PART 4 — THE SECRET MY SISTER TOOK TO HER GRAVE
“Because I was with her the night she died.”
For several seconds, I couldn’t understand the words.
I heard them.
I knew what each one meant.
But my mind refused to put them together.
My sister, Melissa, had been dead for six years.
Nathan had entered my life two years ago.
At least, that was what I had believed.
I stared at him across the wedding hall.
“You knew Melissa?”
Nathan’s lips moved.
No sound came out.
“Nathan.”
“Yes.”
The word barely escaped him.
My knees weakened.
Michael reached for my arm, but I pulled away.
I needed to stand on my own.
I needed to hear everything.
“How?”
Nathan glanced toward the officers escorting Linda through the doors.
“Sharon, this isn’t—”
“If you tell me this isn’t the right place one more time, I swear you will regret it.”
He went silent.
Richard stepped toward his son.
“Answer her.”
Nathan looked at his father.
“You don’t understand.”
“Then make us understand.”
Rebecca stood several feet away with both hands protectively over her stomach.
Her face had gone pale.
Even she appeared unaware of this part.
I stepped closer to Nathan.
“Melissa died in a car accident.”
“I know.”
“How do you know?”
He swallowed.
“Because I saw the accident.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“What?”
“I was there.”
“You said you were with her.”
“I was.”
“Then why wasn’t your name in the police report?”
Nathan looked down.
That was when I knew his next answer would hurt.
“Because I left.”
My breath caught.
“You left my sister after a car accident?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like?”
Nathan rubbed his forehead.
“I panicked.”
“Why?”
No answer.
“Nathan, why did you panic?”
One of the officers who had remained behind stepped closer.
“Ma’am, you may want to continue this conversation with investigators present.”
I nodded without looking away from Nathan.
“Good.”
Nathan’s eyes widened.
“Sharon.”
“You wanted privacy when you were planning to steal from me. You don’t get privacy now.”
He looked toward the exit.
The officer noticed.
“Sir, please remain where you are.”
Nathan stopped.
I folded my arms.
“Start talking.”
He inhaled slowly.
“I met Melissa through my mother.”
My stomach tightened.
“Linda knew my sister?”
“Yes.”
“For how long?”
“A few months.”
“Why?”
Nathan hesitated.
“Melissa contacted a financial-services company because she wanted advice about the twins.”
I immediately understood.
Emma and Sophie had been babies then.
Melissa had been newly divorced and terrified about what would happen to them if something happened to her.
She had talked constantly about making sure the girls would always be protected.
“What company?”
Nathan didn’t answer.
Richard did.
“LNR.”
We all looked at him.
Richard’s face was hollow.
“Was it LNR?”
Nathan nodded.
Richard closed his eyes.
“My God.”
I stared at him.
“You knew?”
“No.”
Richard shook his head quickly.
“I swear to you, Sharon. Until today, I thought RLC Property Services had been dissolved years ago.”
He looked toward the doors where his wife had disappeared.
“Apparently Linda kept using it.”
Nathan spoke quietly.
“Mom told Melissa she could help establish financial protections for the girls.”
“And Melissa trusted her?”
“At first.”
Those two words made my blood run cold.
“At first?”
Nathan nodded.
“Then she noticed things.”
“What things?”
“Documents she hadn’t signed. Requests for information she hadn’t authorized. Changes involving beneficiaries.”
My throat tightened.
“She discovered the scheme.”
Nathan looked at me.
“Part of it.”
“And you knew?”
“Not at first.”
“Stop saying that.”
He flinched.
“Stop trying to separate yourself from everything with ‘not at first.’ Tell me when you knew.”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“About two weeks before she died.”
My entire body went cold.
“What happened?”
“Melissa contacted me.”
“Why you?”
“Because she had seen my name on paperwork.”
“What paperwork?”
Nathan hesitated.
“A company document.”
“LNR?”
“Yes.”
“But you said you didn’t know about LNR until last year.”
Silence.
The lie landed between us.
Rebecca whispered, “Oh my God.”
I stared at him.
“You lied five minutes ago.”
Nathan said nothing.
“How long have you known about LNR?”
“Since I was twenty-six.”
Richard stumbled backward.
Nathan was thirty-nine.
Thirteen years.
Not one.
Thirteen.
Richard stared at his son.
“You were involved?”
“Dad—”
“You knew your mother was using my company?”
“I didn’t know everything.”
“BUT YOU KNEW SOMETHING!”
Nathan’s voice suddenly rose.
