Chapter 3 - The Photograph
The photograph was six years old.
Emma knew that because she recognized the blue dress she had worn to her sister's engagement party.
But Daniel was in it.
Standing twenty feet behind her.
Emma stared.
That made no sense.
She had told Daniel they had never met.
He had agreed.
Yet there he was.
She zoomed in.
Same dark hair.
Same face.
Younger, but unmistakably Daniel.
Her phone buzzed again.
ASK HIM WHY HE PRETENDED HE'D NEVER SEEN YOU BEFORE.
Emma's heart began pounding.
She called Daniel.
He answered immediately.
"Emma?"
"Have we met?"
Silence.
"Not that I remember."
"Think carefully."
"Emma, what's wrong?"
She sent the photograph.
Daniel opened it.
His reaction was immediate.
"Where did you get this?"
"Answer me."
"I don't know."
"You're in the picture."
"I can see that."
"That was my sister's engagement party."
Daniel frowned.
"What year?"
"Six years ago."
He calculated.
Then remembered.
"Was your sister engaged to Andrew Whitmore?"
Emma froze.
"Yes."
Daniel closed his eyes.
"I was there."
"So you lied."
"No."
"You said we'd never met."
"We didn't."
"You're standing behind me."
"Emma, there were almost two hundred people at that party. Andrew was a client of my old firm. I stayed maybe forty minutes."
She wanted to believe him.
But after the restaurant, trust felt dangerous.
"Why would someone send me this?"
"I don't know."
Daniel remembered Lauren's call.
"But I think someone wants you to believe tonight was bigger than Ryan's stupid joke."
Emma went quiet.
"What do you mean?"
Daniel told her about the second group chat.
Not everything.
Not yet.
But enough.
Emma sat on the floor outside her apartment.
"Someone chose me?"
"Yes."
"Specifically?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"Lauren only has initials."
"Tell me."
Daniel hesitated.
"Daniel."
"M.C."
Emma stopped breathing.
There were hundreds of people with those initials.
But only one came immediately to mind.
"No."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Emma."
She unlocked her apartment and stepped inside.
Winston waddled toward her.
The elderly dog pressed against her leg.
Emma bent and touched his head.
"M.C. could be anybody."
"But you're thinking of somebody."
She didn't answer.
Daniel's voice softened.
"Who?"
"My cousin."
"Name?"
"Madison Collins."
Daniel frowned.
"Would she know Ryan?"
"I don't know."
"Would she know me?"
"No."
"Then why—"
"I said I don't know."
Daniel heard the fear in her voice and stopped.
"Okay."
Emma sat on her couch.
Winston rested his head on her knee.
"Daniel?"
"Yes?"
"I need tonight to stop."
He understood.
"I won't call again."
"That's not what I meant."
"I know."
Emma closed her eyes.
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
She ended the call.
Then another message appeared.
This one came from Madison.
CALL ME BEFORE YOU TALK TO ANYONE.
Emma stared at it.
She didn't call.
Instead, she turned off her phone.
Monday morning came too quickly.
Emma walked into Westbrook Elementary at 7:15.
Principal Harris was waiting.
So was a district administrator.
That was bad.
The meeting lasted forty minutes.
Nobody accused Emma of wrongdoing.
That almost made it worse.
They used phrases like "temporary precaution" and "online attention."
The district wanted her to take several paid days off while the situation cooled.
Emma understood the practical reason.
Emotionally, it felt like punishment.
She left through a side entrance.
Daniel was waiting across the street.
She stopped.
He held two coffees.
"You said you wouldn't call."
"I didn't."
"How did you know I was here?"
"Lauren told me what school you worked at before I told her never to share that information again."
Emma should have been annoyed.
Instead she almost smiled.
"Coffee?"
"Peace offering."
"For what?"
"Existing in the photograph."
She laughed despite herself.
They sat on a bench.
Emma told him about the leave.
Daniel listened.
He didn't tell her what to do.
That mattered.
Eventually he said, "I'm sorry."
"You didn't post the video."
"No. But those were my friends."
"Were?"
Daniel looked at her.
"Were."
Emma absorbed that.
"You ended friendships because of me?"
"No."
He shook his head.
"I ended friendships because I finally saw them clearly."
That distinction mattered too.
Daniel handed her the coffee.
"I found out who M.C. is."
Emma's stomach tightened.
"Madison?"
"No."
