Kenneth had repeatedly asked about the twins’ inheritance.
Their mother—my sister—had left them money.
Not enormous wealth.
But enough for college and a secure beginning in adulthood.
Kenneth knew that.
I stepped toward him.
“Were you after their money too?”
He looked away.
That was enough.
Something inside me snapped.
“You called them freaks while planning to steal from them?”
“Laura—”
“Answer me!”
He didn’t.
Then Dylan spoke from behind me.
“He already tried.”
I turned around.
“What?”
My son was pale.
He reached inside his jacket and removed his phone.
“Kenneth asked me for information about the twins’ trust two months ago.”
I stared at him.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“He said he was helping you update everything after the wedding.”
Kenneth’s face changed.
Dylan continued.
“He wanted account numbers.”
“Did you give them to him?”
“No.”
Relief nearly dropped me to my knees.
“I thought it was weird.”
Then Dylan looked directly at Kenneth.
“So I took screenshots.”
My attorney immediately extended his hand.
“May I?”
Dylan gave him the phone.
Kenneth suddenly moved forward.
My attorney stepped back.
Two venue security guards approached.
“Give me that phone,” Kenneth demanded.
“No.”
His voice became harder.
“Dylan.”
My seventeen-year-old son didn’t move.
“You’re not my father.”
Kenneth stopped.
Those four words seemed to hit harder than anything else that morning.
Then Rachel spoke again.
“There’s something else.”
Everyone turned toward her.
She looked at me.
“You need to understand why I came today.”
“I thought my attorney found you.”
“He did.”
She swallowed.
“But I was already looking for Kenneth.”
“Why?”
Rachel opened her purse again.
This time she removed a photograph.
A young woman stood beside Kenneth.
She couldn’t have been older than thirty.
“Who is she?”
“Melissa Grant.”
Kenneth went completely still.
I noticed.
So did my attorney.
Rachel continued.
“Melissa contacted me six months ago.”
“Why?”
“She found my name on an old document.”
Rachel’s eyes filled with tears.
“She told me Kenneth had proposed to her too.”
The ballroom became silent.
I looked at Kenneth.
“When?”
Rachel answered.
“While he was engaged to you.”
My chest tightened.
“Where is she?”
Rachel didn’t answer immediately.
That frightened me.
“Rachel.”
“She disappeared three months ago.”
Patricia suddenly grabbed her purse.
My attorney noticed.
“Mrs. Walker, please remain here.”
“I’m leaving.”
“No.”
Two security guards moved toward the doors.
Patricia’s face turned white.
I looked at Rachel.
“What happened to Melissa?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why are you here?”
Rachel reached into the bottom of her purse.
She pulled out a sealed envelope.
“Because Melissa mailed this to me two days before she disappeared.”
My name was written across the front.
Laura.
I stared at it.
“She knew about me?”
Rachel nodded.
“She knew everything.”
I tore open the envelope.
Inside was a photograph of Kenneth standing outside my house.
On the back, Melissa had written:
If you’re reading this, he has already chosen his next bride.
Underneath was another sentence.
Do not let him get access to the children’s accounts.
My hands began shaking.
Then something small fell from the envelope and landed on the floor.
A memory card.
Kenneth lunged toward it.
Dylan reached it first.
“Give me that!” Kenneth shouted.
My attorney immediately stepped between them.
Rachel looked at me.
“Melissa told me that card contained proof.”
“Proof of what?”
Rachel’s face went pale.
“I don’t know.”
Then Kenneth stopped fighting.
Completely.
He stared at the tiny memory card in Dylan’s hand.
And for the first time that morning, he didn’t look angry.
He looked terrified.
That was when I understood something far worse than the ruined wedding, the lies, or the money.
Whatever Melissa had recorded before she disappeared was the one thing Kenneth and Patricia had never expected me to find.
And judging by the terror on my fiancé’s face, it could explain why Melissa had vanished.
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