“YES!”
The entire room fell silent.
Nathan breathed heavily.
“Yes. I knew.”
Richard stared at him as though he were looking at a stranger.
Nathan lowered his voice.
“Mom told me it was property consulting.”
Richard laughed bitterly.
“And you believed her for thirteen years?”
Nathan couldn’t answer.
I stepped forward.
“What did Melissa discover?”
He looked at me.
“She found payments.”
“What payments?”
“Money moving through shell companies.”
“Whose money?”
“Different people.”
The seven disputed properties flashed through my mind.
Widows.
An elderly couple.
A veteran.
People Linda thought she could manipulate.
“Melissa was going to expose her.”
Nathan nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then she died.”
Nathan’s face tightened.
“Yes.”
My pulse began hammering.
“Tell me about that night.”
“Sharon…”
“Tell me.”
He looked toward the officer.
Then toward Diane.
Then finally at me.
“Melissa called me around nine.”
“Why?”
“She wanted to meet.”
“Where?”
“A diner near Route 18.”
I remembered that diner.
Melissa and I used to stop there after late shifts when we were younger.
“What did she want?”
“She had documents.”
“What documents?”
“Copies of account records. Property filings. Names.”
“Evidence against Linda.”
“Yes.”
“And against you?”
Nathan didn’t answer.
“Nathan.”
“Some.”
I felt sick.
“What had you done?”
“I had signed documents.”
“What kind?”
“Business filings.”
“For LNR?”
“Yes.”
“Knowing what the company was doing?”
“No.”
I stared at him.
He corrected himself.
“Not at the beginning.”
There it was again.
Not at the beginning.
“But eventually?”
He looked away.
“Eventually I suspected.”
“And you kept signing.”
“Mom said everything was legal.”
“Did you believe her?”
Nathan didn’t answer.
“Did you believe her?”
“No.”
The word came out as a whisper.
Richard turned away from his son.
I felt strangely calm.
Maybe there was simply too much betrayal for my body to process at once.
“What happened after you met Melissa?”
Nathan swallowed.
“She showed me what she’d found.”
“Then?”
“She told me she was going to the police the next morning.”
My heart began pounding harder.
“What did you do?”
“I begged her to wait.”
“Why?”
“Because my name was on some of it.”
Of course.
Not because he wanted to protect Melissa.
Not because he wanted to expose Linda.
Because he wanted to protect himself.
“What did Melissa say?”
Nathan stared at the floor.
“She said I had until midnight to decide whether I was going with her.”
That sounded exactly like my sister.
Melissa had always been stubborn about doing what she thought was right.
“And?”
“I agreed.”
I blinked.
“You agreed to help her?”
“Yes.”
“For once in your life?”
He absorbed the insult without reacting.
“We left the diner separately. She was going home to get the original documents.”
“And you?”
“I followed her.”
My skin prickled.
“Why?”
“Because we were supposed to meet again.”
“Where?”
“Her house.”
“She never reached it.”
“No.”
My mouth went dry.
“What happened?”
Nathan looked at me.
“There was another car.”
The entire room seemed to shrink.
“What other car?”
“A dark SUV.”
My breathing stopped.
The official report said Melissa had lost control on a wet road.
No other vehicle had been identified.
“It followed us out of the diner.”
“Who was driving?”
“I couldn’t see.”
“Did Melissa know she was being followed?”
“I think she realized.”
“Then what?”
“She sped up.”
His voice shook.
“So did the SUV.”
I could hear my heartbeat.
“The road curved near the bridge.”
I knew exactly where he meant.
“They came up beside her.”
My hands began trembling.
“What happened?”
“The SUV moved toward her lane.”
Rebecca covered her mouth.
Richard whispered, “Jesus.”
Nathan continued.
“Melissa swerved.”
My eyes filled with tears.
“She hit the barrier.”
Nathan nodded.
“The car rolled down the embankment.”
For six years, I had imagined my sister alone in those final moments.
Now I knew someone had been there.
Someone who could have helped.
“What did you do?”
Nathan’s face collapsed.
“I stopped.”
“You stopped?”
“Yes.”
“Did you go to her?”
He didn’t answer.
“Nathan.”
“I got out.”
“Was she alive?”
His eyes filled with tears.
I hated him for those tears.
“Was my sister alive?”
“Yes.”
The word broke something inside me.
I stepped backward.
Michael grabbed my shoulders.
I barely felt him.
“How do you know?”
“I heard her.”
My voice disappeared.
“What did she say?”
