Chapter 5 - The Truth Chloe Was Trying To Reveal
“I’m Chloe’s mother…”
The words stayed in the air.
Heavy.
Impossible.
I looked at the phone.
Then at Ethan.
Then back at the phone.
Because my brain was searching for an explanation.
Any explanation.
But nothing made sense.
Chloe’s mother?
Why was she calling me?
Why did she know about Chloe contacting me?
And why did Ethan look like he had just seen a ghost?
“Victoria?” the woman said softly.
I didn’t answer.
My hand tightened around the phone.
The woman continued.
“I know you have questions.”
I finally found my voice.
“Who are you?”
“My name is Diane Bennett.”
The name meant nothing to me.
But Ethan reacted.
His face changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Fear.
“You know her,” I whispered.
Ethan didn’t respond.
That was enough.
I turned away from him.
“Why are you calling me?”
There was a pause.
Then Diane spoke.
“Because Chloe wanted me to.”
My heart stopped.
“Chloe?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Another pause.
A painful one.
“She disappeared.”
The room went silent.
I looked at Ethan.
“What?”
Diane’s voice became quieter.
“She hasn’t answered my calls in three days.”
Three days.
The exact amount of time since the photo was taken.
The exact amount of time before Chloe sent the message.
I felt a strange coldness move through me.
“She texted Ethan tonight.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because she told me she was going to.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because she believed you were the only person who could uncover the truth.”
I looked at Ethan.
The only person?
Me?
That made no sense.
I was the newest person in this situation.
The outsider.
The wife who had just discovered her husband’s past.
Why would Chloe trust me?
“Diane,” I said carefully, “I need you to explain something.”
“Ask.”
“Why did Chloe think I could help her?”
The woman was silent.
Then she said something I never expected.
“Because Chloe found out Ethan wasn’t the person who destroyed her life.”
My eyes moved to Ethan.
He looked down.
That hurt.
Because even now, even after everything, he was still holding something back.
“What does that mean?”
Diane sighed.
“Five years ago, Chloe discovered financial records connected to Ethan’s father.”
“Richard Davis?”
“Yes.”
The name made my stomach tighten.
Ethan’s father.
The powerful man.
The man who apparently had destroyed Ethan’s first marriage.
“What records?”
“Payments.”
“To who?”
“People who helped hide information.”
I walked slowly toward the window.
The city below looked completely normal.
People were walking.
Cars were moving.
Everyone was living their lives.
Nobody knew that my wedding night had turned into an investigation.
“What information?”
Diane’s voice became lower.
“The reason Chloe and Ethan divorced.”
I looked back at Ethan.
“Tell me.”
He didn’t move.
“Ethan.”
Finally, he spoke.
“When Chloe found those records, she thought my father was hiding illegal business dealings.”
“Was he?”
“I don’t know.”
That answer frustrated me.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
His voice cracked slightly.
“But Chloe found something else.”
“What?”
He looked at me.
“She found out my father had been paying someone to follow her.”
The room became silent again.
I remembered the photograph.
Me leaving my office.
Someone watching me.
“Why?”
Ethan shook his head.
“That’s what we were trying to find out.”
“No.”
I looked at him.
“That’s what you were trying to find out.”
A painful expression crossed his face.
“Yes.”
I hated that he admitted it so easily.
Because it meant there was no misunderstanding.
He had been investigating.
He had been hiding.
And I had been living inside a story he controlled.
Diane spoke again.
“Victoria, I need you to listen carefully.”
I focused on the phone.
“Chloe didn’t contact you because she wanted Ethan back.”
My chest tightened.
“Then why?”
“Because she believed someone was going to hurt you.”
The words landed harder than anything else.
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were about to become part of Ethan Davis’s family.”
I looked at Ethan.
“What does that mean?”
Diane didn’t answer immediately.
And that scared me.
“Diane.”
“She found out something about Richard Davis.”
“What?”
“She found out he had a reason to stop you from marrying Ethan.”
My breathing slowed.
“Why would Richard care about me?”
Diane whispered:
“Because your father’s name was in the records.”
I froze.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
I felt like the room moved slightly.
“My father died when I was twelve.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because Chloe researched you.”
I looked at Ethan.
He looked just as shocked.
“What does my father have to do with your family?”
Diane’s voice became emotional.
“I don’t know everything.”
“Then what do you know?”
“I know Chloe discovered that your father and Richard Davis knew each other.”
My fingers went numb.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Victoria…”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“My father was a lawyer. He had nothing to do with Ethan’s family.”
“Are you sure?”
The question bothered me.
Because it wasn’t an accusation.
It was a warning.
I looked at the wedding ring on my finger.
Suddenly it felt heavier.
A symbol of a family connection I never understood.
“What else did Chloe find?”
Diane became quiet.
Then she said:
“She found a photograph.”
“Of what?”
“A meeting.”
“Between who?”
“Your father.”
“And?”
Another pause.
“Richard Davis.”
I felt my heartbeat in my ears.
“When was this?”
“Before your father died.”
I looked at Ethan.
“Did you know?”
His silence answered before his words did.
“No.”
But he looked terrified.
Not surprised.
Terrified.
That was different.
Because Ethan was afraid of the truth.
Not the accusation.
I ended the call.
I needed a moment.
Just one moment where nobody was giving me another impossible piece of information.
I turned toward Ethan.
“How much did you know?”
“Victoria…”
“How much?”
He looked broken.
“I knew my father was connected to your father.”
The words cut deeper than I expected.
“You knew?”
“I found out two weeks ago.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
I laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because I couldn’t believe it.
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“Victoria—”
“No.”
I stepped away.
“Chloe tried to warn me.”
“Yes.”
“Your father might be connected to my father.”
“Yes.”
“Someone has been following me.”
“Yes.”
“And you thought keeping me in the dark was protecting me?”
He had no answer.
Because there wasn’t one.
My phone buzzed.
A new message.
Unknown number.
I looked down.
One sentence.
“Ask Ethan why your father really died.”
My blood went cold.
I showed him the screen.
The color disappeared from his face.
Because he knew that message.
“How?”
I stared at him.
“How do you know that?”
Ethan didn’t answer.
Instead, he walked toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“To check something.”
“What?”
He grabbed his jacket.
“Because if that message is real…”
He stopped.
My heart started racing.
“What?”
He looked at me.
And for the first time since I met him, I saw genuine fear in his eyes.
“Victoria…”
He whispered.
“Your father didn’t die in an accident.”
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t speak.
Because before I could ask another question, someone knocked on the bridal suite door.
Three slow knocks.
Ethan looked at the door.
Then at me.
And whispered:
May you like
“They found us.”
The handle started turning.
