Chapter 2
"Everybody stay where you are."
My voice echoed through the ballroom.
I hadn't meant to shout.
But three hundred people were staring at us, and my seven-year-old niece was crying behind my legs.
Nia stood in the center of the aisle clutching the fake belly beneath her dress.
Aunt Evelyn leaned heavily on her crutches.
And I was trying to understand how my wedding had turned into a nightmare.
My younger sister, Jasmine, rushed forward.
"Lily!"
She scooped her daughter into her arms.
Lily immediately buried her face against her mother's shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Mommy."
Jasmine kissed her forehead.
"Sweetheart, you didn't do anything wrong."
I looked at my sister.
"Take Lily somewhere quiet."
Jasmine nodded.
Then she looked toward Nia.
Her expression changed.
"What did you do?"
Nia began sobbing.
"Jasmine, please."
My sister shook her head.
"No."
She carried Lily toward a private sitting room.
I watched them leave.
Then I turned toward Evelyn.
"Auntie, sit down."
One of her attendants pulled a chair forward.
Evelyn lowered herself carefully.
Her face tightened with pain.
I noticed the brace beneath her coat.
Her left leg was wrapped from knee to ankle.
"What happened to you?"
She looked at Nia.
"Ask her."
I turned.
Nia shook her head desperately.
"Marcus, I didn't hurt her."
Evelyn's expression hardened.
"You knew exactly what would happen."
The words chilled me.
I looked toward my father, Samuel Bennett.
He stood near the front row.
His face was pale.
"Dad, did you know Aunt Evelyn was coming?"
He shook his head.
"No."
For six months, Evelyn had been absent from family gatherings.
We were told she had entered a private rehabilitation program after a serious fall.
Nia had helped arrange the placement.
She claimed Evelyn wanted privacy.
She even showed me messages supposedly written by my aunt.
I had called several times.
Every call went unanswered.
But Nia insisted Evelyn was recovering.
Now my aunt was sitting in front of me with tears in her eyes.
And I realized how much I had accepted without asking questions.
"Evelyn," I whispered, "why didn't you call me?"
Her lips trembled.
"I tried."
My stomach tightened.
"What do you mean?"
She reached toward the envelope.
Before she could open it, Nia stepped forward.
"Marcus, can we please discuss this privately?"
I stared at her.
"Now you want privacy?"
She looked toward the guests.
"You're humiliating me."
I laughed bitterly.
"You're wearing a fake pregnancy belly at our wedding."
Her face crumpled.
I lowered my voice.
"And Aunt Evelyn says you've been hiding something from me."
Nia shook her head.
"She's confused."
Evelyn slammed her crutch against the floor.
"Don't you dare."
The sharp sound made everyone jump.
I turned toward my aunt.
She was trembling with anger.
"I'm not confused," she said.
"Then tell me what happened."
Evelyn looked at the attendants beside her.
One was a middle-aged woman wearing a navy nurse's uniform.
The other was a younger man with a serious expression.
The woman stepped forward.
"My name is Dr. Renee Walker."
I looked at her.
"I'm a physician involved in Mrs. Carter's recent treatment."
My chest tightened.
"Treatment for what?"
She looked toward Evelyn.
My aunt nodded.
"You can tell him."
Dr. Walker took a breath.
"Mrs. Carter was admitted to a rehabilitation facility after suffering a serious injury."
I looked at my aunt's leg.
"From a fall?"
"That's part of what we're reviewing."
My stomach tightened.
Dr. Walker continued.
"More importantly, Mrs. Carter reported that someone interfered with her ability to contact family."
I stared at her.
"What?"
Evelyn began crying.
"They took my phone, Marcus."
My breath caught.
"Who?"
She looked directly at Nia.
Nia backed away.
"No."
Evelyn continued.
"They told the staff you didn't want to speak to me."
I felt physically sick.
"Why would anyone say that?"
Dr. Walker answered carefully.
"Some contact restrictions were entered into the facility's records using documentation that is now being investigated."
I looked toward Nia.
"Did you submit those documents?"
She said nothing.
My anger rose.
"Nia."
She began crying harder.
"I was trying to protect you."
I stared at her.
"From my own aunt?"
She looked down.
I turned toward Evelyn.
"What's in the envelope?"
Her hands shook as she held it.
"Records from the hospital."
I took a step closer.
She looked at me.
"Marcus, when I first met Nia, I thought she was wonderful."
My chest tightened.
"Then I started noticing things."
"What things?"
"Your financial records."
I frowned.
"My finances?"
Evelyn nodded.
"You gave Nia access to several accounts after your engagement."
"Yes."
"She told you she was helping with wedding expenses."
I looked toward Nia.
She wouldn't meet my eyes.
Evelyn continued.
"I discovered transfers I didn't recognize."
My stomach tightened.
"How much money?"
She hesitated.
"More than three hundred thousand dollars."
I stopped breathing.
Three hundred thousand.
My construction company had been doing well.
But that was not an amount I could simply ignore.
I stared at Nia.
"Is that true?"
She shook her head.
"Those were investments."
"Investments in what?"
She began crying.
"Marcus, please."
I looked toward Evelyn again.
"What happened when you questioned her?"
My aunt's face crumpled.
"She told me I was too old to understand."
I swallowed.
"Then?"
"She said you would be furious if I interfered with your marriage."
My chest tightened.
Evelyn wiped her eyes.
"But I kept asking questions."
She looked toward the sealed envelope.
"Then I had my accident."
I stared at her.
"What accident?"
She took a shaky breath.
"I went to meet Nia at a medical office because she claimed she had proof of the pregnancy."
I felt cold.
"Why?"
"Because I had discovered the clinic she mentioned had no record of her appointments."
Nia suddenly spoke.
"That's a lie!"
Dr. Walker looked toward her.
"Mrs. Collins, please allow her to finish."
Evelyn continued.
"When I arrived, Daniel was there."
My heart stopped.
"Daniel?"
She nodded.
"The same man in the video."
I looked at the phone in my hand.
Daniel Price.
The man who had supposedly helped arrange Nia's baby shower.
The man who called me brother.
Evelyn's voice broke.
"We argued."
"What happened?"
She looked down.
"I fell on the stairs outside the building."
I swallowed.
"Did someone push you?"
She shook her head slowly.
"I don't know exactly what happened. I remember Daniel grabbing my arm when I tried to leave."
My stomach tightened.
"Then?"
"I lost my balance."
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"When I woke up in the hospital, Nia was telling everyone she was my niece."
I stared at my bride.
She was shaking.
Evelyn continued.
"She told them I had memory problems."
I felt sick.
"And she asked them not to contact you."
I closed my eyes.
For months, I had believed Evelyn was recovering peacefully.
Now I wondered whether she had been trapped behind paperwork I never reviewed.
I turned toward Nia.
"Why?"
She began crying.
"Marcus, I was scared."
"Of what?"
She looked toward the envelope.
Then whispered, "If Evelyn told you everything, you would leave me."
I stared at her.
The confession hung between us.
I slowly looked back at my aunt.
"Open it."
Evelyn shook her head.
"Not here."
I swallowed.
"Why?"
"Because some of these records concern another person."
My stomach tightened.
"Who?"
She looked toward Nia.
Then said something that made my heart stop.
"Daniel isn't just the man who helped fake the pregnancy."
I stared at her.
"What?"
Evelyn's voice broke.
May you like
"He's connected to the real reason Nia needed you to believe she was carrying your child."
And suddenly, I understood that my fake pregnancy nightmare was only one piece of a much larger scheme.
