At Her Sister’s Wedding, My Best Friend Caught the Bouquet… Then Walked Straight to My Table!
Chapter 9
They found Ben Carter in a small town three states away.
He worked as a mechanic.
He was thirty-one.
Quiet.
He had a scar over his left eyebrow.
And when Emily showed him the photograph, he went pale.
“You know this man?”
Ben looked at the image of Michael.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“He saved my life.”
Emily’s eyes widened.
“Then you remember the accident.”
Ben nodded.
“I remember everything.”
The night of the accident had been chaos.
A construction beam collapsed.
Workers were trapped.
Victor ordered everyone away.
Michael refused.
He went inside.
Ben had been fourteen.
He followed.
He saw Victor tamper with the machinery before the collapse.
Victor had deliberately weakened the structure.
The worker who died wasn’t killed by accident.
It was murder.
Michael discovered the truth.
Emily’s father did too.
But Robert had panicked.
He signed the unsafe order.
Not knowing Victor had sabotaged the equipment.
Afterward, Victor used Robert’s signature to make it look like negligence.
Michael tried to expose him.
Victor threatened his family.
So Michael, Emily’s father, and Sophie’s father created a plan.
They would hide Ben.
They would use Claire’s identity to confuse the trail.
They would separate the families.
And they would keep the evidence hidden.
But Victor discovered part of the plan.
He hunted Michael.
Michael disappeared.
Years later, Emily’s father died.
Sophie’s father moved away.
And Claire grew up believing she had simply been born into a complicated family.
Ben looked at Emily.
“Your mother saved me.”
“How?”
“She hid me in the old farmhouse.”
Emily remembered the house.
The secret room.
The recipes.
The letters.
Everything.
Ben continued.
“She wanted to tell you.”
“Why didn’t she?”
“Because Victor threatened to kill you.”
Sophie asked:
“Then who knew the whole truth?”
Ben looked at them.
“Your aunt.”
“Robert?”
Ben nodded.
“He kept the evidence.”
Emily felt sick.
“Why would he?”
“Because he was terrified.”
Claire looked at Ben.
“Do you have proof?”
Ben nodded.
“I recorded Victor.”
He pulled out a small drive.
“Everything he said.”
They listened.
Victor admitted sabotaging the construction site.
He admitted threatening the families.
He admitted arranging Michael’s disappearance.
He even admitted poisoning Emily’s father.
Emily covered her mouth.
“So Robert knew.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he tell me?”
“Because Victor threatened him too.”
The story was finally clear.
But one question remained.
“Why did Victor want Claire?”
Ben looked at her.
“Because she was the legal beneficiary of the trust.”
Claire frowned.
“What trust?”
“The safety fund your parents created after the accident.”
A fortune had been placed in Claire’s name.
Money meant to compensate victims and protect Ben.
Victor wanted it.
And he had spent twenty years trying to control the person who legally inherited it.
Claire whispered:
“Then Daniel…”
“Was supposed to marry you.”
Emily froze.
“What?”
Ben nodded.
“Victor arranged the marriage.”
Sophie looked horrified.
“The wedding was never about love.”
Claire’s hands shook.
“I thought Daniel loved me.”
Ben looked at her.
“Maybe he does.”
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
His face changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then whispered:
“Daniel knows.”
He hung up.
Emily asked:
“Knows what?”
Ben looked toward the door.
“He just found out his father is coming for Claire.”