Nathan started crying.
“She was calling for help.”
I stared at him.
My sister had been alive.
She had been calling for help.
And Nathan had been there.
“What did you do?”
“I started down the embankment.”
“Then?”
“The SUV stopped.”
Every person in the room froze.
I whispered, “Someone got out?”
Nathan nodded.
“Who?”
“I couldn’t see their face.”
“Man or woman?”
“A man.”
Linda hadn’t been driving.
At least, according to Nathan.
“What did he do?”
“He shouted at me.”
“What did he say?”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“He said, ‘Walk away if you know what’s good for you.’”
“And you walked away.”
Nathan looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
I crossed the distance between us before anyone could stop me.
I didn’t slap him this time.
I simply stood inches from his face.
“You heard my sister begging for help.”
“Yes.”
“And you left her.”
“I was scared.”
“She had two babies at home.”
“I know.”
“She trusted you.”
“I know.”
“She was trying to expose your family.”
“I know.”
“And you left her there because you were afraid.”
Nathan cried harder.
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
My voice was quiet.
“You don’t get to use those words.”
He lowered his head.
I suddenly remembered something from the accident report.
Melissa had survived for almost forty minutes after the crash.
Forty minutes.
An ambulance had arrived after another driver noticed the wreckage.
If Nathan had called immediately…
I couldn’t finish the thought.
“Did you call 911?”
Nathan didn’t answer.
My stomach dropped.
“Nathan.”
“No.”
I closed my eyes.
“Why?”
“Because I knew they’d ask why I was there.”
“You cared more about protecting yourself than saving her.”
“I panicked.”
“You keep calling cowardice panic.”
He flinched.
“Did you ever tell anyone?”
“No.”
“For six years?”
“No.”
“Then two years ago, you met me.”
He looked away.
I laughed bitterly.
“No.”
“You didn’t meet me.”
I stepped closer.
“You found me.”
Nathan said nothing.
“Didn’t you?”
Finally, he nodded.
“Yes.”
Several guests gasped.
I felt the last remaining pieces of the relationship disappear.
“Why?”
“Mom asked me to.”
There it was.
The truth beneath every other truth.
Linda had sent him.
“Why?”
“After Melissa died, Mom couldn’t find the original documents.”
“What documents?”
“The evidence Melissa had collected.”
“She thought I had them.”
“Yes.”
My blood went cold.
“So Linda sent you into my life to find them.”
Nathan nodded.
“And you pretended to love me.”
“At first.”
I laughed.
“Don’t.”
“But Sharon, I did fall in love with you.”
“Stop.”
“I did.”
“You searched my house?”
Silence.
“Nathan.”
“Yes.”
My eyes burned.
“When?”
“Whenever you weren’t there.”
“You went through my things?”
“Yes.”
“My bedroom?”
“Yes.”
“My sister’s belongings?”
He nodded.
I wanted to be sick.
“You couldn’t find the documents.”
“No.”
“So you stayed.”
“Sharon—”
“And Linda came up with another plan.”
Nathan looked at me.
“If you married me, you’d have easier access.”
He said nothing.
“And if you adopted Emma and Sophie…”
I couldn’t finish.
Diane did.
“You could potentially create leverage over the trust.”
Nathan shook his head.
“That part wasn’t my idea.”
I stared at him.
“But you agreed to it.”
Silence.
That was enough.
I removed the last pin from my veil and pulled it away from my hair.
The woman who had put it on that morning had believed she was preparing me to become Nathan’s wife.
Now it felt like I was removing the final piece of a costume.
“You know what’s incredible?”
Nathan stared at me.
“After everything you’ve done, you still didn’t find what you were looking for.”
His face changed.
“What?”
“The documents.”
“Sharon—”
“You never found them.”
He stared.
And then something strange happened.
I remembered a box.
An old wooden box that had belonged to Melissa.
After her death, I had packed nearly everything from her apartment.
Clothes.
Photographs.
Books.
The twins’ baby things.
But there had been one box I had never opened.
Not because it was locked.
Because I couldn’t.
Melissa had written my name across the top in black marker.
SHARON — PERSONAL.
For six years, it had been stored somewhere Nathan could never have searched.
Not my house.
My mother’s attic.
My mother had moved overseas three years ago and left the property with a caretaker.
Nathan didn’t even know the box existed.
My phone was already in my hand.
Diane noticed.
“What is it?”
“I think I know where Melissa’s documents are.”
Nathan’s head snapped up.
“What?”
I ignored him.
I called the caretaker.
