Chapter 2 - THE PHOTOGRAPHDamian stared at the photograph for nearly a minute.
It was grainy.
The image appeared to have been taken from a distance, probably by a security camera.
Ariana was walking away from the church.
Her wedding dress was unmistakable.
But she wasn't alone.
Beside her stood Damian's younger brother, Ethan.
Brianna stepped closer.
"What is that?"
Damian quickly turned the photograph over.
Marcus had written a date on the back.
The morning of the wedding.
Brianna's face changed.
"Ethan?"
Damian nodded.
"I don't understand."
Neither did he.
Ethan had always been the rebellious member of the Blackwood family.
He had spent years traveling overseas, refusing to get involved in the family's business.
He had missed important family events.
He had rarely spoken to Ariana.
Or so Damian thought.
"Call him," Brianna said.
Damian immediately did.
The call went unanswered.
Again.
No answer.
A third time.
Still nothing.
Damian's jaw tightened.
"Where is he?"
Marcus checked his laptop.
"Ethan left the country two days ago."
"Where?"
"Switzerland."
Damian looked at Brianna.
"Why would he leave now?"
Brianna slowly shook her head.
"Maybe because he knows what happened."
They drove to the family estate that afternoon.
Ethan's room had been untouched.
His closet was half empty.
Damian opened the desk.
Nothing.
Then Brianna noticed something underneath the bed.
"A box."
Damian pulled it out.
Inside were photographs.
Dozens of them.
Ariana.
Brianna.
Their parents.
Damian.
The wedding.
Everything.
Brianna's hands trembled as she picked up one photograph.
It showed her standing outside a university building several years earlier.
She looked younger.
Happy.
Someone had taken the photograph secretly.
"Why does Ethan have pictures of me?"
Damian frowned.
"I don't know."
Then Brianna found another.
This one was even stranger.
It showed Ariana and their mother sitting in a restaurant.
Across the table was a man neither of them recognized.
Brianna turned the photograph around.
There was handwriting on the back.
Payment confirmed.
Her stomach dropped.
"Damian..."
He took it from her.
Marcus examined it.
"This is not recent."
"How old?"
"At least four years."
Brianna stared at the picture.
Four years.
Long before the wedding.
Long before she ever pretended to be Ariana.
Someone had been planning something.
Suddenly the bedroom door opened.
An elderly housekeeper stood there.
She looked terrified.
Her eyes immediately fell on the photographs.
"You shouldn't have found those."
Damian stepped toward her.
"What do you know?"
The woman backed away.
"I can't tell you."
"You can."
She shook her head.
"Mr. Blackwood, please. Let me leave."
"Tell me the truth."
The old woman began crying.
"I promised Mrs. Blackwood I would never speak."
Brianna's heart pounded.
"Mrs. Blackwood?"
"My mother?"
The housekeeper nodded.
"Your mother knew?"
"She knew everything."
Damian's voice hardened.
"What did she know?"
The woman looked at Brianna.
"That you were never supposed to marry Damian."
Brianna went completely still.
"What?"
The housekeeper covered her mouth.
"I shouldn't have said that."
"Wait."
But the woman turned and hurried away.
Damian followed her into the corridor.
"Stop."
She kept walking.
Suddenly a loud crash came from downstairs.
Everyone froze.
Marcus ran to the window.
A black SUV had crashed through the estate gate.
Two men jumped out.
They were wearing dark clothes.
One of them shouted,
"Find the documents!"
Damian immediately grabbed Brianna.
"Stay behind me."
The men stormed into the mansion.
Furniture overturned.
Glass shattered.
Marcus called security.
But one intruder ran straight toward Ethan's room.
He knew exactly where to go.
Damian followed him.
The man grabbed the box of photographs.
Damian lunged.
They fought.
The intruder struck Damian across the face.
Brianna screamed.
Damian tackled him.
The photographs scattered across the floor.
Then the intruder pulled out a small silver object.
A knife.
He raised it.
Brianna grabbed a lamp and struck his arm.
The knife fell.
Security officers rushed in.
The attacker fled through the back door.
Damian picked up the silver object.
It wasn't a knife.
It was a key.
Engraved on the metal were three words.
BLACKWOOD FAMILY VAULT.
Damian slowly looked at Brianna.
"There's a vault."
Brianna whispered,
"What are they hiding in it?"
Neither of them noticed the tiny camera hidden inside the air vent.
Someone had watched everything.
And ten minutes later, Ariana received a message.
They found the key.
Ariana smiled.
Then she replied:
Good.
May you like
Now let them open the vault.
:::
