Chapter 10 - Evan found me before I could reach him.He stood in the center of the ballroom wearing the same tuxedo I had paid for.
Around him, guests whispered nervously.
The wedding musicians had stopped playing.
Sabrina stood beside me.
Evan smiled.
“Mr. Mercer.”
I stared at him.
“Don't call me that.”
His smile faded.
“What happened?”
“You tell me.”
He glanced at Sabrina.
“Sweetheart…”
“Don't.”
She stepped behind me.
Evan frowned.
“What's going on?”
“You tell us.”
He laughed nervously.
“I don't understand.”
I held up the prenuptial agreement.
“Did you write this?”
“No.”
“Did your lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“Did Sabrina approve it?”
“She signed it.”
“No.”
Evan looked shocked.
“She did.”
I handed the document to Sabrina.
She read the clause.
Her face went pale.
“I never saw this.”
Evan immediately said:
“It was standard.”
“No.”
I pointed to the signature.
“That isn't hers.”
Evan's expression changed.
Sabrina looked at me.
“You're saying my signature was forged?”
“Yes.”
Evan stepped forward.
“Daniel, you are making a serious accusation.”
“Good.”
I nodded toward the security guards.
“Check the cameras.”
Evan's face went white.
He turned toward the exit.
Two guards blocked him.
“Let me through.”
“No.”
He pulled out his phone.
“I'm calling the police.”
“You should.”
He stared at me.
“Why?”
“Because I want them to hear what you have to say.”
Silence.
Then his phone rang.
He looked at the screen.
Raymond.
Evan answered.
“It's done.”
I froze.
Sabrina heard it too.
Evan's face changed.
He realized his mistake.
“Who was that?”
“No one.”
I took one step toward him.
“Put it on speaker.”
He refused.
I nodded to security.
One guard took the phone.
Speaker on.
Raymond's voice filled the ballroom.
“You need to leave now.”
Evan said:
“I can't.”
“Why not?”
“Daniel knows.”
Silence.
Then Raymond whispered:
“Then kill the wedding.”
Everyone in the room heard him.
A collective gasp went through the guests.
Sabrina looked at Evan.
“Did you plan this?”
Evan said nothing.
“Answer me!”
He finally broke.
“Yes.”
Sabrina stepped back.
“Why?”
“For your money.”
Her face crumpled.
“You never loved me.”
“No.”
That answer was brutally honest.
He continued:
“I was hired.”
“By whom?”
He looked at me.
“Paul.”
Paul?
“But Paul is in police custody.”
Evan nodded.
“He wasn't working alone.”
“With whom?”
Evan looked toward the entrance.
A woman stood there.
Emily.
Alive.
Everyone turned.
Emily walked slowly into the ballroom.
Sabrina whispered:
“Mom?”
Emily shook her head.
“Not me.”
She pointed toward the back.
Another woman entered.
She looked almost identical to Emily.
Sabrina stared.
“There are two of you.”
Emily nodded.
“My sister.”
The woman smiled.
“I’m Clara.”
I felt dizzy.
Victoria had said Emily was connected to my father's estate.
But she had never mentioned a sister.
Clara looked at me.
“Your father owed us.”
I frowned.
“Owed you what?”
“An inheritance.”
“Why?”
“Because he promised my mother he'd marry Emily.”
I stared.
“What?”
“My father was already married.”
Clara's smile disappeared.
“He chose money.”
I looked at Emily.
She lowered her head.
“You were both involved in my father's life.”
“Yes.”
“And the trust?”
Clara answered.
“Your father left it because he knew we would come after you.”
“Why didn't he tell me?”
“Because he wanted you to live.”
I laughed.
“Instead, everyone spent twenty years lying to me.”
Clara nodded.
“Yes.”
Then she looked at Sabrina.
“She was supposed to inherit everything.”
“Then why attack me?”
“Because the trust has one flaw.”
“What flaw?”
Clara smiled.
“It can be challenged if the family structure is proven fraudulent.”
I looked at Sabrina.
“What does that mean?”
Clara said:
“If the court determines that you were raised under false identity, the entire trust becomes frozen.”
My stomach tightened.
“So they needed to make me look dead.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To trigger the trust.”
“But if the trust froze?”
“They needed Sabrina legally married.”
I looked at Evan.
“So that's why.”
Evan nodded.
“The marriage would give me authority to manage her estate.”
Sabrina whispered:
“And then?”
Clara answered.
“You disappear.”
The room went silent.
“You mean kill her?”
Clara shook her head.
“No.”
She looked directly at Sabrina.
“Make it look like she left voluntarily.”
My blood turned cold.
Evan had not been planning a wedding.
He had been planning an inheritance transfer.
And then a disappearance.
Sabrina suddenly grabbed my hand.
“Dad.”
“I’m here.”
“There is something else.”
She reached into her purse.
A small envelope.
“I found this in Evan's apartment.”
She handed it to me.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed me sleeping.
In my own bedroom.
Taken from across the room.
The date was one week earlier.
I looked at Sabrina.
Someone had been inside my house.
Watching me sleep.
And the person in the photograph was not Evan.
It was someone else.
May you like
Someone I had trusted for years.
Marcus.
Related Stories