Relief came first.
Then confusion.
"Who?"
"Michael Crane."
She stared blankly.
"Should I know that name?"
"I do."
Daniel explained.
Michael Crane had worked with Daniel at his former architecture firm.
They had competed for a promotion.
Daniel got it.
Michael left shortly afterward.
"Why would he know me?"
"I don't know."
"And why would he care who you date?"
"I don't know that either."
Emma looked frustrated.
"That's a lot of not knowing."
"Agreed."
Daniel showed her the screenshots.
Michael had suggested Emma.
He had provided her photograph.
And he had written:
She'll be perfect. Carter will show everybody what he's really like.
Emma read it twice.
"What did he expect you to do?"
"Laugh."
"Why?"
Daniel stared at the ground.
"Maybe because he thought I was the kind of person who would."
Emma studied him.
"Were you?"
The question hurt because Daniel couldn't dismiss it.
"Maybe once."
She waited.
"I never would've done what Ryan did."
"That's not what I asked."
Daniel nodded.
"In college, I laughed at jokes I shouldn't have. I let people say things because challenging them would make me unpopular. I probably hurt people without ever learning their names."
Emma looked at him.
"That's a surprisingly bad sales pitch."
"I'm not selling anything."
"Good."
"I'm telling you the truth."
Emma took a sip of coffee.
"That's better."
Daniel smiled.
Their second date happened that evening.
Not at a glamorous restaurant.
At a neighborhood diner Emma chose.
She wore jeans and a sweater.
Daniel wore a button-down shirt.
They ate burgers.
Emma stole his fries.
Daniel accused her of theft.
She informed him that sharing food was a foundational relationship skill.
"Relationship?" he asked.
She nearly choked.
"Don't get excited."
"I'm writing it down."
"Daniel."
"Historic moment."
She laughed.
For two hours, they forgot about the video.
Then a woman approached their booth.
"Excuse me."
Emma tensed.
The woman looked familiar.
Daniel recognized her from the original dinner.
Chloe.
She stood nervously beside the table.
"I know I'm probably the last person either of you wants to see."
Daniel's expression hardened.
"What do you want?"
"To apologize."
Emma said nothing.
Chloe looked at her.
"I laughed."
"Yes."
"I knew Ryan was setting Daniel up. I thought it was stupid. I didn't understand how cruel it was until I saw your face."
Emma remained silent.
Chloe's eyes filled.
"I'm sorry."
Emma finally spoke.
"Why are you telling me?"
"Because sorry doesn't count if I only say it to myself."
That answer surprised Emma.
Chloe reached into her purse.
"And because I found something."
She placed a small USB drive on the table.
Daniel stared at it.
"What is that?"
"The original video files."
"From Ben?"
Chloe nodded.
"There are recordings that weren't posted."
Emma's stomach tightened.
"Why would I want to watch them?"
"Because one of them was recorded before you arrived."
Daniel picked up the drive.
Chloe continued.
"Michael Crane is in it."
Daniel froze.
"At the restaurant?"
"Yes."
"He was there?"
"He met Ryan outside."
Emma looked between them.
"Why?"
Chloe swallowed.
"I don't know."
Daniel slipped the drive into his pocket.
"We'll find out."
Later that night, they went to Daniel's apartment.
He inserted the USB drive into his laptop.
There were fourteen files.
The first thirteen showed fragments of the dinner.
The fourteenth had been recorded in the restaurant parking garage.
Daniel clicked it.
Ryan appeared.
Then Michael.
The audio was faint.
Daniel increased the volume.
Michael handed Ryan an envelope.
Ryan laughed.
Then Michael said something.
Emma leaned closer.
Daniel replayed it.
This time they heard every word.
"Make sure she believes Carter personally chose her."
Emma went cold.
Ryan asked, "Why her?"
Michael smiled.
Then he answered.
Daniel paused the video.
Emma stared at the frozen image.
"What did he say?"
Daniel didn't want to repeat it.
Emma reached toward the keyboard.
She pressed play.
Michael's voice filled the room.
"Because once she learns who Daniel really is, she'll destroy him for me."
The video continued.
Ryan opened the envelope.
Something fell onto the hood of the car.
A photograph.
Daniel enlarged the frame.
Emma gasped.
It wasn't a picture of her.
It was a picture of Daniel standing beside a woman.
May you like
A woman Emma knew.
Her sister.
