CHAPTER 4 — EMILY'S REVENGE WAS NEVER ABOUT LOVE
The photograph lay on the wooden floor.
Daniel picked it up with shaking hands.
His heart stopped.
There was no mistake.
Emily and Anna were standing together outside a small café, smiling like sisters. The date printed in the corner was only three days before Anna's death.
Daniel looked at Emily as if he had never seen her before.
"You knew Anna..."
Emily slowly nodded.
"I did."
"You lied to me from the very first day."
"I had to."
Daniel's voice cracked.
"WHY?"
Emily closed her eyes, fighting back tears.
"Because if I had told you who I really was... your family would have killed me before I ever got close to the truth."
The room fell silent.
Daniel's father stepped farther into the room, still holding the revolver.
"She's telling half the truth," he said.
Emily glared at him.
"You don't get to speak."
"Oh, but I do."
He reached into his coat and tossed another photograph onto the floor.
This one was even more shocking.
It showed a teenage Emily.
Anna.
And...
Michael.
All three of them were standing in front of an orphanage.
Daniel stared at Michael.
"You knew her too?"
Michael lowered his head.
"I've known Emily for nearly twenty years."
Daniel felt betrayed all over again.
"You both kept this from me?"
Michael's eyes filled with guilt.
"I promised Anna I would protect her little sister."
Daniel looked at Emily.
"Little... sister?"
Emily nodded.
"My real name isn't Emily Carter."
She took a deep breath.
"My name is Emily Brooks."
Daniel's mind went blank.
Brooks.
Anna Brooks.
The last name Anna had carried before she was engaged to him.
Emily whispered,
"Anna was my sister."
The room exploded with silence.
Daniel suddenly understood why Emily had appeared in his life only months after Anna's death.
Why she always asked questions about his family.
Why she insisted on searching the mansion.
Why she looked terrified every time his mother smiled.
None of it had been coincidence.
She had come for revenge.
"I didn't fall in love with you on purpose," Emily said through tears.
"My plan was simple."
"Marry into your family."
"Find proof."
"Destroy everyone responsible for Anna's murder."
Daniel could barely breathe.
"So..."
He swallowed hard.
"Our marriage..."
Emily looked away.
"It began as a lie."
Those words shattered him.
The wedding ring slipped from Daniel's fingers and rolled across the wooden floor.
Emily watched it spin.
Then she whispered,
"But somewhere along the way..."
"I truly fell in love with you."
Daniel wanted to believe her.
He really did.
But every memory they had shared now felt poisoned.
His father suddenly laughed.
"You still don't understand."
Everyone turned toward him.
He slowly opened the old leather ledger.
"You've all been chasing the wrong killer."
He flipped to the last page.
"There."
A single signature appeared beneath every order.
Every payment.
Every murder.
It wasn't Daniel's mother's name.
It wasn't Michael's.
It wasn't even his father's.
The signature simply read...
E.C.
Daniel frowned.
"Who is E.C.?"
His father smiled.
"I've been waiting years for someone to ask that question."
Emily's face turned white.
"No..."
Her voice barely escaped her lips.
"It can't be..."
Daniel looked at her.
"You know who E.C. is?"
A tear rolled down Emily's cheek.
Then she whispered the one name no one expected.
"My grandfather."
Before anyone could react—
The mansion shook violently.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion ripped through the lower floor.
The lights went out.
Smoke poured into the hallway.
Guests screamed downstairs.
The wedding had become a war zone.
As the ceiling began to collapse, Daniel heard a distorted voice over the mansion's old speaker system.
"Congratulations..."
"You finally opened the first door."
"There are four more secrets hidden in this house."
"And only one of you..."
May you like
"...will leave here alive."
TO BE CONTINUED...
