Chapter 1 - MY DAUGHTER STOPPED THE WEDDING
My four-year-old daughter begged me not to marry Amanda—and the secret phone in her hands proved my wedding was a trap.
I found Sophie crying outside the bridal suite twelve minutes before the ceremony.
Her flower-girl dress was wrinkled. One white shoe was missing, and she was clutching a black phone against her chest with both arms.
“I don’t want you to marry her, Daddy.”
I dropped to my knees.
“What happened?”
Before Sophie could answer, the bridal-suite door flew open.
Amanda stormed into the hallway wearing her wedding gown. Her face looked beautiful, but her eyes were wild.
“Give me that phone, Sophie.”
Sophie hid behind me.
“I know what you did.”
Amanda reached around my shoulder. I caught her wrist.
“Back up.”
“She stole something from my room,” Amanda snapped. “She needs to learn that stealing has consequences.”
The phone vibrated.
Its lock screen showed a message from someone saved as D:
Is he ready to sign?
I looked at Amanda.
“This isn’t your regular phone.”
She went silent.
Sophie whispered, “The password is my birthday.”
That hit me harder than it should have.
I entered 0417.
The phone unlocked.
There were photographs of my house, copies of my bank statements, and documents from Sophie’s trust fund. Amanda had photographed my signature from old tax returns.
Then I opened her conversation with D.
Once he signs after the ceremony, the house is ours.
Another message read:
The trust will take longer. We need the girl out first.
My stomach turned.
“What is this?”
Amanda’s face lost all color.
“It isn’t what you think.”
Sophie tugged my sleeve.
“There’s talking too.”
She opened a saved recording and pressed PLAY.
Amanda’s voice filled the hallway.
“After the wedding, I’ll send Sophie away. Ethan will believe she needs special care. Once he gives me power of attorney, he won’t be able to stop us.”
A man laughed.
“And if he refuses?”
Amanda answered without hesitation.
“Then we use the same solution we used before.”
I stopped the recording.
“Before?”
Amanda backed toward the suite.
I called the coordinator.
“Cancel the ceremony. Lock every exit and call security.”
The phone vibrated again.
A new message appeared from D.
Why did you stop the wedding? I’m already upstairs.
At the far end of the hallway, a door slowly clicked shut.
Whoever Amanda had been working with wasn’t outside waiting for her.
May you like
He was already inside the venue.
And according to the message beneath it, he had Sophie’s passport in his pocket.
