CHAPTER 2 — THE SECRET SHE TRIED TO HIDE
The next morning, Daniel thought the nightmare was over.
He was wrong.
Emma woke up from a restless sleep and refused to leave his side.
She sat beside him on the couch, wrapped in a warm blanket, holding her favorite stuffed animal.
“Daddy?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Yes, sweetheart?”
Emma hesitated.
Then she asked the question that broke his heart.
“Did I ruin your wedding?”
Daniel froze.
For a moment, he couldn’t speak.
Then he pulled her into his arms.
“No, Emma.”
His voice trembled.
“You saved me from making the biggest mistake of my life.”
That afternoon, Daniel received a call from Victoria’s former assistant, Sarah.
She wanted to meet.
At first, Daniel refused.
But then Sarah sent him a message.
A message that changed everything.
“You need to know what she planned before the wedding.”
When they met, Sarah looked terrified.
She placed a folder on the table.
Inside were messages.
Emails.
And recordings.
Daniel slowly opened them.
His face changed with every page.
Victoria hadn’t just disliked Emma.
She had been planning to remove her from Daniel’s life completely.
She had complained that Emma was “an obstacle.”
She had talked about sending her to boarding school after the wedding.
She had even told friends:
“Once I become his wife, I’ll decide what happens in this house.”
Daniel felt sick.
The woman he almost married wasn’t trying to build a family.
She was trying to replace one.
Then Sarah revealed one final secret.
“There’s something else,” she whispered.
Daniel looked up.
“What?”
Sarah placed another document on the table.
A custody agreement.
Already prepared.
With Victoria’s name written on it.
Daniel stared at the paper.
“She wanted legal control over Emma?”
Sarah nodded.
“She was waiting until after the wedding.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
The pain wasn’t about losing Victoria anymore.
It was about realizing how close he came to losing his daughter.
That night, Daniel sat beside Emma’s bed until she fell asleep.
He watched her peaceful face.
May you like
And he made a promise.
No one would ever make her feel unwanted again.
