Chapter 1 – The Empty Box
When I saw our wedding card box torn open in the hotel room, I forgot how to breathe. The silver lid was bent, its velvet ribbon lay beneath the ceiling fan, and every envelope was gone. Those cards held checks, cash, and handwritten blessings from people who had come to celebrate Joshua and me. Minutes earlier, I had been downstairs dancing with my husband. Now someone had reached into the beginning of our married life and taken it.
The box had originally stood near the ballroom entrance, surrounded by pink tulips and roses beneath a sign welcoming cards and wishes. After the formalities, our wedding planner had carried it upstairs for safekeeping. I had only returned to fix my lipstick and rest my aching feet. At first, I searched the dresser, closet, and table near the balcony, praying that Joshua or a staff member had moved the contents. There was nothing.
I ran back downstairs, lifting my dress as I pushed through the reception doors. Joshua saw my expression and came straight toward me. “What happened?” he asked. I could barely force out the words. “The box is empty. The money, the checks, the cards—somebody took everything.” His face hardened, and he immediately called our planner over.
She insisted she had delivered the box herself and had not returned to the room. She had given me the key card, but several relatives had been upstairs while I was getting ready that morning. Another key could have been copied or misplaced. As Joshua looked toward the entrance, ready to contact hotel security, the music faded. Conversations stopped one by one. Soon the entire ballroom was silent.
