Chapter 8: The Truth Garrett Buried
I stared at the photograph.
The man beside me looked younger.
So did I.
Before marriage.
Before Garrett.
Before I learned how carefully someone could hide their cruelty behind kindness.
“Who is he?”” Victoria asked.
I looked up.
“You don’t know?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
I turned the picture over.
There was handwriting on the back.
A date.
A location.
And one sentence.
*The truth always comes back.*
My heart started racing.
“What is this?””
Victoria looked uncomfortable.
“I don’t know.””
“Then why did Garrett have it?””
She looked away.
That answer was enough.
He had been keeping it.
Waiting.
For the right moment.
“Tell me everything,” I said.
Victoria swallowed.
“Garrett contacted me six months ago.””
“Six months?””
“Yes.””
“What did he say?””
She looked embarrassed.
“He told me you destroyed my career.””
I almost laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was unbelievable.
“After all these years?””
“He knew I was angry.””
Victoria’s voice cracked.
“He knew exactly what to say.””
I studied her face.
The woman who had once been my closest friend was sitting in front of me, ashamed.
“You helped him.””
“Yes.””
“Why are you telling me now?””
Her eyes filled.
“Because I saw what he did to your mother.””
That answer surprised me.
“You were there?””
She nodded.
“I was one of the guests.””
I looked at her.
“Why didn’t you say anything?””
She looked down.
“Because I was ashamed.””
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she said:
“I spent years blaming you because Garrett told me a story where he was the hero and you were the villain.””
I looked at the picture again.
“What is this about?””
Victoria hesitated.
Then she answered.
“Garrett thinks this man can ruin you.””
“Why?””
“Because he claims you lied to him before your marriage.””
I felt anger rise.
“About what?””
Victoria looked directly into my eyes.
“He says you had a secret relationship.””
I almost stood up.
“That’s a lie.””
“I know.””
The certainty in her voice stopped me.
“How?””
“Because I found the original files.””
“What files?””
“The ones Garrett gave me.””
She reached into her bag again.
This time she pulled out a flash drive.
“He wanted me to edit the story.””
My face went cold.
“Edit?””
“Yes.””
“He wanted you to fake evidence?””
Victoria nodded.
“He didn’t ask me to prove something.””
She looked at me.
“He asked me to create something.””
For the first time, I felt something close to relief.
Not because everything was okay.
It wasn’t.
But because the truth was finally showing itself.
Garrett wasn’t just a liar.
He was a planner.
He built traps.
He created stories.
He prepared escape routes.
I took the flash drive.
“Why give this to me?””
Victoria looked at me.
“Because your mother was right.””
I froze.
“What?””
“She warned me about him too.””
The room went silent.
“My mother?””
Victoria nodded.
“She tried to tell me years ago.””
A memory surfaced.
My mother sitting at our kitchen table after Victoria and I had our fight.
She had said:
“Some people don’t need enemies. They create them.””
At the time, I thought she was talking about Victoria.
Now I wondered if she meant Garrett.
When I returned home, Claire immediately copied the files.
For hours, we watched.
Emails.
Messages.
Documents.
And then we found it.
A conversation between Garrett and Victoria.
A conversation that proved everything.
“He’s been planning this since before we married,” Claire whispered.
I nodded.
My hands were shaking.
Not from fear.
From realization.
Eight years.
Eight years of smiles.
Eight years of pretending.
Eight years of believing I had a husband who loved me.
Claire paused the video.
“There’s one more thing.””
“What?””
She looked at the screen.
“This conversation happened three weeks before your wedding.””
I stared.
“Why does that matter?””
Claire zoomed in.
On the final message.
Sent from Garrett.
The words appeared.
And my entire body went cold.
*“Once Alessia marries me, she’ll never know what happened to her father’s company.””*
I stopped breathing.
My father’s company.
The company I was told had failed.
The company I believed disappeared because of bad luck.
But according to Garrett…
May you like
It had never disappeared.
It had been taken.
