Chapter 3: The Man Who Was Supposed to Be Dead
For several seconds, I couldn't speak.
The video continued playing.
Ethan stood beside me in what looked like a hotel hallway. His face was slightly turned toward the camera, but there was no mistaking him.
His dark hair.
The small scar above his left eyebrow.
The silver watch I had given him for his twenty-fifth birthday.
My brother.
My dead brother.
I grabbed Daniel's phone.
"Where did you get this?""
"Vanessa sent it to me at 11:52 last night.""
I looked at Vanessa.
She was standing near the window, her arms folded tightly across her chest.
"Explain this.""
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
"Emily, I didn't want to hurt you.""
"Then why did you send my fiancé a video of my dead brother?""
Her expression changed.
"Because you lied to him.""
"About what?""
Daniel stepped between us.
"Emily, let her explain.""
I turned toward him.
"You believe this?""
"No. But I want to understand why she sent it.""
Vanessa seized the opportunity.
"Daniel, I told you. Emily has been hiding things. She never told you what happened that night.""
I felt the blood drain from my face.
"What night?""
Vanessa looked directly at me.
"The night Ethan died.""
The room seemed to shrink.
Three years earlier, Ethan had died in a car accident outside Charleston.
He had been driving home after visiting me. His car had gone off a wet road and struck a tree.
The police had found him at the scene.
I had identified his belongings at the hospital.
I had attended his funeral.
I had spent three years waking up with the memory of my mother's scream when the doctor called.
There was no possible way he could be standing in a video recorded after his death.
"Vanessa," I whispered.
"What are you doing?""
She lifted her chin.
"I'm trying to protect Daniel.""
"From my brother?""
"From you.""
Jessica suddenly spoke.
"Vanessa, stop.""
Everyone turned toward her.
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
"Stay out of this, Jessica.""
"No. I'm done.""
Jessica placed her wineglass on the table.
"I didn't know about the video. I swear I didn't.""
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
"You knew enough.""
"I knew you wanted to ruin the dress. I didn't know you were using Ethan.""
I stepped closer.
"Using him how?""
Jessica looked at me.
"She told me Ethan had been involved in something before he died. She said you knew about it and had helped cover it up.""
My chest tightened.
"That's a lie.""
"I know," Jessica whispered.
"I know that now.""
Vanessa reached for her handbag.
"You're all being ridiculous. This conversation is over.""
Michael appeared in the doorway.
"No, Vanessa. It isn't.""
He had been standing outside with Sarah, listening.
He walked into the room and placed a small black device on the table.
"What is that?"" Vanessa demanded.
"Security footage from the hotel corridor.""
Her expression shifted.
Michael continued.
"Last night, you visited Daniel's room at 11:38 p.m. You left at 12:07. Then you went to your room.""
Daniel looked at her.
"You told me you hadn't left the bridal floor.""
Vanessa swallowed.
"I was bringing you something.""
"What?""
She didn't answer.
Michael picked up his phone.
"There's more. The hotel manager checked the access records. You requested a duplicate key to Emily's original suite three days ago.""
Vanessa's face hardened.
"I was her maid of honor. I needed access.""
"For what?"" I asked.
She looked at me.
"To help you.""
I laughed once.
It wasn't a happy sound.
"By destroying my dress and stealing my fiancé?""
"Daniel isn't yours just because you bought a ring!""
The words came out so loudly that everyone froze.
There it was.
The truth.
Not a misunderstanding. Not a prank. Not a desperate attempt to protect a friend.
Jealousy.
Fifteen years of friendship had been hiding an ugly ambition.
Daniel stepped forward.
"Vanessa, I need you to tell me the truth. Why did you send that video?""
She stared at him.
"Because you deserve to know who you're marrying.""
"And what exactly does this prove?""
She hesitated.
Then she pulled out her own phone.
"I have the original footage.""
She opened a folder and showed us several video files.
One was dated six months earlier.
Another was dated two months earlier.
The final one had been recorded just eleven days ago.
I stared at the dates.
Eleven days ago.
That was impossible.
Ethan had died three years earlier.
I reached for the phone.
Vanessa pulled it back.
"Don't.""
"Let me see.""
"Not until Daniel understands.""
Daniel's voice turned cold.
"Give her the phone.""
Vanessa looked at him.
For the first time that day, she seemed genuinely frightened.
Then she whispered something that made the room go silent.
"Ethan isn't the only person Emily has been lying about.""
I felt Daniel's hand tighten around mine.
Vanessa opened another video.
The footage showed a man entering a small restaurant.
He sat down across from a woman.
The camera zoomed in.
I recognized the woman immediately.
My mother.
And the man sitting opposite her wasn't Ethan.
It was someone I had believed had disappeared from our family long before Ethan died.
My father.
Daniel stared at the screen.
"Emily, who is that man?""
I couldn't answer.
Because three years earlier, my father had supposedly died in a hospital in Ohio.
And according to the date stamped on Vanessa's video, he had been sitting across from my mother just eleven days ago.
Vanessa slowly smiled.
"Now do you understand why I said Daniel deserves the truth?""
I looked at her.
Then at the video.
Then at my brother's face frozen on the screen.
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My wedding was supposed to begin in less than two hours.
But suddenly, I wasn't sure whether I was about to marry the man I loved or uncover the biggest lie my family had ever told me.
