Chapter 12 - The Wedding AlbumWe returned to the hotel.
Catherine opened the wedding album.
Every photograph was examined.
Nothing.
Then Julian stopped at a picture of my father standing behind me during the ceremony.
“Zoom in.”
I did.
He pointed at my father’s pocket.
A tiny silver object.
My father had carried the real ledger on his person.
I stared at the photo.
“He brought it to the wedding.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Julian answered softly.
“Because he knew you would be watched.”
I looked at him.
“So he hid it there.”
“Not there.”
He pointed to something else.
The bouquet.
My eyes widened.
“The ribbon.”
The bouquet ribbon had a strange metal clasp.
I still had it.
I opened the box beneath the bed.
The ribbon was inside.
My fingers trembled as I examined the clasp.
It opened.
Inside was a micro-SD card.
Catherine took it.
“Now we have it.”
We connected it to the laptop.
Files appeared.
Hundreds of them.
Bank transfers.
Recorded meetings.
Private photographs.
Messages.
Everything.
And then we saw something worse.
A folder marked:
ELENA – CONTINGENCY
I opened it.
Inside was a document dated six months before my wedding.
My name.
My photograph.
My estimated net worth.
My daily schedule.
My favorite restaurants.
My phone number.
My habits.
My fears.
I stopped breathing.
They had been monitoring me for months.
There was another file.
MARRIAGE TIMELINE
Every step was documented.
First date.
Engagement.
Prenup.
Wedding.
Transfer of assets.
Divorce.
Then death.
I stared at the final line.
FINAL PHASE: ACCIDENT WITHIN 30 DAYS
The room went silent.
My mother covered her mouth.
Julian whispered:
“They were going to kill you.”
I nodded slowly.
Not kill me immediately.
After securing the trust.
After transferring the assets.
After making it look like an accident.
Then I saw another folder.
JULIAN – TERMINATION
I opened it.
His photograph.
His estimated lifespan.
His role.
Then one sentence:
Subject becomes disposable after marriage.
Julian stared at the screen.
“They planned to kill me too.”
I looked at him.
For the first time, I saw the full truth.
We had both been victims.
But I could not forget that he had helped build the trap.
A message suddenly appeared on the laptop.
REMOTE ACCESS DETECTED.
Catherine shouted:
“Disconnect!”
Too late.
Files began disappearing.
One by one.
Julian grabbed the laptop.
“Copy the evidence!”
I reached for the drive.
Then the screen went black.
A message appeared.
YOU HAVE 10 MINUTES.
Below it:
COME TO THE CHURCH WHERE YOU GOT MARRIED.
And one final sentence:
OR YOUR MOTHER DIES.
My mother looked at me.
“Don’t go.”
I stared at the message.
“We have no choice.”
Julian grabbed his coat.
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I’m not letting you go alone.”
I walked toward the door.
“You already did that once.”
He stopped.
The words hurt him.
May you like
They hurt me too.
But this time, I did not turn back.
