The Dead Sister Returned to Stop the Wedding

CHAPTER 3 - The Groom's Betrayal

Daniel denied the affair.

Isabella had kissed him once during a business trip, he explained. He pushed her away and immediately told Charlotte.

But he never told Elena.

"I was ashamed," he said in the ballroom. "I thought it would destroy your relationship with your sister."

Elena looked at him steadily.

"Your silence protected Isabella, not me."

Daniel had not helped plan the fire.

But after Elena's supposed death, he allowed Isabella to comfort him. Charlotte showed him forged bank records suggesting Elena had stolen company money and planned to leave him.

Daniel believed them.

Within months, Isabella moved into his home.

Less than a year after Elena's funeral, he proposed.

"You stood beside my grave and promised to love me forever," Elena said. "Then you gave my ring to the woman who helped put me there."

Daniel lowered his eyes.

There was no defense.

Isabella suddenly ran toward a side exit.

Police stopped her.

Charlotte tried to dismiss the recordings as fabricated, but Rose entered the ballroom with Elena's attorney and the original security files.

Officers arrested both women.

Isabella screamed that Elena had stolen everything first.

"Our father loved you more. The employees respected you. Daniel chose you. Even when we wore the same face, everyone knew which sister mattered."

Elena did not raise her voice.

"I did not make you invisible. You chose to become cruel."

Isabella turned toward Daniel.

"Tell her you love me."

Daniel looked at the woman wearing Elena's wedding ring.

"I loved the person you pretended to be."

He removed the ring from Isabella's finger and placed it on the table.

Elena did not take it.

The wedding ended without vows.

Guests left beneath the gaze of reporters and police officers. The Bellamy board suspended the merger and restored Elena's authority.

That evening, Elena visited Martha's grave.

Martha had worked for the Bellamy family for thirty-seven years. She had children, grandchildren, and plans to retire.

Isabella had treated her death as a convenient mistake.

Daniel followed Elena but remained several feet away.

"I searched for you," he said.

"Not long enough."

"I believed my mother."

"Because believing her allowed you to stop asking painful questions."

Daniel began to cry.

Elena still loved him.

That was the worst part.

But love did not erase the months he spent in Isabella's arms or the fact that he had nearly married her.

Daniel removed his wedding band.

"If you want a divorce, I will sign everything."

Elena looked at the ring.

"I don't know what I want."

Then her attorney called.

Investigators had searched Charlotte's office and discovered documents connecting her to more than the fire.

She had stolen millions from employee retirement accounts and placed the missing money under Elena's name.

Martha had discovered the fraud.

That was why she had installed the camera.

The fire was not only meant to kill Elena - it was meant to silence the woman who could expose Charlotte's stolen fortune.