No answer.
I called again.
Still nothing.
Then I remembered my mother had given my cousin Daniel a spare key.
I called him.
He answered on the third ring.
“Sharon?”
“Daniel, I need you to do something for me.”
“You’re supposed to be getting married.”
“Not anymore.”
Silence.
“Okay…”
“Go to Mom’s house.”
“What?”
“There’s a wooden box in the attic. It has my name on it.”
“Right now?”
“Right now.”
Something in my voice convinced him.
“I’m leaving.”
“Don’t open it.”
“Okay.”
“And don’t tell anyone.”
“I won’t.”
I ended the call.
Nathan stared at me.
“Sharon, those documents could be dangerous.”
I laughed.
“To whom?”
He didn’t answer.
“Exactly.”
The officer approached Nathan again.
“Sir, we need you to come with us.”
This time, Nathan didn’t resist.
As he was escorted toward the doors, he turned around.
“Sharon.”
I said nothing.
“There’s something else.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“The man at Melissa’s accident.”
My chest tightened.
“You know who he was?”
“I didn’t then.”
“And now?”
Nathan glanced toward Richard.
His father noticed.
“What?”
Nathan looked back at me.
“I saw him again years later.”
“Where?”
“At my mother’s house.”
Richard’s face changed.
“Who?”
Nathan swallowed.
“I don’t know his real name.”
“Then what do you know?”
“Mom called him Victor.”
The name meant nothing to me.
But Richard reacted as if he’d been struck.
His knees almost buckled.
I looked at him.
“You know Victor?”
Richard didn’t answer.
“Richard?”
His lips trembled.
“No.”
But his face said otherwise.
Nathan whispered, “Dad.”
Richard stared at his son.
“You saw Victor?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Last Christmas.”
Richard gripped the back of a chair.
“That’s impossible.”
“Why?”
Richard looked at me.
“Because Victor Hale died fourteen years ago.”
Silence.
I stared at him.
“Who was he?”
Richard slowly sat down.
“My business partner.”
The officer stopped walking.
Even Diane leaned forward.
Richard rubbed both hands over his face.
“Victor and I started RLC together.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened to him?”
“His boat exploded.”
“When?”
“Fourteen years ago.”
“Was his body found?”
Richard shook his head.
“No.”
Of course it wasn’t.
I looked at Nathan.
“You’re certain it was him?”
Nathan nodded.
“I’ve seen old photographs.”
Richard’s face hardened.
“And Linda knew?”
Nathan didn’t answer.
“Nathan!”
“Yes.”
Richard looked toward the doors where Linda had been taken.
His entire marriage had just collapsed in front of him.
Then my phone rang.
Daniel.
I answered immediately.
“Did you find it?”
His breathing sounded strange.
“Sharon…”
“What?”
“I’m at your mom’s house.”
“Did you find the box?”
“Yes.”
My heart jumped.
“Bring it to me.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“Because someone already opened it.”
Every hair on my arms rose.
“What?”
“The lock is broken.”
I looked at Nathan.
He was staring back at me.
“Are the documents inside?”
“I don’t know. There are papers everywhere.”
“Don’t touch anything.”
“Sharon…”
“What?”
“There’s blood.”
The wedding hall disappeared.
“What did you say?”
“There’s blood on the floor.”
My stomach dropped.
“Daniel, get out of the house.”
“I heard something downstairs.”
“GET OUT.”
The line went silent.
“Daniel?”
Nothing.
“DANIEL?”
Then I heard movement.
A door.
Footsteps.
Daniel breathing.
And then a man’s voice in the background.
“Put the phone down.”
My entire body froze.
“Daniel?”
The line crackled.
Then the man spoke again.
This time louder.
“Tell Sharon the past should have stayed buried.”
Richard stood so quickly his chair fell backward.
His face had gone completely white.
“Victor.”
I stared at him.
“You recognize his voice?”
Richard nodded.
Before I could say another word, the call disconnected.
I immediately dialed Daniel again.
No answer.
“Call the police,” I told Diane.
She was already doing it.
The officer beside Nathan spoke into his radio.
I tried Daniel again.
Nothing.
Again.
Nothing.
Then a text appeared from his number.
ONE PHOTO ATTACHED.
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
It showed the wooden box.
Melissa’s box.
The contents had been dumped across the attic floor.
Documents.
Photographs.
A flash drive.
And placed directly on top was an old picture.
Three people stood beside a boat.
Richard.
Victor.
And Linda.
But that wasn’t what made me stop breathing.
