Chapter 3 - The Secret My Fiancé Buried
"Don't trust the nurse. She's the one who helped Ethan find you."
Claire's voice stayed in my ear long after the line went silent.
I didn't move.
I couldn't.
The phone felt heavy in my hand.
Too heavy.
Because I didn't know what to believe anymore.
The nurse standing beside my bed looked terrified.
Her eyes moved between me and the phone.
"Ms. Hart..."
I slowly lowered the receiver.
"Who are you?"
The question came out colder than I expected.
The nurse looked confused.
"What?"
"Who are you really?"
Her face changed.
Not guilt.
Not anger.
Fear.
"I don't understand."
"Claire said you helped Ethan find me."
The second I said his name, her expression collapsed.
She looked toward the door.
Then back at me.
Like she was deciding whether to run or tell the truth.
"I can explain."
I almost smiled.
Everyone always said that.
They could explain.
They always had a reason.
Ethan had a reason.
Claire had a reason.
Sabrina had a reason.
But somehow, I was always the person left bleeding afterward.
"Then explain."
The nurse slowly closed the door.
Her hands were shaking.
"My name is not Emily Carter."
I stared at her.
"What?"
She reached into her pocket and pulled out an identification card.
Not a hospital ID.
A different one.
A private investigator badge.
My breathing stopped.
"My real name is Olivia Reed."
She placed the card on the table.
"I was assigned to protect you."
The room felt smaller.
"Protect me from who?"
She looked at me.
"Ethan."
I looked away.
Because hearing his name still hurt.
Even after everything.
Even after I knew the truth.
There was still a part of me that remembered the man who used to hold me while I cried.
The man who made me feel safe.
That was the cruelest part.
The person who destroyed me was the same person who taught me to trust him.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Olivia looked down.
"Because I wasn't sure who was watching."
"Watching?"
She nodded.
"When you were brought here after the attack, someone tried to access your medical records."
"Who?"
She hesitated.
Then answered:
"Ethan Walker."
My fingers tightened around the blanket.
"He came here?"
"He came here before your family even knew you were admitted."
I felt a wave of anger.
"Why?"
"Because he wanted to make sure you never told anyone what happened."
I looked at the bandages covering my face.
The burns.
The pain.
The scars I still hadn't seen.
"He wanted me dead."
Olivia didn't answer.
She didn't need to.
The silence confirmed it.
I turned toward the window.
For the first time, I allowed myself to cry.
Not because I missed him.
Not because I wanted him back.
Because I was grieving the future I thought I had.
The wedding.
The house.
The children we talked about.
The life I imagined.
All of it had been a story.
And Ethan had been the author.
But he wasn't the only one.
I looked back at Olivia.
"Why did Claire call me?"
Olivia's expression became serious.
"Because she knows she made a mistake."
"She helped him."
"Yes."
"Then why should I believe anything she says?"
"You shouldn't."
That answer surprised me.
Olivia continued.
"Not yet."
She walked closer.
"But Claire was not the person who planned the attack."
I froze.
"What?"
"Ethan was working with someone else."
My mind immediately went back to the folder.
The photographs.
The messages.
The evidence.
"Sabrina."
Olivia nodded.
"She was involved."
My stomach turned.
"But not in the way you think."
"What does that mean?"
Olivia looked at the hospital door.
Then lowered her voice.
"It means Sabrina wasn't the woman Ethan wanted to marry."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"What?"
Olivia reached into her bag.
She pulled out a small envelope.
"I found this before Ethan took your phone."
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A man.
A woman.
A child.
At first, I didn't recognize them.
Then I saw the man.
Ethan.
The date on the photograph was three years earlier.
Before he met me.
The woman beside him wasn't Sabrina.
It was someone else.
Someone I had never seen.
But the child...
The child had Ethan's eyes.
I looked at Olivia.
"Who is she?"
Olivia didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she said:
"That's what Ethan was hiding from you."
I stared at the picture.
My entire relationship with Ethan had been built on secrets.
But this one felt different.
This wasn't about money.
This wasn't about another woman.
This was something bigger.
Something he had buried completely.
"Where did you get this?"
"From his private office."
I looked at her.
"You broke into his office?"
"No."
Her voice became quiet.
"Someone gave it to me."
"Who?"
She looked away.
"Your father."
My heart stopped.
My father had been dead for five years.
"You can't be serious."
"I am."
She pulled out another document.
A letter.
The handwriting was familiar.
I knew it before I touched it.
My father's handwriting.
My hands trembled as I opened it.
Genevieve,
If you are reading this, it means I was right about Ethan.
I stopped.
The room disappeared.
My father.
He knew.
Before I did.
I kept reading.
I always believed the people closest to us were the ones who could hurt us the most.
I was wrong.
The most dangerous people are the ones who make us believe they love us.
My eyes filled with tears.
My father had spent his final years trying to warn me.
And I had ignored every sign.
There was only one more sentence.
One sentence that made my entire body go cold.
Ethan Walker did not enter your life by accident.
I looked up.
"What does that mean?"
Olivia didn't answer.
Because she knew I had reached the same conclusion.
Ethan hadn't just betrayed me.
Maybe he had chosen me from the beginning.
The hospital room suddenly felt dangerous.
Every memory.
Every conversation.
Every moment.
Everything had another meaning now.
My phone suddenly vibrated.
Both Olivia and I looked at the table.
But my phone wasn't there.
It was still missing.
The sound came from beneath my pillow.
I reached underneath.
And pulled out a second phone.
A phone I had never seen before.
Olivia's face changed.
"Where did you get that?"
"I don't know."
The screen lit up.
One new message.
From an unknown number.
I opened it.
Only five words appeared.
"Your father was still alive."
My hands started shaking.
Then another message arrived.
This time with a photo.
I opened it.
And the person standing beside my father in the picture was someone I knew.
Someone who was supposed to have been on Ethan's side.
Because beneath the photo was a name.
Sabrina Cole.
I looked at Olivia.
She stepped back.
"That's impossible."
May you like
The hospital door slowly opened.
And standing outside was the person who wasn't supposed to be alive...
