CHAPTER 3 – The Folder That Destroyed the Perfect Groom
Nobody spoke.
The only sound inside the shattered ballroom was Ethan Carter breathing too fast.
His expensive tuxedo was covered in dust.
His perfect smile had disappeared forever.
Detective Claire Donovan bent down, picked up the waterproof folder from the bloodstained crate, and carefully opened it in front of everyone.
"This evidence was supposed to disappear forever," she said quietly.
"It almost did."
Sophia stared at the thick stack of papers inside.
Photographs.
Medical records.
Bank transfers.
Death certificates.
And dozens of newspaper clippings.
Claire held up the first photograph.
It showed a smiling young blonde woman wearing the exact same wedding dress Sophia had tried on three months earlier.
"This is Olivia Hayes."
Claire looked around the ballroom.
"Eight years ago she disappeared on the morning of her wedding."
Gasps rippled through the guests.
Sophia's hands began shaking.
The woman looked almost her age.
The same dark eyes.
The same long hair.
Even the same diamond earrings.
Claire placed another photograph beside it.
This one showed Olivia standing beside Ethan.
Wearing an engagement ring.
The room exploded into whispers.
"Ethan was engaged before?"
"I thought Sophia was his first fiancée."
"My God..."
Ethan finally spoke.
"She's lying."
His voice cracked.
"Those pictures prove nothing."
Claire didn't even look at him.
Instead, she opened another envelope.
Inside were copies of six life insurance policies.
Each policy listed Ethan Carter as the sole beneficiary.
Every woman insured...
Had died under mysterious circumstances.
Car accident.
Boating accident.
House fire.
Mountain hiking fall.
Poisoning.
And finally...
Olivia Hayes.
Missing.
Never found.
Sophia felt her knees weaken.
She remembered every conversation Ethan had insisted upon during the engagement.
"You should increase your insurance."
"It protects our future."
"It proves you trust me."
She had signed everything.
Without reading.
Claire slowly placed Sophia's insurance policy on top of the others.
The amount made the ballroom gasp.
Twenty-five million dollars.
Signed only three weeks ago.
Sophia looked at Ethan.
"You insured my life..."
His silence answered her.
Claire nodded.
"You're not his wife."
"You were his next payout."
Several guests immediately backed away from Ethan as if he carried a deadly disease.
His own mother burst into tears.
His father whispered,
"What have you done?"
But Ethan wasn't listening anymore.
His eyes had fixed on something else.
The shattered crate.
Because buried beneath the bloody wedding dress...
Was another object.
A black smartphone.
Still turned on.
Its screen suddenly lit up.
One incoming message.
Everyone could read it.
IF THEY OPENED THE CRATE... RUN.
May you like
At that exact second...
Every light inside the ballroom went out.