There was a fourth person standing partly behind Linda.
A much younger woman.
I zoomed in.
My heart nearly stopped.
It was Melissa.
My sister.
The photograph had been taken years before she supposedly met Linda.
I turned toward Richard.
“You said Linda knew Melissa only months before she died.”
“That’s what I believed.”
I showed him the photograph.
Richard stared.
His face collapsed.
“No.”
“When was this taken?”
He took the phone with shaking hands.
“About ten years ago.”
Melissa had died six years ago.
That meant she had known Linda and Victor at least four years before her death.
Everything Nathan had told me was incomplete.
Maybe everything Nathan knew was incomplete.
Then another message arrived from Daniel’s phone.
This time, no photograph.
Just seven words.
ASK RICHARD WHO REALLY OWNS THE TRUST.
I read it twice.
Then slowly looked at him.
Richard saw my expression.
“What?”
I held up the phone.
“Who really owns the twins’ trust?”
His face went blank.
“I don’t understand.”
“Victor wants me to ask you.”
The moment I said Victor’s name, Richard stopped breathing.
“Richard?”
He backed away.
“No.”
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Know what?”
He stared at the photograph.
Then at me.
“Melissa came to see me once.”
“When?”
“About three weeks before she died.”
Nathan turned toward his father.
“What?”
Richard ignored him.
“She asked me questions about Victor.”
“What questions?”
“Whether he had children.”
I frowned.
“Why would she ask that?”
Richard’s hands began shaking.
“I didn’t understand then.”
“And now?”
He looked toward Emma and Sophie’s empty seats near the altar.
The blood drained from his face.
“Oh God.”
“What?”
Richard whispered, “The trust.”
“WHAT ABOUT THE TRUST?”
He looked at me.
“It wasn’t created with Melissa’s money.”
I couldn’t move.
“What?”
“The initial deposit was almost two million dollars.”
My mouth went dry.
Two million?
I had never known the original amount.
The trust statements I received as the twins’ guardian showed far less because most assets were locked into long-term holdings.
“Where did it come from?”
Richard looked at the photograph again.
“I think Victor created it.”
“Why would Victor create a trust for my sister’s children?”
Richard didn’t answer.
Then I understood what he was afraid to say.
“No.”
He closed his eyes.
“No.”
I shook my head.
“Don’t.”
But Richard whispered the question anyway.
“Sharon…who was the twins’ father?”
My breath caught.
Melissa had always told me their father had abandoned her before they were born.
She refused to name him.
Even on their original paperwork, she had left portions blank.
Suddenly, a decade of silence took on a completely different meaning.
My phone vibrated again.
Another message from Daniel’s number.
YOU WANT YOUR COUSIN ALIVE?
BRING MELISSA’S ORIGINAL TRUST DOCUMENT.
COME ALONE.
Then another message appeared.
An address.
Richard looked over my shoulder.
And when he saw it, he made a sound somewhere between a gasp and a groan.
I turned toward him.
“You know this place.”
He nodded.
“What is it?”
Richard stared at the address.
“The old RLC warehouse.”
Diane immediately shook her head.
“You’re not going.”
I looked at her.
“Daniel is there.”
“The police will handle it.”
Another message arrived.
This one contained a photograph.
Daniel was sitting in a chair.
His hands appeared bound.
Behind him stood a man whose face was partially hidden.
But on the wall beside them was something I recognized.
A framed photograph of Melissa.
Not a casual picture.
A portrait.
And beneath it was a small brass plaque.
MELISSA HALE.
I stared at the surname.
Hale.
Victor Hale.
My sister had never used that name.
I zoomed in until the letters blurred.
Then I noticed something else in the photograph.
On the table beside Daniel was a birth certificate.
One corner was visible.
I could make out Emma’s name.
Below it was a line I had never seen filled in on any copy Melissa had given me.
FATHER:
VICTOR HALE.
My hands went numb.
Nathan whispered behind me, “Oh my God.”
Richard collapsed into the chair.
And suddenly I understood why Linda had wanted the trust.
Why Victor had followed Melissa.
Why my sister had hidden documents.
Why someone had spent years watching our family.
But one question remained.
If Victor Hale was the twins’ father…
Why had Melissa spent years pretending he didn’t exist?
My phone rang.
Daniel’s number.
I answered.
“Where is he?”
The man’s voice responded.
“Bring me the trust.”
“Let Daniel go.”
“Bring me what belongs to my daughters.”
I stopped breathing.
“My daughters?”
