Chapter 3 - The Woman Behind The Secret
The woman placed the folder on the table.
Nobody spoke.
Not Daniel.
Not Emily.
Not even my parents.
The only sound in the ballroom was the faint music still playing in the background.
A song that was supposed to celebrate my future.
A future that had already collapsed.
I stared at the folder.
My name was written across the front.
Not Daniel's.
Not Emily's.
Mine.
I looked at the woman standing in front of me.
"Who are you?"
She didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she looked at Daniel.
And the disappointment in her eyes was worse than anger.
"You never told her."
Daniel swallowed.
"Margaret, please."
The woman shook her head.
"Eight years."
Her voice became colder.
"Eight years, Daniel."
I felt a strange pressure in my chest.
Eight years.
The same amount of time he claimed to have loved Emily.
But this woman wasn't talking about Emily.
She was talking about something else.
Something bigger.
I looked at Adrian.
He was watching everything carefully.
Not surprised.
Not confused.
Like he had already suspected something.
"What is happening?" I asked.
Nobody answered.
So I opened the folder myself.
The first page was a photograph.
A younger Daniel.
He looked different.
Less confident.
Less polished.
Standing beside a woman I had never seen before.
But the next page made my hands freeze.
A report.
A date.
Eight years ago.
And a name.
Sofia Bennett.
I looked up.
"Who is Sofia?"
Daniel's face lost all color.
Margaret looked at him.
"Tell her."
Daniel said nothing.
"Tell her the truth for once."
I turned toward him.
"Daniel."
My voice was quiet.
But everyone heard it.
"Who is Sofia?"
He looked trapped.
Like every possible answer would destroy him.
Finally, he whispered:
"She was someone I knew before you."
"Someone you loved?"
He didn't answer.
And that was an answer.
I felt something inside me break again.
Not because of another woman.
I was beginning to understand that Daniel had spent years creating different versions of himself for different people.
The man I thought I knew didn't exist.
"Why did you propose to me?" I asked.
His eyes filled with regret.
"I was trying to move on."
I almost laughed.
"By marrying me?"
"I thought I could forget."
I stared at him.
"You used me as a replacement."
His silence confirmed it.
Emily stepped forward.
"Stop."
Everyone looked at her.
She wiped her tears.
"Don't make this only about Daniel."
I frowned.
"What do you mean?"
She looked at Margaret.
Then at the folder.
"She knows the rest."
A cold feeling passed through me.
"The rest of what?"
Margaret slowly sat down.
Her expression softened.
"I didn't come here to hurt you."
I almost smiled.
"Everyone says that right before they do."
She accepted my words.
Because maybe she understood.
"I came because you deserved to know before you married him."
She opened another document.
"This isn't about Daniel loving me or your sister."
She looked directly at me.
"It's about why he chose you."
My fingers tightened.
"What are you saying?"
Margaret slid the paper toward me.
I looked down.
At first, I didn't understand.
Then I saw it.
A signature.
My father's.
My breathing stopped.
"What is this?"
Nobody spoke.
I looked at my father.
His face changed.
And that scared me more than anything else.
Because my father was the one person in my life who always seemed impossible to shake.
But now he looked afraid.
"Dad?"
He looked away.
That hurt.
More than Daniel.
More than the engagement.
Because my father had always been my safe place.
And now he was part of the secret.
"What did you sign?"
He didn't answer.
Adrian stepped closer.
"She deserves the truth."
My father looked at him.
"You don't know what you're talking about."
Adrian's expression remained calm.
"I know exactly what I'm talking about."
The room became tense.
I looked between them.
"Why does Adrian know more about my life than I do?"
Nobody answered.
Then Daniel spoke.
"Because he was there."
I turned toward him.
"What?"
Daniel looked at Adrian.
For the first time, I saw something different between them.
Not friendship.
Not business.
Something closer to rivalry.
"You knew all along."
Adrian didn't deny it.
"Knew what?"
I asked.
Daniel looked at me.
"The reason I was able to meet you."
My stomach tightened.
"What does that mean?"
Before Daniel could answer, Adrian interrupted.
"Enough."
His voice was low.
Everyone stopped.
He looked at me.
"You don't need to hear this from him."
"Then tell me."
A long silence followed.
Adrian looked away for a moment.
Almost like he was deciding whether to reveal something.
Then he said:
"Eight years ago, your life changed."
I stared at him.
"You just didn't know it."
I shook my head.
"No."
I stepped back.
"No, that doesn't make sense."
Adrian watched me carefully.
"Your father made an agreement."
My father's face became pale.
"Adrian."
But he continued.
"An agreement that protected your family."
"What agreement?"
Nobody answered.
Then Margaret opened the folder again.
Inside was another photograph.
A picture of me.
But I was younger.
Much younger.
I didn't remember the photograph being taken.
On the back was a handwritten note.
My hands shook as I turned it over.
Five words.
Only five words.
She belongs to the promise.
I looked up.
"What does that mean?"
My father stood suddenly.
"Give me that."
For the first time in my entire life...
I saw fear in my father's eyes.
Real fear.
He reached for the photograph.
But Adrian moved first.
He took it from my hand.
And looked at the handwriting.
His expression changed.
Just slightly.
But enough.
"You didn't tell her."
My father looked at him.
"You don't understand."
Adrian stared at the note.
"I understand perfectly."
The room became silent.
Then he looked at me.
And the way he looked at me made my heart race.
Not with fear.
With the realization that there was something about me that everyone knew except me.
"Who wrote this?" I asked.
Nobody answered.
I looked at Daniel.
Nothing.
Emily.
Nothing.
My father.
Nothing.
Finally, Adrian spoke.
But before he could finish, the lights in the ballroom suddenly flickered.
Everyone turned.
One of Adrian's men walked quickly toward him.
He whispered something.
Adrian's face changed.
"What happened?"
The man handed him a phone.
Adrian looked at the screen.
Then slowly turned it toward me.
A message was displayed.
From an unknown number.
Only one sentence.
Stop searching for the truth, or the person who started this will come back.
My blood went cold.
Because below the message was a photograph.
A recent photograph.
Taken just minutes ago.
Outside the ballroom.
It showed someone standing near my car.
Someone who should have been impossible to see.
May you like
Because the person in the picture was...
...my mother.
