Chapter 2: The Woman They Told Me Was Dead
I didn't cancel the wedding immediately.
That decision would haunt me for the next several hours.
Part of me wanted to drag Brielle out of the church and demand answers. Another part wanted to believe there was an explanation that would restore the life I had built.
Because if Daniel was telling the truth, then my entire existence had been constructed around a lie.
I asked the guests to leave.
Some protested. Others whispered behind their hands. My mother, Eleanor, marched toward the altar with her chin raised and her diamond bracelet clicking against her wrist.
“Marcus, this is a family matter,” she said.
“You cannot make a spectacle of yourself.””
I held up the photograph.
“Who is Anna?””
Mother glanced at it.
For half a second, her face crumpled.
Then she straightened.
“I have no idea what that is.””
“Daniel says she was in the car with me when I crashed.””
Her eyes flashed toward Brielle.
That was the second mistake she made.
The first was pretending not to know Anna.
The second was looking at my bride as though she were waiting for instructions.
I turned to Brielle.
“Tell me the truth.””
She pressed her fingers against her forehead.
“Marcus, you're exhausted. You hit your head three years ago, and now someone is deliberately exploiting that trauma.””
“Did you know Anna?””
“No.””
“Did you know about Lily?””
“No.””
Lily stood beside me, clutching the photograph.
“You came to our house,” she said.
Brielle went still.
Lily continued, her voice growing stronger.
“You wore a black coat. You told Mommy that Daddy didn't love us anymore. Then you took the picture from the table.””
Brielle's mouth tightened.
“Children imagine things when they're frightened.””
“You broke Mommy's necklace!””
“That is enough!””
Brielle's shout echoed beneath the church ceiling.
Lily flinched.
I stepped forward.
“Don't you ever raise your voice at her again.””
Brielle looked at me as if I had slapped her.
Then she turned toward my mother.
“Eleanor, say something.””
Mother walked over and took my arm.
“Son, whatever happened before your accident, it was a long time ago. You have worked hard to rebuild your life. Don't destroy everything over a child's accusations.””
“Why are you so afraid of what she might say?””
Mother's grip tightened.
“I'm trying to protect you.””
“From what?””
She didn't answer.
I removed her hand from my arm.
“Everyone out. Except Lily.””
Brielle stared at me.
“You're choosing a stranger over me?””
“No,” I said.
“I'm choosing the truth.””
Her eyes filled with tears, but something about them felt wrong. They appeared too quickly, and they vanished the moment she turned away.
She gathered her dress in both hands and walked toward the church doors.
At the entrance, she stopped.
“You will regret humiliating me, Marcus.””
I watched her leave.
Then she turned her head just enough to look at Lily.
“You have no idea what you've done.””
Lily began to cry.
I knelt beside her.
“Hey. Look at me. You're safe.””
She shook her head.
“No, Daddy. You're not.””
Those five words frightened me more than anything Brielle had said.
I took Lily to a private room behind the church, where an elderly volunteer brought her a blanket and a cup of water. Someone found a pair of children's shoes in a lost-property box.
While Lily drank, I examined the photograph again.
The woman beside me wore the crescent-moon necklace. Her face had been scratched so deeply that the paper had nearly torn through.
But something remained visible.
A small scar near the left corner of her mouth.
I touched my own lips without thinking.
I remembered kissing that scar.
The memory came with the scent of cinnamon and coffee, the warmth of a small apartment, and the sound of a baby crying in the next room.
Then pain exploded behind my eyes.
I gripped the table.
“Daddy?””
Lily hurried toward me.
I forced myself to breathe.
“I'm okay.””
“No, you're not.””
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
“Mommy told me to give you this if you started remembering.””
The handwriting was shaky but unmistakably deliberate.
Marcus, if Lily has found you, then the plan has failed.
You must not trust Eleanor, Daniel, or Brielle.
The key opens the safe in the old house on Willow Street. Inside is the proof they need to destroy.
Do not come alone.
And whatever you do, don't believe that I am dead.
I read the last sentence three times.
“Where is your mother now?””
Lily's eyes filled again.
“I don't know.””
“What do you mean?””
“She told me to hide in the church and wait for you. She said she would come after the bells rang.””
“When did you last see her?””