The man chuckled.
“Surely you’ve figured it out by now.”
I looked toward the empty chairs where Emma and Sophie had been sitting.
My entire body turned cold.
“You stay away from them.”
“Then stop wasting time.”
“Why did Melissa hide them from you?”
Silence.
For the first time, Victor didn’t have an immediate answer.
So I pushed.
“She was afraid of you.”
“Melissa made mistakes.”
“You chased her the night she died.”
Nathan looked at me.
Victor went silent again.
“You forced her off that road.”
“I didn’t call to discuss history.”
“You killed my sister.”
His voice changed.
Low.
Cold.
“You don’t know what happened that night.”
“I know enough.”
“No, Sharon.”
A pause.
“You know the story Nathan told you.”
My eyes moved toward Nathan.
Victor continued.
“But Nathan left out the most important part.”
Nathan’s face drained of color.
“What part?”
Victor laughed softly.
“The part where Nathan wasn’t following Melissa.”
I looked at Nathan.
Victor delivered the final words slowly.
“He was driving the car that forced her off the road.”
The phone nearly slipped from my hand.
Nathan shouted, “HE’S LYING!”
Victor laughed.
“Ask him what happened to his black SUV, Sharon.”
I turned toward Nathan.
He backed away.
“He’s lying.”
“Nathan.”
“I had a sedan.”
Richard suddenly looked at his son.
“No.”
Nathan froze.
Richard’s eyes widened.
“You had the Explorer.”
Nathan shook his head.
“Dad—”
“The black Explorer.”
Nathan’s breathing became ragged.
“You sold it after Melissa died.”
“No.”
“You told me the transmission failed.”
Nathan backed toward the officer.
“It did.”
Richard stared at him in horror.
“Three days after her accident.”
Nathan said nothing.
I felt as though the floor had disappeared beneath me.
“Nathan…”
He looked at me.
And in his eyes, I saw the answer before he gave it.
Victor spoke one last time through the phone.
“Your fiancé didn’t find you because Linda sent him searching for Melissa’s evidence.”
A pause.
“He found you because he needed to know whether Melissa told you who killed her.”
The call ended.
I stood in my wedding dress staring at the man I had almost married.
The man who had slept beside me.
Held my children.
Promised to protect us.
Nathan’s lips trembled.
“Sharon, I can explain.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
The officer reached for Nathan’s arm.
Nathan suddenly pulled away.
“WAIT!”
Everyone froze.
Nathan pointed at my phone.
“Victor is manipulating you.”
“Then tell me the truth.”
“I can’t.”
“Tell me.”
“He’ll kill Daniel.”
“Why?”
“Because Daniel isn’t the person Victor really wants.”
My blood turned cold.
“Who does he want?”
Nathan looked toward the side door through which Rachel had taken my children.
And when his eyes landed there, I stopped breathing.
“No.”
Nathan whispered, “Sharon…”
I ran.
I lifted my wedding dress and sprinted toward the door.
“RACHEL!”
I tore it open.
The hallway was empty.
“RACHEL!”
No answer.
I ran toward the bridal suite.
The door was open.
Inside, Ben was crying.
Rachel was on the floor, conscious but dazed.
My heart stopped.
“Where are the girls?”
Rachel looked up at me, terrified.
“I’m sorry.”
“WHERE ARE EMMA AND SOPHIE?”
“A woman came in.”
“What woman?”
“She said you sent her.”
My knees weakened.
“Where did she take them?”
“I don’t know.”
My phone vibrated.
A photograph appeared.
Emma and Sophie were sitting together in the back seat of a vehicle.
They looked frightened.
Beneath the photograph were six words.
NOW YOU HAVE SOMETHING I WANT.
I screamed.
Then another message arrived.
DON’T BRING THE POLICE.
BRING THE TRUST.
BRING NATHAN.
I turned around.
Nathan was standing in the doorway behind me with an officer gripping his arm.
He stared at the message.
His face became whiter than I had ever seen it.
And then he whispered something that terrified me more than everything else I had learned that day.
“Victor doesn’t want the money.”
I looked at him.
“What does he want?”
Nathan stared at the photograph of my daughters.
“The trust contains more than money.”
“What?”
“Melissa hid evidence inside it.”
“What evidence?”
Nathan closed his eyes.
“Enough to put Victor away for the rest of his life.”
I grabbed his shirt.
“Then why does he need you?”
Nathan opened his eyes.
“Because I’m the only living person who knows the password.”
TO BE CONTINUED……………
