CHAPTER 6 – The Groom's Final Trap
An ambulance rushed Olivia to the hospital while detectives sealed every entrance to the hotel.
News helicopters circled overhead.
Within an hour, every television station in America carried the same headline.
"Wedding Horror Uncovers Secret Chamber Beneath Luxury Hotel."
Sophia sat quietly inside a police command vehicle, still wearing her wedding dress stained with dust and blood.
Claire handed her a cup of coffee.
"You saved lives today."
Sophia shook her head.
"No."
"I was almost his final victim."
Just then...
An officer sprinted toward the command center.
"Detective!"
"We found Ethan's escape vehicle."
Claire stood immediately.
"Where?"
"Underground parking garage."
Everyone rushed downstairs.
The black SUV was still there.
Engine running.
Driver's door open.
But Ethan had vanished.
Only one object remained on the driver's seat.
A small gift box.
Wrapped in elegant white ribbon.
Addressed to:
Mrs. Sophia Carter
Claire's expression hardened.
"Nobody touch it."
The bomb squad was called.
Ten agonizing minutes passed.
Finally, the lead technician carefully opened the box.
There was no bomb.
Only a velvet ring case.
Inside...
Instead of a wedding ring...
Lay a tiny silver key.
Exactly like the one hidden in Sophia's bouquet.
Beneath it rested a handwritten note.
Sophia recognized Ethan's handwriting instantly.
Congratulations.
You survived the wedding.
Now survive the truth.
The person who planned everything... was never me.
Claire's face froze.
"What?"
The officer searched the box further.
A USB flash drive slid into his hand.
Its label read:
PLAY ONLY WITH ALL PRESENT.
Minutes later, investigators connected the drive to a secure laptop.
The screen flickered.
Ethan appeared.
He looked exhausted.
Bruised.
Terrified.
Nothing like the confident man everyone knew.
He stared directly into the camera.
"If you're watching this..."
"...I've either been arrested..."
"...or someone finally decided to kill me."
Sophia's heart pounded.
Ethan continued.
"I deserve prison."
"I deserve every accusation."
"But I didn't create this."
"I inherited it."
The room fell silent.
Behind Ethan, barely visible in the shadows...
stood another person.
Only a silhouette.
Tall.
Wearing black gloves.
Holding a silver cane.
The figure slowly stepped forward.
Not enough to reveal a face.
Only enough for a calm, elderly voice to fill the speakers.
"You've said far too much, Ethan."
A gunshot exploded through the recording.
Blood splattered across the camera lens.
The video cut to black.
Every officer in the command center stared at the frozen screen.
Claire whispered,
"Oh my God..."
Sophia slowly turned toward the shattered wedding ballroom above them.
Everything they had uncovered...
The missing brides.
The underground chamber.
The insurance scheme.
None of it had belonged to Ethan alone.
He had merely been the latest groom...
In a secret organization that had been choosing brides for decades.
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And somewhere...
Its real leader already knew Sophia was still alive.
