Chapter 2 — The Family Falls Apart
The police arrested Preston before the reception ended.
Still wearing his wedding tuxedo, he was led through the hotel lobby in handcuffs while hundreds of guests watched.
Someone recorded everything.
By sunrise, the video was everywhere.
News stations replayed the footage.
Social media called him "The Groom Who Framed a Child."
His law firm's biggest corporate clients announced they were ending their contracts.
His employer suspended him indefinitely.
Madison refused to leave the hotel with him.
Instead, she quietly handed her wedding ring to Detective Harris.
"I married a stranger," she said.
The Bennett family believed the nightmare couldn't become worse.
They were wrong.
Reporters discovered that Richard Bennett had publicly defended Preston even after witnessing the assault.
Carolyn's comments blaming Sophie spread across every news broadcast.
The family's reputation, built over forty years, disappeared in forty-eight hours.
Meanwhile, Evelyn never gave a single interview.
May you like
She stayed beside Sophie's hospital bed.
That was all that mattered.
