Chapter 5: The Man From My Past
I didn’t sleep that night.
Not because of Rebecca.
Not even because of the betrayal.
I couldn’t sleep because every time I closed my eyes, I saw Emily standing in that chapel, asking me one question.
“Did you agree, Daddy?””
A child should never have to ask if her own father chose her.
I sat in the dark living room with a cup of coffee that had gone cold hours ago.
The wedding decorations were still everywhere.
The flowers Rebecca picked.
The candles we ordered.
The photographs from our engagement party.
A perfect picture of a future that had never existed.
At 6:12 in the morning, Mark arrived.
He didn’t knock.
He just walked in.
That told me everything.
He looked exhausted.
“Daniel.””
I stood.
“Tell me his name.””
Mark placed a folder on the table.
“Ethan Parker.””
The name hit me immediately.
I knew him.
Not well.
But enough.
Ethan was my late wife Laura’s younger brother.
After Laura died, he disappeared.
At the funeral, he blamed me.
Not directly.
Not with words.
But with the way he looked at me.
Like I had failed her.
Like I should have saved her.
I hadn’t seen him in almost six years.
“Why would Rebecca meet him?””
Mark opened the folder.
“Because they’ve been talking for months.””
I stared at him.
“How do you know that?””
“Because I hired someone to look into it after I saw them together.””
I flipped through the documents.
Photos.
Dates.
Messages.
My hands tightened.
Rebecca and Ethan had met at restaurants.
Hotels.
Private locations.
Months before my wedding.
“How did I not see this?””
Mark looked at me.
“Because you wanted to believe she was good.””
That hurt because it was true.
I had spent so much time trying to build a new family that I ignored the possibility that someone was tearing it apart.
I turned another page.
Then I saw something that made my stomach drop.
A bank transfer.
Rebecca had sent Ethan money.
A lot of money.
“What is this?””
Mark leaned closer.
“I’m not sure yet.””
I looked at him.
“Not sure?””
“There’s something strange.””
“What?””
“Rebecca wasn’t paying him.””
I frowned.
“Then what?””
Mark pointed at the document.
“She was paying someone else.””
I stared at the name.
A company.
A company I didn’t recognize.
“Find out who owns it.””
Mark nodded.
Before he could answer, footsteps came from the hallway.
Emily.
She stood there holding her stuffed rabbit.
Her hair was messy.
Her eyes were tired.
“Daddy?””
I immediately softened.
“Hey, sweetheart.””
She looked at Mark.
“Is Uncle Mark here because Rebecca is coming back?””
The question broke my heart.
I walked over and knelt.
“No.””
“Good.””
Her answer came too quickly.
I paused.
“Emily…”
She looked down.
“I don’t like when she smiles at me.””
I swallowed.
“Why?””
“Because she smiles when other people are watching.””
I felt a chill.
“What do you mean?””
Emily hugged her rabbit.
“When we’re alone, she doesn’t talk like that.””
I sat beside her.
“Like what?””
“Like she loves me.””
The room went quiet.
Mark looked away.
I knew he was giving me privacy.
I touched Emily’s hand.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
She shrugged.
“Because every time I tried, she said I was being dramatic.””
That word.
Dramatic.
A word adults use when they don’t want to listen.
I pulled her into my arms.
“I’m sorry.””
She held onto me.
“Are we still a family?””
My eyes burned.
“Yes.””
“Even without Rebecca?””
I looked at my daughter.
“Yes.””
A few hours later, Mark and I met with a private investigator.
His name was Thomas.
He placed several files on the table.
“I found something concerning.””
“What?””
He opened a folder.
“Rebecca wasn’t trying to marry you because of love.””
I already knew that.
But hearing it still hurt.
“Then why?””
Thomas looked at me.
“Because of your company.””
I leaned forward.
“Explain.””
“After your first wife passed away, you changed the ownership structure of your business.””
I nodded.
I remembered.
I moved everything into a trust.
A trust designed to protect Emily.
“Your daughter is the primary beneficiary.””
My jaw tightened.
“Yes.””
Thomas continued.
“Rebecca discovered that.””
A cold silence filled the room.
“She knew?””
“Yes.””
“How?””
He slid another paper across the table.
“Ethan.””
I stared.
“Ethan told her.””
The betrayal became deeper.
Laura’s own brother.
The man who claimed to hate me for failing his sister.
He was helping someone hurt my daughter.
“Why?””
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
“Because Ethan believes the money should have gone to him.””
I laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was unbelievable.
“He wanted my daughter’s inheritance.””
“Yes.””
I stood.
“Where is he now?””
Thomas looked at me.
“That’s the problem.””
“What?””
“He disappeared yesterday.””
My phone buzzed.
A message.
Unknown number.
I opened it.
There was a picture attached.
My heart stopped.
It was Emily.
Taken from outside our house.
The message underneath was short.
*You should have married Rebecca. Now you’ve made things difficult.*
I felt every muscle in my body tighten.
May you like
Someone was watching us.
And whoever it was knew exactly how to hurt me.
