Chapter 3 — Lauren Realized I Knew Everything Before The Wedding
Chapter 3 — Lauren Realized I Knew Everything Before The Wedding
Lauren stood halfway down the staircase.
Barefoot.
Her hair was messy from sleep.
She wore the oversized sweatshirt I had bought her last Christmas.
For one strange second, she looked exactly like the woman I had fallen in love with.
Then her eyes moved to my laptop.
And everything changed.
“Ethan?”
I closed the recording.
“What are you doing up?”
She smiled nervously.
“I heard you talking.”
“I wasn’t talking.”
Her smile disappeared.
“Who were you talking to?”
I locked my phone.
“Nobody.”
She slowly walked down the remaining stairs.
“You’re acting strange.”
I almost laughed.
Of all the things she could have said, that was what she chose.
“Am I?”
She nodded.
“You look angry.”
“I’m tired.”
“You’ve been up for hours.”
“Couldn’t sleep.”
She came closer.
“Because of what?”
I looked at her engagement ring.
“Wedding nerves.”
Her expression softened.
“You don’t have to be nervous.”
I looked directly at her.
“I know.”
She reached for my hand.
I let her take it.
That was difficult.
Not because I still trusted her.
Because I wanted to see how easily she could lie while looking directly into my eyes.
“You know I love you, right?” she asked.
I nodded.
“Of course.”
She leaned toward me.
Then I gently stepped backward.
Her face changed.
Just for a second.
But I saw it.
Fear.
Not heartbreak.
Fear.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
She studied me.
Then glanced at the laptop.
“Were you watching something?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
I closed the screen.
“Nothing important.”
She stared at me for several seconds.
Then smiled.
“Okay.”
She kissed my cheek.
“Go back to bed.”
I watched her walk upstairs.
She didn’t turn around.
I waited until I heard the bedroom door close.
Then I called Natalie again.
She answered immediately.
“Did you listen?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“Her father was there.”
Natalie went silent.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“What?”
“The recording I sent you was from three months ago.”
I frowned.
“Three months?”
“Yes.”
“But the conversation was about our wedding.”
“I know.”
“Then why would they be discussing it three months ago?”
Natalie hesitated.
“Because the wedding date was changed.”
I remembered.
Our original wedding date had been in October.
Lauren had suddenly suggested moving it to September.
She had said she wanted a smaller ceremony before winter.
I had agreed.
Now I understood.
She wasn’t rushing because she was excited.
She was rushing because someone wanted the deal completed.
“Natalie,” I said, “I need everything you have.”
“I’ll bring it.”
“Where?”
“My apartment.”
“No.”
I looked toward the stairs.
“Somewhere public.”
“Coffee shop?”
“I don’t drink coffee.”
She laughed softly.
“I forgot.”
“Tea.”
“Fine. Tea.”
We agreed to meet at a hotel lobby downtown later that morning.
Before hanging up, I asked:
“Why did you help me now?”
Natalie didn’t answer immediately.
Then she said:
“Because I made the mistake of staying silent once.”
“And?”
“And I won’t make it twice.”
The call ended.
I spent the next three hours pretending nothing had changed.
Lauren made breakfast.
She smiled.
She asked about the wedding invitations.
She showed me pictures of flowers.
She even joked about our honeymoon.
I answered normally.
But every word felt like acting.
At 8:15 a.m., she received a text.
She glanced at her phone.
Her face immediately tightened.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
She put the phone away.
“Work.”
I smiled.
“On a Saturday?”
“My father needs something.”
There it was again.
Her father.
Always her father.
She stood.
“I need to shower.”
As she walked away, her phone buzzed again.
This time I saw the screen.
One message.
HE KNOWS.
My heart stopped.
Lauren grabbed the phone.
She looked at me.
I pretended not to notice.
She walked upstairs.
I waited.
Then I heard the shower turn on.
I stood up.
Her phone was still on the kitchen counter.
I didn’t touch it.
I didn’t need to.
Another message appeared.
DO NOT LET HIM LEAVE THE HOUSE.
Then another.
THE SIGNING MUST HAPPEN TODAY.
My hands went cold.
