At Her Sister’s Wedding, My Best Friend Caught the Bouquet… Then Walked Straight to My Table!
Chapter 4
They went straight to Claire.
She had just returned from her honeymoon when Emily told her everything.
Claire listened without interrupting.
Then she looked at Sophie.
“You knew there was a secret.”
“I knew something happened.”
“Why didn’t you tell Emily before?”
Sophie lowered her eyes.
“Because I promised my father.”
Claire sighed.
“This family has too many promises.”
Emily put the photograph on the table.
“Who is the fourth person?”
Claire studied it.
Then her face changed.
“I know him.”
Emily stared.
“You do?”
Claire nodded.
“His name is Michael Reed.”
“Who is he?”
“My father’s old business partner.”
Emily frowned.
“I’ve never heard of him.”
“Because he disappeared.”
“When?”
“Twenty years ago.”
Claire explained that Michael, Sophie’s father, and Emily’s father had once run a small construction company together.
They had built houses all over town.
Then there was an accident at a construction site.
A worker died.
Michael wanted to report the company for safety violations.
The others refused.
The company collapsed.
Afterward, the families split apart.
Michael vanished.
Emily’s mother stopped speaking to Sophie’s father.
And nobody discussed the night of the accident.
Emily looked at the photograph.
“Was Michael the man my mother loved?”
Claire looked shocked.
“What?”
Emily pointed to the note.
“Why did they say they separated their families?”
Sophie shook her head.
“My father loved my mother.”
“But maybe your mother wasn’t the only one.”
Silence.
Sophie looked at her.
“You think our parents had an affair?”
“I don’t know.”
Claire frowned.
“There’s more.”
“What?”
She took out her phone.
“I found something during the wedding.”
Emily stared.
“What?”
Claire showed them a message.
It had arrived two hours before the ceremony.
Ask Emily why her father really left.
Emily felt cold.
“Who sent it?”
“Unknown.”
Sophie stood.
“Someone is watching us.”
Claire nodded.
“I think so.”
Emily looked toward the window.
Across the street, a man stood beside a parked car.
She recognized him.
The man from the old house.
He was watching their building.
Sophie whispered:
“Don’t move.”
The man raised his phone.
Then walked away.
Emily turned back.
“Who is he?”
Claire shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
Sophie looked at the photograph again.
Suddenly she noticed something.
One of the boys was wearing a wedding ring.
Emily stared.
“They’re seventeen.”
“Exactly.”
Sophie turned the photograph over.
There was writing beneath the original message.
We were engaged.
Emily froze.
“Who?”
Sophie looked at her.
“My father.”
Then Emily noticed another detail.
The second boy had the same ring.
Her stomach dropped.
“The two men were engaged to the wrong women.”
Claire frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
Sophie pointed at the photograph.
“They weren’t engaged to your mother and mine.”
“They were engaged to each other?”
“No.”
Sophie looked at Emily.
“Look at the initials.”
Inside the rings were two letters.
E.H.
Emily’s breath stopped.
Her mother’s initials.
And beside them:
S.L.
Sophie’s mother’s.
The men had given both women rings.
Which meant the secret wasn’t an affair.
It was something else.
Emily whispered:
“Our parents were planning something together.”
Claire leaned closer.
Then her eyes widened.
A tiny symbol was carved into the back of the photograph.
A triangle.
Inside it, three numbers.
4-7-12.
Sophie stared.
“My father used that symbol on business records.”
Emily frowned.
“What does it mean?”
Sophie didn’t answer.
Her phone rang.
She answered.
A man’s voice said:
“Stop looking for Michael Reed.”
Sophie froze.
“Who are you?”
The caller replied:
“Ask Emily’s father.”
Then hung up.
Emily looked at her.
“My father has been dead for twelve years.”
Sophie whispered:
“Exactly.”
