At Her Sister’s Wedding, My Best Friend Caught the Bouquet… Then Walked Straight to My Table!
Chapter 5
Emily had spent twelve years believing she understood how her father died.
Heart attack.
Age fifty-seven.
A quiet death at home.
No mystery.
No investigation.
But now she wasn’t sure.
She visited the hospital archives with Sophie.
The original medical report had been sealed.
That alone was strange.
Emily requested access.
After hours of paperwork, they found it.
The official cause was cardiac arrest.
But attached to the report was another document.
A toxicology request.
Never completed.
Emily stared.
“Someone suspected poisoning.”
Sophie nodded.
“Why wasn’t it investigated?”
A nurse who had worked there twenty years earlier gave them the answer.
“Because your father’s family asked the hospital not to.”
“My family?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
The nurse hesitated.
“Your uncle.”
Emily’s uncle Robert had handled the funeral.
He had also managed her father’s business afterward.
Emily had always trusted him.
Now she called him.
“Uncle Robert?”
His voice sounded nervous.
“Yes?”
“I found Dad’s medical report.”
Silence.
“Where?”
“At the hospital.”
Another pause.
“You shouldn’t be looking at that.”
Emily’s blood ran cold.
“Why?”
“Because some things are better left alone.”
The line ended.
Sophie stared at her.
“He knows.”
Emily nodded.
“Let’s go.”
They drove to Robert’s office.
It was closed.
The receptionist said he had left an hour earlier.
They searched his desk.
Nothing.
Then Sophie found a hidden drawer.
Inside were financial records.
Payments to an offshore account.
Transfers from Emily’s father’s old company.
And a photograph.
Robert.
Sophie’s father.
Michael Reed.
And a fourth man.
The same man from the old photograph.
Only older.
Beneath his picture was one name.
Victor Hale.
Emily recognized the name.
Victor was the groom Daniel’s father.
The man who had just married Claire.
Emily stared.
“Daniel’s family?”
Sophie nodded slowly.
“My father worked with them.”
Emily turned the photograph over.
There was another note.
After the accident, Victor took control.
Sophie looked horrified.
“What accident?”
Emily remembered the letter.
The worker who died.
The construction site.
Her mother’s fear.
The four young people promising never to tell.
Then another piece fell into place.
Maybe Victor had caused the accident.
Maybe Emily’s parents and Sophie’s parents discovered it.
Maybe Michael wanted to expose him.
And perhaps someone silenced everyone who knew.
But why was Daniel’s family involved?
Claire entered the office suddenly.
“You need to come with me.”
Emily turned.
“What happened?”
Claire was pale.
“I found Daniel’s father’s old files.”
“Where?”
“At the wedding venue.”
“What did you find?”
“A list.”
She handed Emily a piece of paper.
Names.
Emily Carter.
Sophie Lane.
Claire Carter.
Michael Reed.
Thomas Lane.
And one final name.
Victor Hale.
Next to it was a date.
Tomorrow.
Emily looked up.
“Tomorrow?”
Claire nodded.
“Whatever he planned years ago…”
She swallowed.
“I think he’s finishing it now.”
Sophie stared.
“What happens tomorrow?”
Claire looked at them.
“The old construction site is being demolished.”
Emily’s heart stopped.
“What does that have to do with us?”
Claire whispered:
“Everything.”
