CHAPTER 2: THE DOG FOUND THE ONE THING THE GROOM NEVER WANTED ANYONE TO SEE
Emily’s hands trembled as she held the insurance paper.
Five million dollars.
Her name.
Daniel’s signature.
The church was so quiet that everyone could hear Cooper’s low growl rolling from his chest.
“Daniel…” Emily whispered. “What is this?”
Daniel reached for the paper, but Cooper snapped forward, forcing him back.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Daniel said quickly. “I was going to explain after the wedding.”
“After?” Emily’s voice cracked. “After I became your wife?”
Then Emily’s maid of honor, Sarah, bent down and picked up another paper from the floor.
Her face went pale.
“Emily…” she said. “You need to read this.”
It was a medical report.
But it wasn’t Emily’s.
It was Daniel’s.
The report said he was drowning in debt, being investigated for fraud, and had recently tried to access Emily’s private bank accounts.
The guests began whispering.
Daniel’s perfect mask started to break.
“You don’t understand!” he shouted. “I did everything for us!”
But Cooper suddenly pushed his nose under the briefcase lining and pulled out a small black flash drive.
Daniel froze.
Emily stared at it.
“What’s on that?”
Daniel said nothing.
A police officer in the back—Emily’s cousin—stepped forward and plugged the drive into the church projector.
A video appeared.
Daniel was sitting in a car with another woman.
And his voice filled the church:
“Once I marry Emily, everything belongs to me. The accident just has to look real.”
Emily covered her mouth.
The bride wasn’t crying anymore.
She was shaking with rage.
Daniel tried to run.
But Cooper leaped in front of him, barking so loudly that two men grabbed Daniel before he reached the door.
Then the woman from the video stood up from the last pew.
It was Daniel’s ex-wife.
And she was holding a little boy by the hand.
“I warned Emily,” she said, tears in her eyes. “But Daniel told everyone I was crazy.”
Emily looked at the child.
The boy looked exactly like Daniel.
That was when the final secret dropped.
Daniel hadn’t only planned to steal Emily’s money.
He had abandoned his first family to do it.
As the police took him away, Daniel screamed, “You ruined my life!”
Emily slowly knelt beside Cooper, wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered:
“No. He saved mine.”
But outside the church, Sarah found one last envelope inside Daniel’s car.
On it were three words:
PLAN B — TONIGHT.
And inside was a photo of Emily’s house…
May you like
with every window circled in red.
To be continued...
