I Decided to Surprise My Wife at the Airport Pickup — Then She Walked Out Holding Another Man’s Hand
Chapter 9
Ethan couldn’t believe it.
“My wedding?”
His mother nodded.
“Your father gave something to Olivia the night before your wedding.”
Olivia looked down.
She remembered.
A small box.
She had assumed it was a family heirloom.
But she had never opened it.
She had hidden it.
Because her father-in-law had told her never to lose it.
Ethan and Olivia returned to their house.
The box was still there.
Inside was a tiny encrypted drive.
Nathan connected it to a laptop.
A password appeared.
Ethan tried his father’s birthday.
Wrong.
His mother’s birthday.
Wrong.
Then Olivia entered something.
Their wedding date.
The drive opened.
Hundreds of files appeared.
Names.
Payments.
Photographs.
Secret recordings.
Everything.
Nathan stared.
“This is enough to bring down half the network.”
Ethan looked at Olivia.
“Why didn’t you open it?”
“Because I didn’t know what it was.”
“You suspected.”
“Yes.”
“Why marry me?”
Olivia’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because I loved you.”
Ethan looked away.
“I don’t know if I can believe that.”
“You don’t have to.”
Then a file appeared.
PROJECT CARTER.
Ethan opened it.
His own name appeared.
His father’s signature.
And one sentence:
If Ethan becomes aware of the network, activate contingency plan.
Ethan felt sick.
“What does this mean?”
Nathan stared at the screen.
“They planned this years ago.”
“What?”
“Your entire life was part of their contingency.”
Ethan looked at Olivia.
“You married me because of them.”
“No.”
Olivia shook her head.
“I married you because I loved you.”
“But they knew we’d marry.”
“Yes.”
“Then the airport…”
“They used our marriage to trap you.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
Then another file opened automatically.
A photograph appeared.
Victor Lang.
Arthur Whitmore.
Ethan’s father.
And one more person.
Ethan’s mother.
All together.
His mother looked at the screen.
“I never told you the whole truth.”
Ethan stared.
“What else?”
She whispered:
“I helped build the network.”
