Chapter 4
For the first time all night, Ethan sounded uncertain.
“I believe she’s in the bathroom.”
Vanessa moved closer. Monica stood.
Ethan listened.
Then his face must have changed, because Vanessa whispered, “What is it?”
He covered the phone. “He says he’s downstairs.”
My lips parted.
Downstairs?
Father had not attended the ceremony. At least, not openly. He told me he respected my wish to keep my family identity hidden until I was ready.
But Richard Carter had never missed anything important in my life.
Not really.
Ethan returned to the call. “Of course. We can come down.”
A pause.
His voice cracked slightly. “Now?”
Vanessa grabbed his arm. “Do not go anywhere.”
Ethan listened again.
“Yes, sir. We’ll be there.”
He ended the call.
No one spoke.
Then Monica said, “Who is Richard Carter?”
Vanessa answered before Ethan could.
“The Richard Carter?”
Ethan looked at her. “You know him?”
Vanessa’s voice had gone dry. “Everyone in real estate knows him.”
Monica scoffed. “So what? Some rich client?”
Vanessa slapped her.
The sound cracked through the suite.
Monica gasped.
“Idiot,” Vanessa whispered. “Apex Development. Carter Holdings. Half the luxury residential projects in this city have his fingerprints on them.”
Ethan said nothing.
Vanessa turned on him. “Why is Richard Carter calling you Emma’s husband?”
“I don’t know.”
But his voice said he did.
He knew enough now to be afraid.
Monica’s anger faltered. “Emma is related to him?”
Vanessa grabbed Ethan’s phone and began typing frantically. “Emma Carter. Chicago. Apex Development.”
Ethan said, “I already searched. Nothing came up.”
“Because people like that don’t come up unless they want to.”
Above me, the mattress shifted as Monica sat down heavily.
“This is bad,” she whispered.
Vanessa rounded on Ethan. “What else don’t you know?”
“I told you there were gaps!”
“You told me she was nobody.”
“I thought she was!”
The panic in his voice was almost satisfying.
Almost.
My father had arrived downstairs, but I was not ready for him to rescue me.
Not yet.
I had spent two years being studied, fooled, and handled.
Now I wanted them to see me clearly.
I ended the recording and saved a backup to the private cloud folder Margaret had set up when I first began dating Ethan.
Then I started a new live recording.
This time, I sent the feed directly to Margaret.
A single message appeared on the screen.
Received. Stay calm.
Then another.
Your father is in the ballroom with three attorneys.
I closed my eyes.
Margaret had known.
Maybe not everything, but enough.
The old aunt had not attended my wedding as a guest.
She had attended as a witness.
Ethan began pacing. “We need to find Emma.”
Monica whispered, “What if she knows?”
Vanessa snapped, “How would she know?”
“She could have heard—”
“She is not in the room!”
The silence that followed had weight.
Three people.
One hidden bride.
One bed skirt between us.
My lungs felt too loud.
Vanessa moved.
Step by step.
Toward the bathroom.
She knocked once.
“Emma?”
No answer.
She pushed the door open.
Light spilled across the carpet.
Empty.
Ethan cursed.
Monica whispered, “Where is she?”
Vanessa turned slowly.
Her silver heels faced the bed.
I tightened my grip on the phone.
The bed skirt lifted one inch.
Then two.
I saw Vanessa’s fingers.
Pale pink nails.
A diamond ring.
The fabric rose higher.
I stared at her from the darkness.
Her eyes met mine.
For one second, neither of us moved.
Vanessa’s face emptied of color.
I smiled.
Not sweetly.
Not kindly.
Just enough.
“Hello, Mother.”
May you like
She screamed.
Ethan spun around. Monica staggered back.
