He laughed nervously:<\/p>\n
\u2014 All the wedding money will go to you.<\/p>\n
One of the men grinned:<\/p>\n
\u2014 And the bride? What will she say when you start gathering money to hand over to us?<\/p>\n
The groom snorted:<\/p>\n
\u2014 She mustn\u2019t know anything. I\u2019ll tell her I spent it all on the restaurant, the music, the photographer. She trusts me \u2014 she won\u2019t check.<\/p>\n
The recording ended.<\/p>\n
A heavy, sticky silence filled the room.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The mother-in-law whispered, trembling:<\/p>\n
\u2014 He\u2026 he wants to marry our daughter for the money? To pay off criminals?<\/p>\n
\u2014 No, \u2014 the father-in-law said quietly. \u2014 That\u2019s it. I won\u2019t allow our daughter to marry him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
He laughed nervously: \u2014 All the wedding money will go to you. One of the men grinned: \u2014 And the bride? What will she say when you start gathering money to hand over to us? The groom snorted: \u2014 She mustn\u2019t know anything. I\u2019ll tell her I spent it all on the restaurant, the music,…<\/p>\n