the sand, while the stems remained tangled in the ribbon.
She had imagined those flowers being carried back to the bridal suite after the ceremony.
She had planned to preserve a few roses in a glass frame.
Now she wanted nothing to do with them.
Her father touched her shoulder.
“Do you want to leave?””
Savannah nodded.
“Yes.””
Brandon stepped forward.
“Wait. You can't just walk away before hearing everything.””
She turned toward him.
“Why not?””
“Because this is our wedding day.””
The words came out in a rush, as though saying them might restore some authority he had lost.
Savannah stared at him.
“Our wedding day?””
“Yes.””
“You mean the day you planned to marry me while hiding an affair, a pregnancy, and the fact that you took my money?””
Brandon's eyes filled with tears.
“I know how it looks.””
Savannah almost smiled at the familiar phrase.
“How it looks?””
She stepped closer.
“Tell me how it should look, Brandon. Tell me what a woman is supposed to think when the man she loves kisses her best friend, takes her savings, and then asks her to marry him anyway.””
He looked down.
“I don't know.””
For the first time, she believed him.
He didn't know.
He had never stopped to consider the world from anyone else's perspective long enough to understand what he had done.
He had simply assumed that if he apologized convincingly enough, the people he hurt would eventually make room for him again.
Savannah took a breath.
“I need to know one more thing.””
Brandon lifted his head.
“Anything.””
“Was the house ever real?””
His expression changed.
“What?””
“The house we planned to buy. The deposit. The mortgage application. All those conversations about where we'd live.””
She swallowed.
“Were you actually planning a future with me, or was I just convenient?””
Brandon looked genuinely wounded.
“You were never just convenient.””
“Then why did you treat me like an account you could withdraw from?””
He flinched.
“I wanted that house. I wanted our future. I wanted to marry you.””
“And you wanted to do whatever you wanted while I paid for it.””
“No.””
“Then tell me why.””
He opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Looked toward the ground.
Savannah felt the last of her hope drain away.
“That's what I thought.””
She turned to leave.
Then Kelsey spoke again.
“Savannah, I think there's something else you need to know about the car.””
Savannah stopped.
Brandon's head snapped toward Kelsey.
“Enough.””
Kelsey looked at him with tears streaming down her cheeks.
“No. You don't get to keep deciding what she can know.””
Savannah turned back.
“What about the car?””
Kelsey took a trembling breath.
“When I saw the receipt, I asked him why he bought it when he said he was struggling with money. He told me it was necessary.””
“Necessary for what?””
“He said he needed it for a new business opportunity.””
Savannah frowned.
“What business opportunity?””
“I don't know. He wouldn't explain it clearly.””
Brandon looked furious now.
“Because you don't know what you're talking about.””
Kelsey flinched but continued.
“He said he was going to make enough money to replace what he'd taken before you noticed anything was wrong.””
Savannah stared at Brandon.
“You planned to replace the money before I found out?””
He looked away.
“Yes.””
“Why?””
“Because I knew you would be upset.””
She laughed bitterly.
“Upset?””
“I knew you'd be angry.””
“Brandon, you took money that wasn't yours.””
“I was going to return it.””
“That's not the point.””
He seemed unable to understand.
Savannah spoke slowly, making every word deliberate.
“The point is that you knew I wouldn't agree. You knew I would say no. So you decided my answer didn't matter.””
He stared at her.
She continued.
“And then you planned to replace the money secretly so you could pretend nothing had happened.””
Brandon's silence was confirmation enough.
Savannah pressed a hand against her forehead.
Her wedding dress felt unbearably tight.
She wanted to change into ordinary clothes.
She wanted to sit somewhere quiet.
She wanted a world in which every familiar object didn't remind her of a lie.
But there was still one question she couldn't let go.
“Did you use my money for the car because you couldn't afford it yourself?””
Brandon swallowed.
“Yes.””
The admission was barely audible.
Savannah nodded.
“Thank you for finally telling me the truth.””
His eyes widened.
“Savannah—”
“No. Don't.””
She turned toward her father.
“Can we go?””
He nodded.
But before they could leave, Brandon's phone began ringing.
He glanced at the screen.
His expression changed instantly.
He rejected the call.
A second later, it rang again.
Savannah noticed the caller's name.
She couldn't read it from where she stood, but Brandon's reaction was unmistakable.
He looked frightened.
Not embarrassed.
Not guilty.
Frightened.
“Who is that?”” Savannah asked.
“No one.””
She stared at him.
“Your phone is ringing, and you're suddenly terrified. Who is calling?””
Brandon silenced the phone and slipped it into his pocket.
“It's a business matter.””
Savannah let out a hollow laugh.
“Of course it is.””
The phone vibrated again.
This time, a message appeared on the screen before he could hide it.
Savannah caught only a few words.
*Payment overdue.*
Then another notification appeared.
*Final notice.*
Brandon turned the screen away.
Her father noticed, too.
“What kind of business matter sends final notices on a wedding day?”” he asked.
Brandon's jaw tightened.
“I'll handle it.””
Savannah felt a chill move down her spine.
“How much do you owe?””
He shook his head.
“That has nothing to do with you.””
The words landed harder than he could have intended.
Nothing to do with her.
Yet he had taken her money.
He had attached her name to financial paperwork.
He had planned to marry her without telling her about his debts.
Savannah looked at him.
“You made it my business when you used my savings.””
He said nothing.
Then the phone vibrated once more.
Brandon pulled it out and read the message.
His face drained of color.
For a moment, he looked as though he might collapse.
Savannah took one step toward him.
“What does it say?””
He locked the screen.
“Nothing.””
“Show me.””
“No.””
The refusal was immediate.
Savannah stared at him.
“You've spent months telling me we would share everything.””
“Savannah, please.””
“Now you're hiding your phone?””
He clenched it in his hand.
“This isn't about you.””
She felt a strange, sharp clarity.
“Then why are you so afraid of me seeing it?””
Brandon didn't answer.
Savannah looked at her father.
“Let's go.””
They turned away.
This time, Brandon didn't follow.
But as Savannah walked toward the beach house, she heard his phone ring again.
Then his voice, low and urgent.
“I told you I'd pay it back.””
A pause.
“No, not today.””
Another pause.
“I'm getting married. I said I'd handle it.””
Savannah stopped walking.
Her father looked at her.
Behind them, Brandon was speaking faster now.
“I need another week.””
Silence.
Then he said something that made Savannah's stomach turn.
“Because if she finds out how much I owe, everything is over.””
Savannah turned around.
Brandon looked up.
Their eyes met.
May you like
He knew she had heard him.
And for the first time, Savannah realized that the missing money might not have been the only financial problem he was hiding.
