He Knew His Father Was With the Bride

Chapter 2: The Wedding Was a Trap

Adrian locked the door.

Isabella stared at the recording device in his hand.

"Your father knows," she whispered.

"I expected him to."

"You expected armed men too?"

Adrian looked toward the adjoining dressing room.

"There is another exit."

They had planned the wedding for six months, but not because they wanted a grand ceremony. The flowers, guests, cameras, and famous names had created the perfect stage.

Richard Vale had spent twenty years hiding behind silence.

Today, Adrian planned to make silence impossible.

Three years earlier, Isabella's older sister, Camille, had died after threatening to expose Richard's business. Police called it an accident. Richard called it unfortunate.

Adrian never believed either of them.

Then Isabella found Camille's hidden journal.

It described secret accounts, stolen company funds, and payments connected to several unexplained deaths. One name appeared repeatedly.

Richard Vale.

Adrian had approached Isabella expecting hatred.

Instead, she offered him a deal.

Pretend to fall in love.

Announce an engagement.

Make Richard believe she possessed no evidence.

Then lure him into speaking before the wedding.

"Did he name the accounts?" Adrian asked.

Isabella nodded. "And the judge he paid. He admitted Camille found everything."

Adrian exhaled.

That was enough.

The door shook under a heavy blow.

"Open it!" Richard shouted.

Eleanor's voice rose outside. "Richard, stop this!"

Adrian crossed to the dressing room and pulled aside a wardrobe. Behind it was a narrow service door.

Isabella stared. "How did you know?"

"This house belonged to my grandmother. She never trusted my father either."

They entered the hidden passage just as the main door burst open.

Men rushed into the empty room.

Adrian and Isabella moved through darkness, guided only by his phone light. The passage led downward toward the ballroom.

Then Isabella stopped.

"What about your mother?"

Adrian went silent.

He had spent months keeping Eleanor outside the plan to protect her.

Now she was alone with Richard.

Before he could turn back, his phone buzzed.

A photograph appeared.

Eleanor tied to a chair.

Beneath it was a message from Richard:

Come to the altar. Bring the recording. Or your mother dies before you say "I do."