Chapter 4 - The Man Who Was Supposed To Be Dead
The message on Nathan's phone stayed on the screen for only a few seconds.
But those few seconds were enough to change everything.
Nobody moved.
Nobody spoke.
The entire ballroom seemed frozen around us.
I stared at the name at the top of the message.
A name I had buried in my heart ten years ago.
A name I had cried over.
A name I had whispered every night when I was younger because I wished I could hear his voice one more time.
My father's name.
Richard Marchetti.
My fingers went cold.
"That's impossible."
The words left my mouth before I could stop them.
Adrian immediately looked at Nathan.
"Show me."
Nathan handed him the phone.
My brother read the message.
His expression changed.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Fear.
And seeing fear on Adrian's face frightened me more than the message itself.
"What did it say?"
I asked.
Nobody answered.
I stepped closer.
"What did it say?"
Adrian slowly looked at me.
The way he looked at me told me everything.
It wasn't good.
"Isabelle..."
"Read it."
He hesitated.
Then he turned the phone toward me.
The message was simple.
No explanation.
No apology.
Just one sentence.
I know Damien told you the wrong story.
My breath stopped.
Below it was another line.
Ask your brothers why they helped hide the truth.
I looked up.
Straight at Adrian.
Marcus.
Julian.
For the third time that night, everyone knew something except me.
"What does that mean?"
My voice shook.
Nobody answered.
Then Damien laughed.
A quiet, nervous laugh.
"You see?"
Everyone turned toward him.
He stepped forward.
"They are the ones you should be questioning."
Adrian's expression hardened.
"Don't do this."
Damien smiled.
"No."
He looked at me.
"She deserves to know."
I hated that sentence.
Because it sounded exactly like what he said earlier.
Like he was finally giving me the truth.
Like he cared.
But Damien only cared when the truth could help him.
"You knew my father was alive?"
The question came out slowly.
The entire room waited.
Damien looked at me.
Then he looked at my brothers.
And for the first time...
He looked confident again.
"No."
He said.
"I knew your father wasn't where they told you he was."
The room went silent.
My heart pounded.
"What does that mean?"
Damien looked at Adrian.
"Ask them."
I turned.
My eyes locked with my oldest brother.
"Adrian."
He closed his eyes.
Just for a second.
But that second was enough.
Because I knew.
He knew something.
"Tell me."
My brother looked around the ballroom.
Hundreds of people were still watching.
He stepped closer.
"Not here."
I almost laughed.
"No."
I shook my head.
"Not again."
My voice became louder.
"No more private conversations. No more protecting me. No more deciding what I can handle."
The guests stared.
But I didn't care anymore.
I had spent ten years living with pieces of a story.
Tonight, I wanted the entire truth.
Adrian looked at me.
And finally...
He nodded.
"You're right."
He turned toward the guests.
"This evening is over."
Nobody argued.
Not because he raised his voice.
Because everyone understood.
Something much bigger than a marriage scandal had happened.
Within minutes, the ballroom began to empty.
The celebration that was supposed to mark five years of marriage became the night everything collapsed.
Damien tried to stop me before I left.
"Isabelle."
I didn't turn around.
"Please listen."
I stopped.
Not because I wanted to.
Because I wanted to hear what excuse he would create.
"You lied to me."
His face tightened.
"I was trying to protect you."
I slowly looked at him.
"From what?"
He had no answer.
That was the answer.
Sophia stood behind him.
Watching.
Confused.
Broken.
For the first time, I didn't see a rival.
I saw another person who had been manipulated by the same man.
She walked toward me.
"Isabelle."
I looked at her.
She looked different now.
Not confident.
Not victorious.
Just lost.
"I didn't know."
I believed her.
And somehow that made everything worse.
Because Damien had destroyed more than one life.
He had built his entire world on lies.
I walked away.
Two hours later, I sat inside my brother's private office.
The same office where they had protected me from difficult conversations my entire life.
Tonight, I wanted the difficult conversation.
Adrian placed my mother's letter on the desk.
Marcus locked the door.
Julian turned off the security cameras.
That alone made me nervous.
"What are you hiding?"
I asked.
Adrian remained standing.
"We aren't hiding anything anymore."
I looked at him.
"That's what you said before."
He accepted the accusation.
Because he deserved it.
"My father didn't die in an accident."
The words felt strange.
Even though I had read them.
Hearing them made them real.
"What happened?"
Adrian looked at the floor.
"Your father discovered someone inside his company was stealing money."
I frowned.
"Who?"
Nobody answered.
Then Marcus spoke.
"Damien's father."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"Damien's father was your father's business partner."
I felt my stomach twist.
"You're saying our families knew each other?"
Adrian nodded.
"For years."
The room suddenly felt smaller.
"Then why did Damien marry me?"
Julian looked away.
That reaction hurt.
Because I already knew.
I just didn't want to hear it.
Adrian finally answered.
"At first, we thought he loved you."
I laughed softly.
"At first?"
He continued.
"But after your father's death, we started noticing things."
"What things?"
Adrian walked toward a cabinet.
He removed an old file.
The cover was worn.
He placed it in front of me.
"Your father's investigation."
I opened it.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
Names.
And one photograph that made my hands freeze.
It showed my father.
Standing beside Damien.
But they weren't at a business meeting.
They were outside a hospital.
And Damien looked much younger.
"Why was Damien there?"
Adrian didn't answer.
I turned the photo over.
There was writing on the back.
A sentence from my father.
I recognized his handwriting immediately.
I found the person who betrayed me.
My breathing stopped.
Below that was another sentence.
But someone is protecting him.
I looked at Adrian.
"Who?"
My brother's face changed.
"I don't know."
I stared at him.
"You expect me to believe that?"
He didn't respond.
Because he knew how it sounded.
I turned through more documents.
Then I found something.
A bank transfer.
A company account.
And a signature.
Damien Cole.
My hands shook.
"He stole from my father."
Marcus nodded.
"Yes."
"Then why did he marry me?"
Nobody spoke.
Because that question was the center of everything.
The door suddenly opened.
Everyone turned.
Nathan stood there.
His face was serious.
"We have a problem."
Adrian stood.
"What happened?"
Nathan held up his phone.
"The person who sent the message wasn't only contacting us."
He looked at me.
"He contacted Damien too."
My blood went cold.
"What did he send him?"
Nathan hesitated.
Then he showed us the screen.
A photo.
A recent photo.
Not old.
Not from ten years ago.
A photo taken tonight.
Outside the ballroom.
The picture showed a man standing near the entrance.
A man whose face was partially hidden.
But I knew the silhouette.
I knew the posture.
I knew the eyes.
Because I had seen them in my childhood memories.
I whispered the only words I could say.
"No..."
Adrian looked at me.
"Isabelle?"
I couldn't breathe.
The man in the photo was impossible.
Because the person standing outside the ballroom...
Was my father.
May you like
And beneath the picture was one final message:
I'm coming home. You have one hour to learn the truth before I tell her everything.
