Chương 6
“What company?”
Richard hesitated.
“A company connected to Daniel's father.”
The name landed differently now.
Not like a surprise.
Like a piece that had been waiting for a place.
Emily looked toward the entrance where Daniel had disappeared.
“So Daniel knew.”
“I don't know exactly what he knew.”
“That is not the same thing as saying he didn't.”
Richard accepted the accusation without defending himself.
That made it worse.
Emily looked at Claire.
“You said his father worked with the company.”
Claire nodded.
“My father handled legal contracts for them.”
“And Daniel?”
Claire looked uncomfortable.
“Daniel grew up around those people.”
Emily felt something cold move through her.
Not because she believed every piece yet.
Because enough pieces existed now to make disbelief impossible.
“When did he meet me?”
Richard answered.
“I don't know.”
Emily looked at him.
“But you know he knew who I was.”
Richard rubbed his hand over his face.
“I found records showing Daniel had asked about your family before you started dating.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Again.
That word.
Again.
Emily turned away.
She walked a few steps toward the windows, away from the crowd.
Outside, a staff member was removing decorations from a table.
A small stack of untouched wedding menus sat beside a vase of flowers.
Someone had already started cleaning up the evidence of her happiest day.
That felt strangely cruel.
The world did not wait for people to understand what happened to them.
It just moved on.
“When did you find out about Daniel?” she asked.
Richard joined her.
“Six months ago.”
Emily closed her eyes briefly.
Six months.
She remembered that time.
She had been excited about wedding planning.
She had been sending pictures of dresses to friends.
She had been arguing with Daniel about whether they needed a bigger apartment before they had children.
And her father had been investigating him.
“What did you do?”
Richard looked down.
“I hired someone to look into him.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I didn't know what I was looking at.”
Emily turned.
“You were investigating the man I was going to marry, and you did not know what you were looking at?”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“I knew something was wrong.”
“What?”
“Small things.”
He paused.
“Accounts that did not match his income.”
“People who refused to answer questions about him.”
“Old business records that had missing pages.”
Emily looked at the folder in her hand.
The same kind of folder her father used when he wanted facts to behave.
“And you thought hiding this from me was the safest option?”
Richard looked at her.
“I thought if I moved carefully, I could figure out whether Daniel was dangerous before I destroyed your life.”
Emily stared at him.
“You did not think telling me was part of protecting me.”
Richard did not argue.
Because he knew she was right.
Claire spoke from behind them.
“He was afraid.”
Emily turned.
Claire held the bouquet lower now.
“Not of Daniel.”
She looked at Richard.
“Of being wrong.”
Richard's face changed slightly.
Claire continued.
“Because if he told you and Daniel was innocent, he would be the father who ruined your marriage.”
“And if he was right?”
Claire looked at Emily.
“Then he would have to admit he let someone close to you while he was still trying to control the damage.”
The truth of that hurt because it sounded like something Richard would do.
Not because he wanted power.
Because he confused control with love.
Emily looked back at her father.
“Did you find proof?”
Richard was silent.
Then he reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small envelope.
Emily had not noticed it before.
It was old.
The edges were worn.
“I found this after your mother died.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“What is it?”
“Something she left behind.”
“Then why haven't I seen it?”
Richard looked ashamed.
“Because I was afraid of what it would lead to.”
Emily took the envelope.
She opened it carefully.
Inside was a single photocopied page.
Her mother's handwriting filled the margins.
Numbers.
Names.
Notes written quickly.
At the bottom was a sentence that made Emily stop breathing.
If anything happens to me, Richard knows where the original is.
She looked up.
Her father looked like he wished he could take the paper back.
“You knew there was an original.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
Richard swallowed.
“I don't have it anymore.”
Emily stared at him.
“Who does?”
Richard did not answer immediately.
The delay was enough.
“Daniel?”
Richard nodded once.
“He took it from my office two months ago.”
Emily felt the ground shift beneath everything.
“He was in your office?”
“He knew where I kept it.”
“How?”
Richard looked toward the ballroom entrance.
“I think he wanted me to know he could get to it.”
Before Emily could respond, the security manager hurried toward them.
His face was tense.
“Mr. Carter.”
Richard turned.
“What?”
“We found something on the camera system.”
“What?”
The man looked uncomfortable.
“The cameras were not disabled from inside the building.”
Richard frowned.
“Then where?”
The manager glanced at Emily.
“Someone used your access credentials.”
Richard went still.
“My credentials?”
The man nodded.
“And the system shows the access happened from outside the estate.”
Emily looked at her father.
A new possibility entered the room.
Someone had not just been hiding things from her.
Someone had been using the people around her.
Her phone vibrated again.
A new message appeared.
This time there was no photograph.
Only an address.
And one sentence.
Come alone if you want the original.
Emily read the address once.
Then again.
The second time, she noticed what she had missed the first time.
It was not just an address.
It was a place she knew.
A small apartment building on the north side of town, one she had passed hundreds of times without ever having a reason to stop.
Her first reaction was not fear.
May you like
It was confusion.
Daniel had always been good at creating distance.
