The door opened.
A nurse stepped inside.
“Mr. Carter?”
Dad looked at her.
“Yes?”
“I'm sorry. I was told your family was expecting someone.”
Nobody answered.
She glanced at Lucas.
Then at me.
“Mr. Carter?”
“Who sent you?”
The nurse looked confused.
“I don't understand.”
Lucas stood.
“Who told you to come here?”
“I was asked to deliver this.”
She held out an envelope.
I didn't take it.
Lucas did.
Inside was a photograph.
Our family.
My parents.
Harper.
Me.
Chloe.
Taken at our engagement dinner.
Across the bottom someone had written:
Four days is too long.
Chloe stepped back.
The nurse looked frightened.
“I don't know what this is.”
Lucas gave the envelope back.
“Go.”
She left immediately.
Dad stared at the photograph.
“That was taken in my house.”
“When?”
“The night we announced the engagement.”
I looked at Chloe.
“Who took it?”
Nobody knew.
Then I noticed something.
Harper wasn't looking at the camera.
She was looking toward the hallway.
As if she knew someone was there.
I zoomed in.
A reflection appeared in the glass behind her.
A man.
Evan.
But that wasn't possible.
Evan had supposedly disappeared afterward.
I showed Lucas.
He frowned.
“That photograph may have been taken later.”
“How?”
“Digital manipulation.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
I looked closer.
The timestamp was printed in the metadata.
The photograph had been created three weeks after the engagement dinner.
Someone had altered it.
Lucas whispered, “They're trying to make you believe Evan is still involved.”
“Isn't he?”
“Maybe.”
Dad looked at me.
“There's another possibility.”
“What?”
“Someone wants you to chase Evan.”
“While they do what?”
“Access the trust.”
The pattern finally became clear.
Every time we got close to the truth, someone redirected us.
Harper.
Evan.
Lucas.
Mom.
Dad.
Each name had been made to look guilty at one point.
But someone had been controlling the sequence.
Someone who knew our family well enough to anticipate how we would react.
Chloe sat beside Dad.
“My mother knew.”
Dad nodded.
“She suspected.”
“Then why didn't she tell me?”
“She was afraid the person listening would know.”
I looked at Lucas.
“Who had access to her phone?”
“Your mother.”
“Who had access to the hospital?”
“Too many people.”
“Who knew about the wedding?”
“Everyone.”
I stood.
“We need to cancel it.”
Chloe looked at me.
“No.”
“Chloe.”
“If we cancel, whoever is behind this will know we understand.”
“She threatened your life.”
“And if we run, she still has control.”
Dad looked at Chloe with something close to admiration.
“She is right.”
I sat down.
“What do we do?”
Lucas leaned forward.
“We let them believe the plan is working.”
Chloe looked at him.
“You mean we go ahead with the wedding?”
“Yes.”
“And the document?”
“We don't sign it.”
“And the threat?”
“We use it.”
I frowned.
“How?”
Lucas looked at Dad.
“Your father still has access to the trust.”
Dad nodded.
“We can freeze it.”
“Can we?”
“Yes.”
“But won't they know?”
“Not immediately.”
Lucas pulled out his phone.
“I know someone who can trace the original authorization.”
“Who?”
“An accountant.”
“Trustworthy?”
Lucas gave me a tired look.
“More than I am.”
It was the first time he had admitted anything like that.
While he made the call, Chloe took me into the hallway.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“I was the one who asked Harper to come to the wedding.”
I stared at her.
“Why?”
“She called me last night.”
“When?”
“After she called you.”
“What did she say?”
“She apologized.”
“For what?”
“Everything.”
I didn't know what to say.
“She said she wants to tell me something in person.”
“What?”
“She wouldn't say.”
I looked toward Dad's room.
“Is she coming here?”
“No.”
“Where?”
“The wedding rehearsal.”
I shook my head.
“That could be a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then don't go.”
Chloe looked at me.
“If Harper knows who is behind this, we need her.”
I hated that she was right.
We returned to the room.
Lucas had finished the call.
“The trust can be frozen.”
“Good.”
“But there's a problem.”
“What?”
“The person trying to access it may already have a valid authorization.”
Dad's face changed.
“What?”
Lucas placed his phone on the table.
“The forged document isn't the only one.”
He showed us another file.
A scanned authorization.
It contained my signature.
I stared.
“I never signed that.”
“I know.”
“But that's my signature.”
“It was copied.”
“From where?”
Lucas looked at the wedding paperwork.
“Your marriage license.”
I felt sick.
“How could they have that?”
“Someone had access to the documents you submitted.”
Chloe whispered, “The wedding coordinator.”
I shook my head.
“She would never.”
“Maybe not,” Lucas said.
“But someone in the office could.”
I called the coordinator.
She answered immediately.
“Daniel?”
“Who has access to our wedding paperwork?”
She sounded confused.
“Only me and the venue manager.”
“Anyone else?”
“No.”
“Did anyone request copies?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“Your mother.”
My stomach tightened.
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
I looked at Chloe.
“Did you give them to her?”
“She said she needed them for the insurance paperwork.”
I closed my eyes.
“Do you still have the originals?”
“Yes.”
“Keep them locked.”
“I don't understand.”
“Just do it.”
I hung up.
Dad whispered, “Your mother has the signature.”
“And the account.”
“And the photographs.”
“And she knows the wedding schedule.”
Chloe stared at him.
“She also knows what Elaine knew.”
I felt something click.
My mother wasn't merely hiding the truth.
She had been positioned perfectly to manipulate the entire situation.
But there was still one question.
“If Mom is behind it, why involve Lucas?”
Lucas answered.
“Because I was useful.”
“And Evan?”
“Disposable.”
“And Harper?”
“Easy to control.”
“And me?”
He looked at me.
“You were the asset.”
I felt cold.
“The account.”
“Yes.”
“The wedding.”
“Yes.”
“The forged signature.”
“Yes.”
“Then why threaten Chloe?”
Lucas looked at her.
“Because she is the one person who could make you stop.”
That was the answer.
The entire scheme depended on me choosing the family over Chloe.
It depended on guilt.
Fear.
Loyalty.
The same things my family had used for years.
My phone buzzed.
Harper.
One sentence.
I know who is behind everything.
Then another.
And it isn't Mom.
I stared at the screen.
Chloe read it.
“Call her.”
I did.
Harper answered immediately.
“Daniel?”
“Where are you?”
“I can't tell you.”
“Then tell me who.”
She started crying.
“It's someone you trust.”
“Who?”
“I tried to stop it.”
“Who?”
She whispered the name.
I couldn't speak.
Chloe took the phone.
“Harper, tell me.”
Harper's voice broke.
“Your wedding coordinator.”
Chloe froze.
Then Harper added:
“She has been working with Evan since before you met Daniel.”
The call ended.
I looked at Chloe.
Four days before our wedding.
And suddenly the person organizing every detail of our ceremony had access to almost everything we were trying to protect.
Click here to continue reading: PART 12: The Woman Planning Our Wedding Had Been Watching Us for Months, and Her Next Message Proved the Threat Was Closer Than We Imagined
Five Days Before the Wedding, One Cruel Joke Turned a Family Celebration Into Something None of Us Could Take Back
Part 11 of 20
