Chapter 3 - The Woman I Was About to MarryHer real name was Evelyn Vale.
Twenty-nine years old.
Born in Chicago.
Mother deceased.
Father unknown.
No siblings.
No marriage records.
No university history.
The strange part wasn't what was missing.
It was what existed.
At nineteen, Evelyn disappeared for three years.
At twenty-two, she resurfaced in Europe.
At twenty-five, she appeared in New York.
At twenty-seven, she met me.
At twenty-eight, she became my fiancée.
Mara placed the file on my desk.
“There's more.”
I looked at her.
“Go on.”
“Her financial records show payments from six shell companies.”
“Owned by?”
“Companies linked to your uncle.”
I froze.
“My uncle?”
Victor Duca.
My father's younger brother.
The man who had been helping me run the family businesses since my father died.
The man who had encouraged my relationship with Vivien.
The man who had told me she was perfect for me.
I sat back.
“Does Victor know?”
Mara gave me a strange look.
“He funded her.”
I looked at the photographs.
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
I stood.
“Find out.”
Before Mara could leave, Emma appeared at the door.
She was holding her rabbit.
“Uncle Lorenzo.”
I smiled despite myself.
“Yes?”
“Can I tell you something?”
“Always.”
She looked at Mara.
Then whispered:
“Not her.”
Mara frowned.
“Who?”
Emma pointed toward the hallway.
I stepped closer.
“Who is she pointing at?”
Mara turned.
Vivien stood at the far end of the corridor.
Watching us.
Emma immediately hid behind my leg.
Vivien smiled.
“What are you two doing?”
I answered.
“Talking.”
“About me?”
“No.”
She laughed.
“Good.”
Then she walked away.
Emma whispered:
“She smells like the dark room.”
I looked down.
“What dark room?”
“The one with Daddy.”
I crouched.
“Emma, where is the dark room?”
She pointed toward the old east wing.
“That room.”
The east wing had been closed for twelve years.
My father had sealed it after my mother's death.
No staff entered.
No one had a reason to.
I walked there with Mara.
The corridor smelled of dust.
At the end stood a locked wooden door.
I had never seen the key.
Mara examined the lock.
“Someone's been using this.”
“How do you know?”
“Fresh scratches.”
I opened it.
Inside was a small room.
No furniture.
Except an old wooden chest.
The chest was blue.
Emma's blue box.
My heart began pounding.
I opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
A cassette tape.
And a handwritten note.
Lorenzo,
If you find this, do not marry her.
I recognized my mother's handwriting.
I read the next line.
Vivien is not the person she claims to be.
Then:
Neither is Victor.
My hands went cold.
Mara picked up the photograph.
It showed my father standing beside a younger Victor.
And behind them was a woman.
Vivien's mother.
On the back:
The night everything began.
Then the lights went out.
Mara drew her weapon.
I heard footsteps.
Someone ran down the corridor.
We chased.
The intruder escaped through a side door.
But something had been left behind.
A wedding invitation.
My wedding invitation.
May you like
With one word written across the front.
CANCELLED.
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