They weren’t planning to wait for the wedding.
They wanted my signature today.
I took a photograph of the messages with my phone.
Then I heard the shower stop.
I put everything exactly where it had been.
Five minutes later, Lauren came downstairs.
She was dressed differently.
Jeans.
A coat.
Her purse.
“Where are you going?”
She smiled.
“My father’s office.”
“Why?”
“He needs me.”
“Can I come?”
She hesitated.
Only for a fraction of a second.
Then she smiled.
“Sure.”
I grabbed my jacket.
The drive downtown was silent.
Lauren kept checking her phone.
I watched her from the corner of my eye.
She looked nervous.
We eventually pulled into a parking garage beneath her father’s office building.
Before getting out, she touched my hand.
“Ethan.”
“Yeah?”
“I need you to trust me.”
I looked at her.
“I’ve always trusted you.”
Her eyes softened.
“I know.”
We entered the building.
Her father was waiting in a conference room.
Marcus was there too.
The moment Marcus saw me, his expression changed.
He stood.
“Ethan.”
I shook his hand.
“Marcus.”
His palm was cold.
Lauren sat beside me.
Her father placed a folder on the table.
“I wanted to take care of something before the wedding.”
I looked at the folder.
“What?”
“The prenuptial agreement.”
Of course.
He pushed it toward me.
“We had your attorney review it.”
I didn’t touch it.
“My attorney?”
“Yes.”
“Which one?”
He gave me a name.
It was my father’s old attorney.
A man who had retired seven years earlier.
I looked up.
“He died last year.”
Silence.
Lauren’s father slowly leaned back.
“I may have made a mistake.”
“No.”
I smiled.
“You didn’t.”
Marcus looked at Lauren.
She stared at the table.
I stood.
“I’ll have my own attorney review this.”
Her father frowned.
“There’s no need to complicate things.”
“I think there is.”
Lauren grabbed my arm.
“Ethan, wait.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because we’re getting married.”
“Exactly.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You don’t trust me anymore.”
That sentence was almost convincing.
Almost.
I leaned closer.
“I trusted you enough to spend months believing I wasn’t good enough for you.”
She froze.
“What?”
“You kept telling me I needed to learn how to keep you satisfied.”
Her face went pale.
“I was trying to help you.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You were making me doubt myself.”
Marcus stood.
“This is getting emotional.”
I looked at him.
“You should know something about emotions, Marcus.”
He stopped.
“I know exactly who you are.”
His expression changed.
Lauren whispered:
“Ethan…”
I continued.
“I know about the videos.”
Marcus said nothing.
“I know about the messages.”
Still nothing.
“And I know about the company.”
Her father suddenly stood.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
I smiled.
“Then explain why you needed my signature today.”
Nobody answered.
That silence was the confirmation I needed.
Lauren began crying.
“Please.”
I looked at her.
“Tell me the truth.”
She couldn’t.
Her father stepped toward me.
“You’re making a serious mistake.”
“No.”
I picked up my coat.
“The mistake was thinking I was too stupid to notice.”
I walked toward the door.
Then Marcus said:
“You can’t leave.”
I stopped.
Slowly, I turned around.
“What?”
He looked at Lauren’s father.
Then at me.
“There’s something you don’t know.”
I waited.
Marcus reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a photograph.
He placed it on the table.
I walked back.
Picked it up.
And froze.
It was a photograph of my father.
Alive.
Standing outside the same building.
The date on the photograph was only four months earlier.
My father had supposedly died eight years ago.
I looked at Lauren.
She was crying harder now.
“You knew?”
She nodded.
“How long?”
She couldn’t answer.
I looked at Marcus.
“Where is he?”
Marcus stared at me.
Then quietly said:
“He’s the reason Lauren chose you.”
My stomach dropped.
“What does that mean?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
Instead, Lauren’s father reached for the photograph.
“That’s enough.”
I pulled it away.
“No.”
I looked at Lauren.
“You’re going to tell me everything.”
She wiped her tears.
Then whispered the sentence that shattered whatever remained of my trust.
“Your father isn’t dead, Ethan.”
She looked directly into my eyes.
“He’s the one who hired me to marry you.”