Chapter 2
The wedding venue looked completely different in daylight.
Fourteen hours earlier, the courtyard had been covered in candles, roses, and smiling relatives.
Now workers were folding tables and carrying empty flower stands toward a loading truck.
My wedding had already become something they were cleaning up.
Daniel parked near the service entrance.
“Stay close to me,” he said.
“I don’t need protection from a wedding coordinator.”
“You needed protection from your husband.”
The words hurt because they were true.
We entered through the side door and found Megan, the venue manager, standing behind the reception desk.
The moment she saw me, her expression changed.
“Emma. Is everything okay?”
“No.”
I placed my phone on the desk and showed her the photograph of the document Ryan claimed I had signed.
“Have you seen this?”
Megan studied the screen.
“I saw Ryan carrying a folder last night.”
“Where?”
“Near the bridal suite. He said you needed some final forms witnessed.”
“Did anyone go inside with him?”
She hesitated.
Daniel leaned forward.
“This may involve fraud. We need the truth.”
Megan glanced toward the office.
“Linda went in first. Then the notary they brought.”
“What notary?”
“A woman named Patricia Voss.”
I had never heard that name.
Megan opened the venue schedule and pointed to an entry.
Patricia had not been hired by the venue.
Ryan had personally added her to the vendor access list two days before the wedding.
“Can we see the security footage?” I asked.
“I’m not supposed to release it without authorization.”
“Then preserve it,” Daniel said. “Do not let anyone erase it.”
Megan’s face went pale.
“Someone already tried.”
My heart stopped.
“Who?”
“Ryan called twenty minutes ago. He said there had been a private family moment recorded near the bridal suite and asked us to delete everything from six until ten last night.”
“Did you?”
“No. Only the owner can approve deletions.”
Daniel immediately called our attorney, Margaret Ellis.
While he spoke, Megan led us into a back office.
Four camera feeds appeared on a large monitor.
She selected the hallway outside the bridal suite and moved the recording to 7:16 the previous evening.
I saw myself rush into the room wearing my wedding dress.
Two bridesmaids waited outside.
Ryan followed with a folder.
The footage had no sound, but the image was clear.
He handed me three pages.
I signed them quickly.
Then I kissed his cheek and left.
My chest tightened when I saw how naturally I had trusted him.
Megan advanced the video.
At 7:24, Linda entered the hallway carrying another folder.
Patricia Voss followed her.
Ryan returned a minute later.
The three of them went into the empty bridal suite and closed the door.
They remained inside for twelve minutes.
When they emerged, Patricia was holding the folder.
Linda handed her an envelope.
Daniel froze the image.
“That looks like cash.”
“It could be anything,” Megan said carefully.
“But it is evidence,” I replied.
We watched Patricia place the envelope in her purse.
Then Ryan looked directly toward the security camera.
He pointed at it.
Linda followed his gaze.
The three hurried away.
“They knew,” I whispered. “They knew the camera saw them.”
Megan saved the recording to the venue’s protected system.
Margaret called back and instructed her not to release it to anyone until she received a formal preservation notice.
Then she asked Daniel to put me on the phone.
“Emma, I reviewed the filed deed,” Margaret said. “The signature is fraudulent, but there’s another problem.”
“What problem?”
“The document identifies Patricia Voss as the notary. Her license was revoked eighteen months ago.”
“Then the transfer is obviously invalid.”
“Yes, but filing a fraudulent instrument is more serious than a family dispute. Ryan may have committed multiple crimes.”
I sat down.
Despite everything he had done, hearing that shook me.
Yesterday I had promised to spend my life with him.
Today my attorney was using the word crimes.
“Could Linda be responsible too?”
“If she knowingly participated.”
“She paid Patricia.”
“We need proof of what was in that envelope.”
Megan spoke from beside me.
“There may be more.”
She pulled up footage from the loading entrance.
At 5:40 the previous afternoon, Patricia had arrived with Linda.
Ryan met them near a dark sedan.
They spoke for several minutes.
Then Patricia handed Ryan a small electronic tablet.
Ryan signed something.
Linda did too.
“What are they doing?” I asked.
Margaret listened as Daniel described the footage.
“Preserve every second,” she said. “Emma, come directly to my office. Don’t return to the house.”
My phone began ringing.
Linda.
I ignored it.
She called again.
Then she sent a message.
RYAN IS INJURED BECAUSE OF YOU. IF YOU DON’T COME BACK, I’LL TELL EVERYONE YOU ATTACKED HIM FOR NO REASON.
A photograph followed.
Ryan was sitting on the couch with a small bandage pressed against his mouth.
He looked miserable.
Linda had framed the picture carefully so the filthy rag and cleaning bucket were not visible.
I showed Daniel.
“She’s building a story,” he said.
“So am I.”
I typed a response.
I LEFT AFTER RYAN THREATENED ME AND SHOWED ME A DOCUMENT I DID NOT SIGN. DO NOT CONTACT ME AGAIN EXCEPT IN WRITING.
Linda answered almost immediately.
YOU SIGNED IT IN FRONT OF A NOTARY.
I looked at Daniel.
“She just admitted she knows about it.”
“Save it.”
Another message arrived.
PATRICIA WATCHED YOU SIGN EVERY PAGE.
That was a lie.
It was also exactly the lie Margaret needed documented.
I sent the screenshots to her.
Before we left, Megan caught my arm.
“There’s something else you should know.”
Her voice was low.
“Ryan met a woman here three times during the month before your wedding.”
“What woman?”
“She wasn’t a vendor. I assumed she was a relative because Linda was always with them.”
“Do you know her name?”
“No. But she was at your wedding.”
