Chapter 2 - The Man Who Knew My Secret
The photograph showed my sister standing beside Daniel.
But she wasn't looking at the camera.
She was looking at someone behind it.
I stared at my phone until the screen dimmed.
My fingers felt numb.
The message remained there.
Your fiancé was not the only person in that room hiding the truth.
I looked at the picture again.
It was taken months earlier.
I knew the location.
The private garden behind my parents' house.
The same place where Daniel had asked me to marry him.
The same place where he had promised that I was the only woman he wanted.
But in the photo, Daniel wasn't proposing.
He was standing close to Emily.
Too close.
And behind them, reflected faintly in the glass door, was another person.
A man.
I zoomed in.
The image became blurry.
But I could still recognize the outline.
A black suit.
A tall figure.
Someone watching.
My heart started beating faster.
I turned around.
Adrian Vale was still standing near the ballroom entrance.
His expression hadn't changed.
He looked calm.
Almost like he already knew what I had received.
I walked back inside.
I don't know why.
Maybe because I needed answers.
Maybe because I was tired of being the only person who didn't know the truth about my own life.
The moment I entered the ballroom again, everyone became quiet.
Daniel looked relieved.
"You came back."
I ignored him.
My eyes stayed on Adrian.
He didn't move.
He simply watched me approach.
"Did you send me this?" I asked.
The room went silent.
Adrian looked at my phone.
Then back at me.
"No."
His answer came too quickly.
I studied his face.
Most people lied with their eyes.
Adrian didn't.
He looked like someone who had spent his entire life controlling every emotion.
"Then who did?"
He didn't answer.
Daniel stepped forward.
"What are you talking about?"
I turned toward him.
"You tell me."
His face changed.
"What?"
I held up my phone.
The photograph was still open.
Daniel froze.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Recognition.
Fear.
Then he quickly looked away.
That was enough.
"You've seen this before," I said.
"No."
"You have."
Daniel shook his head.
"You don't understand."
A bitter laugh escaped from me.
"That's the problem, Daniel. I never understood anything."
Emily stepped closer.
"Please."
Her voice was small.
"I can explain."
I looked at her.
For years, Emily had been the person I defended.
The person I protected.
But that night, I didn't know where the truth ended and the lies began.
"Explain what?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Everything."
Before she could continue, Daniel grabbed his jacket.
"We need to leave."
I stared at him.
"Leave?"
He looked nervous.
"Not here."
"Why?"
No answer.
"Why not here?"
Because everyone was watching.
Because everyone deserved to hear.
Because I had already lost my dignity tonight.
I wasn't going to let him control the ending too.
Daniel lowered his voice.
"There are things you don't know."
I smiled sadly.
"That seems to be the only thing everyone agrees on."
Then Adrian finally spoke.
His voice was quiet.
But everyone heard it.
"She's right."
The entire room turned toward him.
Daniel's expression hardened.
"This has nothing to do with you, Adrian."
Adrian looked at him.
And for the first time that night, I saw Daniel look afraid.
Not guilty.
Afraid.
That caught my attention.
"Why are you afraid of him?" I asked.
Nobody answered.
Adrian walked closer.
Slowly.
No rush.
No anger.
Just complete confidence.
"The question isn't why he's afraid of me."
He looked at Daniel.
"The question is why he thought you would never find out."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"What does that mean?"
Adrian looked at my phone.
"The picture."
He pointed toward the screen.
"Look closer."
I frowned.
"I already did."
"No."
His voice lowered.
"Look at the reflection."
I zoomed in again.
The glass door.
The shadow.
The person standing behind Daniel and Emily.
I increased the brightness.
The image became clearer.
And then I noticed something.
A watch.
A silver watch on the person's wrist.
My breathing stopped.
Because I knew that watch.
I had bought it for Daniel.
Three years earlier.
For his birthday.
He had told me he lost it.
He said it was stolen during a business trip.
But in the reflection...
Someone was wearing it.
Someone standing behind him.
Someone who was there the entire time.
I looked at Daniel.
"Where did you get this watch?"
His face went pale.
"That's not important."
"It is to me."
He didn't answer.
Emily closed her eyes.
Like she already knew what was coming.
Then Adrian said something that made everyone freeze.
"Daniel didn't lose that watch."
I looked at him.
"He gave it to someone."
Silence.
"Who?"
Adrian didn't respond immediately.
Instead, he looked toward the entrance.
One of his men approached and whispered something into his ear.
Adrian's expression changed slightly.
Only slightly.
But I noticed.
"What happened?" I asked.
He looked back at me.
"The person who sent you the photo..."
He paused.
"...is here."
My entire body went still.
Everyone looked toward the ballroom doors.
Nobody moved.
Then the doors opened.
A woman stepped inside.
Older.
Elegant.
Someone I had never met before.
But Daniel had.
Because the moment he saw her...
He stopped breathing.
Emily covered her mouth.
My father whispered her name.
And Adrian's expression turned serious.
Because this woman was holding a document with one name written across the top.
Mine.
She walked toward us.
Slowly.
Then she looked directly at me and said:
"I know why Daniel chose you."
She opened the folder.
"And I know why your sister rejected him."
I looked at Daniel.
He was shaking.
The woman placed the document on the table.
Then she said the words that changed everything:
"Because eight years ago, he didn't fall in love with Emily."
A pause.
"He fell in love with someone else."
May you like
She turned the page.
And the name written there was...
