We found Lucas just before midnight.
He was standing beside his car outside the hotel, hands buried in his jacket pockets.
When he saw Chloe, he looked away.
That told me enough to know he had expected us.
“You have the letter,” I said.
Lucas nodded.
“Where?”
“In the car.”
“Give it to me.”
He shook his head.
“Not yet.”
I stepped closer.
“Why?”
“Because once you read it, you can't unread it.”
Chloe's voice was steady.
“I've spent years wondering what my mother knew. I think I deserve the truth.”
Lucas looked at her for a long moment.
Then he opened the back door of his car.
A thin envelope rested on the seat.
The paper had yellowed around the edges.
Chloe reached for it.
Lucas stopped her.
“Your mother didn't write this because she wanted revenge.”
“What did she want?”
“To protect you.”
Chloe's hand froze.
“From whom?”
Lucas looked at me.
“Your family.”
The words landed harder than I expected.
I took the envelope.
My mother's handwriting was on the front.
Not Elaine's.
My mother's.
I looked at Lucas.
“Why does my mother have this?”
“She found it.”
“Where?”
“In Elaine's belongings.”
Chloe's eyes widened.
“She went through my mother's things?”
Lucas nodded.
“After Elaine died.”
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a letter written by Elaine.
The first line made Chloe cover her mouth.
Daniel's father is not the man your mother believes he is.
I read the next paragraph.
Elaine explained that she had discovered something about my father years before Chloe and I met.
Something involving money.
Something involving a business arrangement my mother had never been told about.
But there was another name.
Harper.
I looked up.
“What does Harper have to do with this?”
Lucas exhaled.
“Harper was the reason Elaine contacted me.”
Chloe stared at him.
“Why?”
“Because Elaine believed Harper had taken something from her.”
“The photograph?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Lucas looked at me.
“Your father's old financial records.”
I felt a chill.
“What records?”
“Transfers.”
“From where?”
“To an account your mother didn't know existed.”
Chloe shook her head.
“My father had another account?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Lucas hesitated.
“To protect Elaine.”
That made no sense.
I read the letter again.
Elaine had written that she was afraid someone was using my father's name to hide money.
She believed my mother had discovered part of it.
She also believed Harper had accidentally found evidence of the arrangement while using my father's computer.
“Why would Harper steal records?”
Lucas looked at me.
“She wasn't trying to steal money.”
“Then what?”
“She was trying to blackmail someone.”
Chloe stepped back.
“Who?”
Lucas didn't answer.
My phone began ringing.
Mom.
I stared at the screen.
Chloe whispered, “Don't answer.”
I answered.
My mother's voice came immediately.
“Where are you?”
“With Chloe.”
A pause.
“Come home.”
“No.”
“Daniel, listen to me.”
“I am listening.”
“You don't know what you're doing.”
“I know my sister destroyed my wife's wedding dress.”
“That isn't what I'm talking about.”
“What are you talking about?”
Silence.
Then she said:
“Ask your wife why she really married you.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
Chloe stared at me.
“What does that mean?”
Mom continued.
“Ask her what Elaine told her about your father.”
I looked at Chloe.
She was pale.
Mom hung up.
For several seconds nobody moved.
Then Chloe said, “I didn't know.”
“Know what?”
“I don't know what she's talking about.”
I believed her.
But Lucas looked terrified.
“There's more,” he said.
“What?”
“The financial records weren't the only thing Elaine discovered.”
“What else?”
Lucas looked toward Chloe.
“She found out your father had been sending money to someone for years.”
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
My mother called again.
This time, Chloe answered.
“Mrs. Carter?”
My mother spoke quickly.
“Put Daniel back on.”
“No.”
“Chloe, you need to understand what you're doing.”
“I understand that your daughter threw my wedding dress into a pool.”
“That isn't what I'm talking about.”
“I know.”
My mother's voice sharpened.
“You think Daniel chose you because he loves you.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
“What are you saying?”
“I am saying you need to ask yourself why Elaine wanted you to marry him.”
The call ended.
Chloe stared at the phone.
I took it from her.
“She wanted me to marry you?”
Lucas nodded.
“I think that's what your mother believes.”
I looked at him.
“Does Elaine's letter say that?”
“No.”
“Then why would Mom say it?”
Lucas hesitated.
“Because she believes Elaine manipulated both of you.”
Chloe shook her head.
“My mother would never do that.”
“You knew her.”
“I was seventeen.”
Lucas looked down.
“Exactly.”
We returned to the hotel.
At three in the morning, Chloe finally opened the second envelope Lucas had given us.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Elaine and my father sitting together at a restaurant years before Chloe and I met.
They were not alone.
Harper was there.
So was Madison.
And behind them sat a man I recognized.
My father had once told me he barely knew him.
That was a lie.
I turned the photograph over.
A date was written on the back.
Six months before Elaine died.
Underneath it were four words.
He told her everything.
Chloe read them.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
My phone buzzed again.
This time it was Dad.
I answered.
His voice sounded exhausted.
“Daniel.”
“Where are you?”
“At the lake house.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother wants me to tell you the truth.”
I stood.
“What truth?”
A long silence followed.
Then Dad said:
“Elaine never betrayed you.”
I looked at Chloe.
My father's voice broke.
“I did.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 5: My Father Finally Admitted What Elaine Had Been Protecting, and the Secret Was Connected to the Family Member I Trusted Least
Five Days Before the Wedding, One Cruel Joke Turned a Family Celebration Into Something None of Us Could Take Back
Part 4 of 20
