Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Vanished in the Dark
Security locked every exit.
The guests began shouting.
Some demanded to leave.
Others held up their phones, recording everything.
Clara pushed herself from the floor.
Pain shot through her wrist.
Andrew reached toward her.
She pulled away.
“Do not touch me.”
Mr. Bell hurried to her side.
“Are you hurt?”
“I am fine.”
She was not fine.
Her dress was destroyed.
Her wedding was over.
The man she loved had admitted knowing she was targeted.
And Patricia had escaped with documents that could ruin Clara’s future.
One of the investigators spoke into his radio.
“Suspect has fled the main ballroom.”
“Seal the west wing.”
A security guard ran toward them.
“The service corridor camera was disabled.”
Mr. Bell frowned.
“Only management has access to that system.”
Clara looked around.
“Where is your assistant manager?”
Mr. Bell’s face changed.
“Ethan?”
He scanned the room.
The young assistant manager who had been standing beside him was gone.
Andrew overheard.
“Who is Ethan?”
Mr. Bell answered.
“Ethan Shaw.”
“Your mother hired him as a wedding consultant three months ago.”
Clara turned sharply.
“You let Patricia hire someone with building access?”
“She claimed he represented the family’s event planner.”
The investigator raised his radio.
“Find Ethan Shaw.”
Clara looked toward the ballroom balcony.
A service door stood slightly open.
She remembered seeing Patricia glance at it before the lights failed.
“She went upstairs.”
Andrew followed her gaze.
“Clara, let security handle it.”
She turned on him.
“Security let her escape.”
Before anyone could stop her, Clara ran toward the staircase.
Her damaged gown dragged behind her.
She tore away the loose train and left it on the steps.
Andrew followed.
“Clara.”
“Go back.”
“I am not letting you face her alone.”
She stopped halfway up the stairs.
“You already did.”
He had no answer.
They reached the upper corridor.
The estate was enormous.
Clara had spent months restoring it, but several wings remained closed.
At the end of the hallway, a door moved.
Clara ran.
She entered an old gallery filled with covered furniture.
A window stood open.
Cold air swept through the room.
Andrew looked down.
A black car sped away across the rear drive.
“She is gone.”
Clara crossed to a desk near the window.
The ownership folder lay open.
Most of the papers were still there.
But the original estate deed was missing.
Mr. Bell and the investigators arrived moments later.
One investigator examined the folder.
“She took the deed.”
Clara shook her head.
“The deed alone does not give her ownership.”
“No.”
The investigator looked grim.
“But combined with the forged transfer and a corrupt notary, she can create enough confusion to freeze the property.”
Mr. Bell cursed under his breath.
Clara noticed a small envelope under the folder.
Her name was written across the front.
She opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Andrew standing outside Gregory Hale’s office six weeks earlier.
He was holding the forged deed.
On the back, Patricia had written one sentence.
Ask your groom why his fingerprints are on every page.
Clara slowly lifted her eyes.
Andrew stood in the doorway.
His face told her everything.
“You signed it,” she whispered.
He shook his head.
“Not the way you think.”
“How many ways are there to sign away someone else’s property?”
“I thought it was a marriage protection agreement.”
Clara laughed once.
The sound held no humor.
“You signed without reading it?”
“My mother said it was routine.”
“You trusted her more than me.”
Andrew stepped closer.
“I made a mistake.”
“No.”
Clara held up the photograph.
“You made a choice.”
The investigator’s phone rang.
He listened for several seconds.
Then his expression tightened.
“We found Ethan Shaw’s vehicle.”
“Where?”
“Abandoned near the river.”
Clara waited.
The investigator looked toward Mr. Bell.
May you like
“There is blood inside.”
“And Patricia Whitlock’s purse is on the front seat.”
