Chapter 2 — The Call That Exposed Lauren’s Biggest Secret
Chapter 2 — The Call That Exposed Lauren’s Biggest Secret
At 2:37 a.m., I finally reached for my phone.
There was only one person I could think of calling.
Natalie.
Lauren’s former best friend.
They had been inseparable for almost ten years.
Then, about eighteen months ago, they suddenly stopped speaking.
When I asked Lauren what happened, she had shrugged.
“She betrayed me.”
I had never questioned it.
That was how much I trusted my fiancée.
I found Natalie’s number in an old group chat and stared at it for nearly a minute.
Then I called.
She answered on the fourth ring.
“Hello?”
Her voice sounded tired.
“Hey, Natalie. It’s me.”
Silence.
Then she said my name.
“Ethan?”
“Yeah.”
Another pause.
“Is Lauren okay?”
That question caught me off guard.
I looked toward the stairs.
“She’s asleep.”
Natalie went quiet again.
“Why are you calling me at almost three in the morning?”
I didn’t know how to say it.
So I didn’t.
“Do you remember when you stopped talking to Lauren?”
“I remember.”
“Why?”
She sighed.
“Ethan, if Lauren told you something about me, believe whatever she told you.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“No.”
Her voice changed.
It became more serious.
“It isn’t.”
I stared at the laptop.
“Natalie, I need you to tell me the truth.”
“About what?”
“About Lauren.”
There was another long silence.
Then Natalie asked:
“What did you find?”
My heart stopped.
“What makes you think I found something?”
“Because nobody calls me at 2:37 in the morning asking about Lauren unless something happened.”
I closed my eyes.
“I saw her.”
Natalie didn’t ask what I meant.
She simply said:
“Where?”
“Online.”
Her breathing changed.
“She was with a man.”
Natalie whispered something under her breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Who was he?”
She didn’t answer immediately.
Then she asked:
“Did you recognize him?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
I looked at the frozen image again.
“Marcus.”
Natalie exhaled.
“Oh, God.”
That reaction told me everything.
“You know him?”
“I know exactly who he is.”
“Who?”
“He isn’t just some man Lauren met.”
My stomach tightened.
“Then who is he?”
Natalie hesitated.
“Marcus works with Lauren’s father.”
I frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“I know.”
“Lauren told me Marcus was helping her organize the wedding.”
“He was.”
I stared at the screen.
“What?”
Natalie continued.
“That’s why this is worse.”
I sat down.
“Explain.”
“Marcus isn’t helping with your wedding because he’s some generous family friend.”
“Then why?”
Natalie took a breath.
“Because your wedding was never the point.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“Tell me what you know.”
She was silent for several seconds.
Then she said:
“Lauren has been talking to Marcus for years.”
Years.
The word hit harder than everything else.
“How many?”
“Almost four.”
I stopped breathing.
Four years.
Lauren and I had been together for three.
That meant she had known Marcus before she even met me.
“You’re saying she knew him before our relationship?”
“Yes.”
“And you knew?”
“I knew they were close.”
“Close?”
Natalie gave a bitter laugh.
“Ethan, I saw them together.”
“When?”
“Before Lauren met you.”
My mind raced.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I tried.”
I looked at the staircase.
“What?”
“I told Lauren I wouldn’t help her lie to you.”
“And?”
“She threatened me.”
“With what?”
Natalie didn’t answer.
I stood up.
“Natalie.”
“She had private messages between me and someone I was dating.”
My stomach sank.
“She threatened to send them to everyone I knew.”
“So you stayed quiet.”
“Yes.”
I couldn’t blame her.
Not entirely.
But there was something else bothering me.
“Why did you ask if Lauren was okay?”
Natalie went silent.
“Because you sounded scared.”
“I’m not scared.”
“Yes, you are.”
I looked at the laptop.
Maybe she was right.
I wasn’t scared of losing Lauren anymore.
I was scared of discovering how much of my life had been carefully constructed around a lie.
“Natalie,” I said, “there’s something else.”
“What?”
“The video.”
“What about it?”
“I heard Lauren say something.”
Natalie didn’t respond.
I replayed the sentence in my head.
The exact words.
The words I had been trying to understand for the last hour.
Then I repeated them.
