Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPHI drove straight to my parents' house.
I didn't tell Julian where I was going.
I didn't answer his calls.
I didn't read his messages.
By the time I arrived, my mother was waiting on the front porch.
One look at my face told her everything.
“What happened?”
I put my suitcase down.
“Mom, I think Julian's family planned my marriage.”
Her expression changed instantly.
Dad appeared behind her.
“What do you mean?”
We went inside.
I showed them the forged document.
Dad stared at it for nearly a minute.
Then he said something that made the room go silent.
“Where did you get this?”
“From my attorney.”
Dad sat down.
His face had gone pale.
“That signature…”
“What?”
“I've seen it before.”
My mother turned toward him.
“Where?”
“On a loan file.”
I frowned.
“What loan?”
Dad looked at me.
“Six months ago, someone tried to use Elena's identity to secure a business loan.”
My throat tightened.
“Did you tell me?”
“We thought the bank blocked it.”
“Who applied?”
Dad hesitated.
“Julian's company.”
Silence.
The room seemed to shrink.
I whispered, “Julian?”
Dad nodded.
“We didn't know he knew you then.”
But he had.
That meant something else.
I remembered the first day Julian approached me at the charity event.
He had already known my name.
He had already known where I worked.
He had somehow known my father's company.
At the time, I had thought it was romantic.
Now it felt rehearsed.
My mother reached for my hand.
“Sweetheart, there is more.”
She opened an old folder.
Inside was a printed photograph.
I recognized the man immediately.
Julian.
But the woman standing beside him was not me.
She was blonde.
Elegant.
And very familiar.
Victoria was standing behind them.
I picked up the photograph.
“When was this?”
“Eight months ago.”
My father's voice was grim.
“The woman is Natalie Price.”
I stared at her face.
Then recognition hit me.
Natalie was the woman Julian had told me was “just an old family friend.”
The woman who had attended our rehearsal dinner.
The woman who had hugged me and said, “You are so lucky to have him.”
I looked at Dad.
“What was she doing with him?”
Dad opened another file.
“Natalie's father owns a company Julian's family desperately needs.”
I swallowed.
“So this was business.”
“Possibly.”
My mother looked at me.
“Maybe not just business.”
Then Dad pulled out one final page.
It was a copy of a trust agreement.
My name appeared on it.
And beneath my name was a clause I had never seen.
A clause stating that upon marriage, my husband would become an authorized beneficiary under certain conditions.
I felt sick.
“Dad.”
He looked at me.
“They didn't marry you for love.”
I stared at the document.
“Then why?”
Dad's answer was quiet.
“For access.”
My phone buzzed.
A voicemail from Julian.
I played it.
His voice sounded different now.
No affection.
No apologies.
Only menace.
“Come home, Elena. We need to discuss what you took.”
I replayed it once.
Then twice.
Because in the background, faintly, I heard another voice.
Victoria.
May you like
And she was saying something I knew I was never supposed to hear.
“Did you get the safe open?”
