Chapter 13 - THE WEDDING CHURCHThe church had been abandoned for months.
Its windows were broken.
The altar was covered with dust.
Brianna entered alone.
The key trembled in her hand.
"Damian?"
No answer.
She walked down the aisle.
Every step reminded her of the wedding.
The day everything had changed.
The day she had become Ariana.
Then she reached the altar.
A hidden lock was built beneath the wooden floor.
She inserted the key.
A compartment opened.
Inside was a metal box.
And a letter.
Brianna opened it.
The first sentence made her heart stop.
The marriage between Damian Blackwood and Brianna Hale was planned before either of them knew it.
Brianna kept reading.
Their grandmother had predicted the Blackwood family would eventually fall under Richard's control.
The trust was designed to unite two bloodlines.
But the condition had been misunderstood.
The marriage wasn't meant to give Richard the trust.
It was meant to expose him.
Brianna found another document.
Richard's signature.
Hundreds of transactions.
Payments to corrupt officials.
Money transfers.
Bribes.
Murder arrangements.
Everything.
The entire operation was documented.
Then she heard footsteps.
Damian appeared.
His hands were tied.
Richard walked behind him.
"You found it."
Brianna held up the documents.
"Let him go."
Richard shook his head.
"You still don't understand."
"What?"
"I don't need the documents."
"Then why am I here?"
"Because I need your confession."
Brianna frowned.
Richard smiled.
"The world believes you stole the trust through fraud."
"I didn't."
"They won't believe you."
He pointed toward a camera.
"We're broadcasting live."
Brianna looked at the camera.
Thousands of people were watching.
Richard continued.
"Tell them you manipulated Damian."
"No."
"Tell them you replaced Ariana."
Brianna's jaw tightened.
"You want me to destroy myself."
"I want you to make the world hate you."
Damian shouted,
"Don't listen to him!"
Richard hit him.
Brianna screamed.
"Stop!"
She looked at the camera.
"My name is Brianna Hale."
Richard smiled.
"I was forced to replace my sister."
The audience watched.
"I was lied to."
Richard nodded.
"Continue."
"I was manipulated."
"Yes."
Brianna looked at Damian.
Then she smiled.
"But there is one thing he forgot."
Richard's expression changed.
"What?"
Brianna raised the hidden recorder.
"You're live on a second channel."
Richard froze.
She had secretly connected the recorder to the church's old broadcast system.
Everything he had said was being streamed elsewhere.
The entire confession.
His threats.
His admissions.
Everything.
Richard lunged.
Damian kicked the chair aside.
He broke free.
The two men fought.
Brianna ran toward the camera.
"Everyone can hear him."
Richard attacked her.
Damian tackled him.
Outside, police sirens approached.
Richard shouted,
"You think this changes anything?"
Damian held him down.
"Yes."
Richard laughed.
"You'll never know the whole truth."
Brianna stared at him.
"What truth?"
Richard smiled.
"Ask your mother who really killed your father."
The police stormed into the church.
Richard was arrested.
Damian rushed to Brianna.
She collapsed into his arms.
"It's over."
Damian held her tightly.
"I hope so."
But when they left the church, neither noticed the small figure standing across the road.
The woman watched them.
Then she removed her hood.
Ariana's face had gone pale.
Because she recognized the woman.
Their mother.
Standing beside her was another man.
Their father.
May you like
The man everyone believed had died years ago.
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