“Last night.””
She twisted the edge of the blanket around her fingers.
“Two men came to our apartment. Mommy told me to hide in the laundry closet. I heard them arguing.””
“What did they say?””
“One man said she had to come with them. Mommy said she wouldn't leave without the proof.””
My blood turned cold.
“And then?””
“I heard something break. When I came out, Mommy was gone.””
I crouched in front of her.
“Did you see the men?””
“One had a tattoo on his neck. It looked like a black bird.””
I knew that symbol.
Three years earlier, the driver of the car that struck mine had a similar tattoo. Police had dismissed it as an irrelevant detail because the driver fled before anyone could identify him.
I had seen the image in a report Daniel showed me during my recovery.
A black bird with its wings spread.
I stood and called my brother again.
He answered immediately.
“Where are you?”” I demanded.
“At the office.””
“Tell me what happened the night of my accident.””
Silence.
“Daniel.””
“I shouldn't have called you during the wedding.””
“Start talking.””
He exhaled.
“Anna was your partner. You were planning to marry her. You had a daughter. The night of the accident, you called me and said you had found evidence of financial fraud involving someone in our family.””
“Whose fraud?””
“Marcus, I can't explain this over the phone.””
“Try.””
“Someone was moving money through your company. You discovered it, and you threatened to expose them.””
I looked at Lily.
“Was Brielle involved?””
Another pause.
“Yes.””
The answer landed like a stone in my chest.
“How?””
“She was working for the person behind it.””
“Who?””
Daniel's voice dropped.
“Eleanor.””
My mother.
I felt the floor shift beneath me.
“No.””
“I saw the transfers myself,” he said.
“I tried to stop it. But by the time I understood what was happening, you were already in the hospital.””
“Why did you lie to me?””
“Because Mother said you would never survive another shock. She said the truth would destroy you.””
“You let me believe Anna abandoned me?””
“I thought she was dead.””
“You thought?””
His breathing grew uneven.
“The police found blood in the wreckage. Anna's car was discovered two miles away. There was a fire, Marcus. They couldn't identify the body.””
I closed my eyes.
For three years, I had lived with the vague ache of something missing.
Now I knew that something had a name.
Anna.
My daughter.
My family.
All of it had been taken from me while I lay unconscious.
“Where's the old house on Willow Street?”” I asked.
“Don't go there.””
“Why?””
“Because Mother has been looking for that key for three years.””
I stared at the silver key in my palm.
“Then why was it hidden in Brielle's wedding bouquet?””
Daniel didn't answer immediately.
When he finally spoke, his voice sounded broken.
“Because Brielle wasn't supposed to marry you, Marcus.””
I looked toward the doorway.
Brielle stood there.
She had returned without her bouquet, and her wedding dress was stained at the hem.
In her hand was a small black pistol.
“Put the phone down,” she said.
Lily screamed.
I moved in front of her.
“Brielle, what are you doing?””
“Ending this before you make it worse.””
“Is Anna alive?””
Her jaw tightened.
“You don't understand what she did.””
“Is she alive?””
Brielle raised the gun.
“Yes.””
The room went silent.
I felt Lily's fingers dig into the back of my jacket.
“Where is she?””
Brielle's eyes filled with tears.
“Somewhere you will never find her.””
Then she pointed the gun at the silver key.
“Give it to me, Marcus. Now.””
I held it tightly.
“No.””
Brielle's face changed.
“Then I hope you enjoy learning what your family did to the woman you loved.””
She pulled the trigger.
But the gun only clicked.
A second later, someone grabbed her from behind.
The weapon clattered across the floor.
Daniel stood in the doorway, breathing hard, with two police officers behind him.
Brielle fought their grip.
“You have no idea what you're doing!”” she screamed at Daniel.
“Your mother will destroy you!””
Daniel looked at me.
“She already has.””
As the officers dragged Brielle away, something slipped from her sleeve and landed near my shoe.
A small white envelope.
My name was written across the front.
I opened it with trembling fingers.
Inside was a single photograph.
Anna stood outside a hospital, pale and thin, holding a newborn baby.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Three months after my accident.
May you like
And beneath it, in Brielle's handwriting, were six words.
Your daughter was never the only child.
