Chapter 1
I stopped my father’s wedding three seconds before he put the ring on Vanessa’s finger.
My shoes slipped on the chapel runner as I ran down the aisle.
Everyone turned.
The organist stopped playing.
Dad froze with the gold ring between his fingers.
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
I held the red legal envelope against my chest with both hands.
My nanny, Clara, ran after me from the side door.
“Mia, wait.”
But I could not wait.
Not anymore.
“Daddy,” I cried. “Don’t marry her.”
A gasp moved through the chapel.
Vanessa stepped toward me, her white dress dragging over the marble floor.
Her face was beautiful.
Her eyes were not.
“Mia,” she said sweetly, “go sit down.”
I shook my head.
“She’s already married.”
The chapel went silent.
Dad looked at me like I had slapped him.
“What?”
I lifted the envelope.
“Clara found the record. Vanessa has a husband.”
Vanessa moved so fast I barely saw her hand.
She snatched the envelope from me, ripped it open, and tore the papers in half.
Then again.
Then again.
White pieces fell around her wedding shoes.
“That is fake,” she hissed.
I stared at the torn papers.
My throat closed.
Clara stepped in front of me.
“Vanessa, those were legal documents.”
Vanessa spun toward the guests.
“She planted them,” she shouted, pointing at Clara. “The nanny did this because Daniel refused to give her money.”
Clara’s face went pale.
“That’s not true.”
Dad lowered the ring.
His voice shook.
“Vanessa, what is going on?”
Before she could answer, the wedding videographer stood near the back.
His camera was still on his shoulder.
“Mr. Harlow,” he said. “You need to see what I recorded before the ceremony.”
Vanessa turned white.
Dad’s brother, Eric, who had been standing beside him as best man, went stiff.
The videographer connected his camera to the chapel screen.
Footage appeared.
Vanessa and Eric stood behind the altar before guests arrived.
Vanessa’s voice filled the chapel.
“Once Daniel signs after the wedding, the company transfers through spousal authority. Then Mia goes to boarding school.”
Eric laughed.
“My brother will never see it coming.”
Dad staggered back.
I grabbed his jacket.
Then the chapel doors opened.
A man I had never seen walked in holding a sealed folder.
“My name is Adrian Vale,” he said. “Vanessa is still legally my wife.”
Vanessa screamed at Eric.
“You were supposed to keep him away.”
Eric did not answer.
He walked calmly to the chapel doors.
Then he locked them.
The sound echoed like a gunshot.
He pulled papers from inside his jacket.
Company-transfer papers.
Dad wrapped his arm around me.
And every person in the chapel finally understood.
May you like
This wedding had never been about love.
And we were locked inside with the people who planned the trap.