Megan pulled up a photograph taken in the courtyard.
She enlarged the crowd behind Ryan.
A tall brunette in a green dress stood beside the bar.
I recognized her immediately.
Claire Donovan.
Ryan’s former girlfriend.
He had told me they had not spoken in four years.
“What was she doing here?”
Megan shook her head.
“She left before the ceremony ended.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Did Ryan invite her?”
“Not that I knew.”
My phone vibrated again.
This time, the message came from an unknown number.
It contained only six words.
RYAN LIED TO BOTH OF US.
A second message followed.
DON’T TRUST YOUR BROTHER EITHER.
I read it twice.
Then I looked at Daniel.
“What?” he asked.
I turned the phone so he could see.
His face remained still for half a second too long.
“Who sent that?”
“I don’t know.”
But I did.
The profile picture attached to the number showed the same brunette from the wedding.
Claire.
Daniel reached for my phone.
I pulled it away.
“Why would she tell me not to trust you?”
“I have no idea.”
“Daniel.”
He looked toward the hallway.
“Not here.”
My stomach tightened.
“You knew she was at the wedding.”
“I suspected.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because Dad asked me to keep more than one secret.”
The room suddenly felt too small.
“What secret?”
He lowered his voice.
“Claire contacted me six months ago. She said Ryan was planning to marry you for your company.”
I stared at him.
“You knew?”
“I didn’t believe her.”
“Why not?”
“Because she wanted money.”
“How much?”
“Fifty thousand dollars.”
I stepped away from him.
“You knew there was a warning, and you let me marry him?”
“I had no proof.”
“You could have told me.”
“You were in love with him. You had already stopped speaking to anyone who questioned him.”
“That doesn’t mean you stay silent.”
“I was wrong.”
His apology did nothing to calm me.
“Did Dad know?”
“No. Claire contacted me after he died.”
My eyes filled with tears.
I hated that Ryan had done this.
But in that moment, I hated Daniel’s silence too.
“You should have trusted me with my own life.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“By deciding what I was allowed to know?”
He didn’t answer.
I walked out of the office alone.
Claire sent another message before I reached the parking lot.
RYAN AND LINDA THINK THE FORGERY IS THEIR BIGGEST SECRET.
IT ISN’T.
I stopped under the bright afternoon sun.
My hands were cold.
I typed one question.
WHAT ELSE DID THEY DO?
The reply appeared seconds later.
ASK RYAN WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FATHER’S LAST CONTRACT.
My father’s final contract had vanished two weeks after his funeral.
It was worth nearly four million dollars.
Ryan had helped me search for it.
He had held me while I cried.
Now Claire was telling me he might have known exactly where it went.
I turned toward Daniel.
“Did Claire say anything about Dad’s contract?”
His expression gave me the answer before he spoke.
“Yes.”
Rage rose through me.
“And you still said nothing?”
“She couldn’t prove it.”
“Stop saying that.”
I opened my car door.
“Emma, where are you going?”
“To meet Claire.”
“That could be dangerous.”
“So was marrying Ryan.”
Daniel moved in front of the door.
“I’m coming with you.”
“No.”
“You don’t know what Claire wants.”
“And right now, I don’t know what you want either.”
The pain on his face was real.
But I was too angry to soften.
I drove away alone.
Claire had chosen a coffee shop near downtown Nashville.
When I entered, she was sitting in the back corner wearing dark glasses.
She removed them as I approached.
There was a bruise near her temple.
“Did Ryan do that?” I asked.
She touched it instinctively.
“Not Ryan.”
“Then who?”
“Linda.”
I sat across from her.
“Start talking.”
Claire pushed a flash drive across the table.
“This contains recordings, bank statements, and copies of messages between Ryan, Linda, and Patricia.”
“Why do you have them?”
“Because Ryan asked me to help him steal your company.”
I didn’t touch the drive.
“Why would he trust you?”
“Because he thought I still loved him.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
Her answer came too quickly.
I noticed.
So did she.
Claire looked down.
“I loved who I thought he was. Just like you did.”
“What happened to my father’s contract?”
She swallowed.
“Ryan sold the client information to a competing firm. Linda arranged the payment.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“That contract was confidential.”
“They knew. Ryan accessed your father’s laptop while you were at the hospital.”
“My father was dying.”
“I know.”
“And Ryan was stealing from him?”
“Yes.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I kept my voice low.
“Why wait until now?”
“Because I was part of it.”
The confession hung between us.
“I introduced Ryan to the buyer. I believed your father had cheated Ryan out of a partnership.”
“My father never promised him a partnership.”
“I know that now.”
“How much were you paid?”
“Twenty thousand.”
“And now you want forgiveness?”
“No. I want Linda stopped.”
“What changed?”
Claire slid her phone across the table.
A message from Linda filled the screen.
FINISH THE WEDDING JOB OR I’LL MAKE SURE YOUR SON LEARNS WHAT YOU DID.
I looked up sharply.
“You have a son?”
“He’s seven.”
“What wedding job?”
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“They wanted me to switch the folders before you signed.”
“Did you?”
“No. I refused. That’s why Linda hit me.”
“Then who switched them?”
“Patricia.”
I finally picked up the flash drive.
“Why should I trust anything on this?”
“You shouldn’t. Verify all of it.”
“Does Ryan know you contacted me?”
“No.”
A shadow passed over Claire’s face.
Then she stared through the window behind me.
Her color disappeared.
“What?”
She reached for her bag.
“We need to leave.”
I turned around.
Ryan’s car had just pulled into the parking lot.
May you like
Linda was sitting beside him.
And in the back seat was Claire’s seven-year-old son.