“She said, ‘Once he signs the prenup, everything becomes mine.’”
Natalie immediately went silent.
“Ethan…”
“What?”
“Did you sign anything?”
“No.”
“Have you received a prenup?”
“Not yet.”
“Then don’t.”
I stared at the kitchen counter.
“Why?”
“Because Lauren doesn’t care about your money.”
I frowned.
“Then what does she want?”
Natalie whispered:
“Your father’s company.”
My blood ran cold.
“My father’s company?”
“Yes.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Your father died before we met. His company was sold.”
“Most of it.”
Natalie paused.
“What?”
“You still own something.”
I couldn’t speak.
A small piece of information suddenly surfaced in my memory.
Three years ago, my father had left me something in his will.
A private investment account.
I had never paid much attention to it because my attorney managed everything.
Natalie continued.
“Lauren knew about it.”
“How?”
“Because Marcus told her.”
“Why would Marcus know?”
“Because your father’s company wasn’t completely sold.”
I sat down again.
“What exactly do I own?”
Natalie didn’t answer.
“Natalie.”
“I don’t know the exact number.”
“Guess.”
“Enough that Lauren could disappear comfortably for the rest of her life.”
My stomach turned.
I looked at the engagement ring box sitting beside the laptop.
The ring suddenly felt like a piece of evidence.
“How long has she been planning this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then how do you know so much?”
Natalie was quiet.
Then she said:
“Because Lauren once asked me to help her.”
“Help her do what?”
“Get close to you.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
“She wanted information about your family.”
“Why?”
“Because Marcus told her your father had left something behind.”
I couldn’t move.
The pieces were finally connecting.
The comments.
The wedding.
The prenup.
The videos.
Marcus.
And Lauren’s sudden interest in my father’s finances.
But there was still one thing I couldn’t understand.
“If she only wanted money,” I said, “why marry me?”
Natalie didn’t answer.
“Tell me.”
“She didn’t want to marry you.”
I stared at the phone.
“What?”
“She wanted to marry your name.”
The sentence stayed in my head.
Then Natalie said something that made everything worse.
“Ethan, there’s a reason Lauren chose you.”
“What reason?”
“Your father wasn’t the only person who knew about that hidden asset.”
“Who else knew?”
“Marcus.”
“And?”
“And Lauren’s father.”
I froze.
My fiancée’s father.
The man who had shaken my hand at Thanksgiving.
The man who had toasted our engagement.
The man who had told me he considered me part of the family.
I suddenly remembered something he had said that night.
“Once you marry Lauren, everything will finally be where it belongs.”
At the time, I had thought he was talking about family.
Now I wasn’t so sure.
“Natalie,” I whispered, “I need proof.”
“You’ll get it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have something.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
My pulse quickened.
“Of what?”
“Lauren talking to Marcus.”
“When can you send it?”
“I can send it now.”
My phone buzzed.
A file appeared.
LAUREN_MARCUS_01.mp3
I stared at it.
Then Natalie said:
“Before you listen, remember something.”
“What?”
“If Lauren realizes you know, don’t confront her.”
“Why?”
“Because the last time someone discovered what she was doing…”
She stopped.
“What happened?”
Natalie whispered:
“They disappeared from her life.”
The call ended.
I stared at the recording.
Then at the staircase.
Lauren was still asleep upstairs.
Or at least, I thought she was.
I put in my headphones.
And pressed play.
For the first few seconds, all I heard was static.
Then Marcus’s voice.
“Are you sure he hasn’t figured it out?”
Lauren answered.
“No.”
A pause.
“He trusts me completely.”
Marcus laughed quietly.
“Good.”
Then Lauren said something that made my blood run cold.
“Once Ethan signs the prenup, he won’t own the company anymore.”
Marcus replied:
“He won’t need to.”
Lauren laughed.
“Exactly.”
Then there was a sound in the background.
A door opening.
And a man’s voice.
A voice I recognized instantly.
My future father-in-law.
He said:
“Enough talking. We have three weeks until the wedding.”
I ripped the headphones off.
Three weeks.
I looked toward the stairs.
Then I heard a floorboard creak upstairs.
Someone was awake.
And when I looked at the staircase, Lauren was standing there.
Watching me.