“I Feel Sorry for the Man Who Marries Her,” He Said — By Autumn, He Was the One Saying the Vows
Chapter 8
The secret arrived in a letter.
It was addressed to Clara.
No return name.
Inside was a single sentence.
Ask Daniel Whitmore why his father paid your father’s debt the year before he died.
Clara read it twice.
Her heart tightened.
She confronted Daniel.
“Did your father know mine?”
Daniel frowned.
“Yes.”
“How well?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he lend him money?”
Daniel hesitated.
“I think so.”
“How much?”
“I was a boy then.”
Clara’s voice trembled.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t know it mattered.”
She showed him the letter.
Daniel stared.
“I’ll find out.”
“No.”
“Clara—”
“I need the truth.”
Daniel went to his father’s old papers.
He spent two days searching.
Finally, he found a ledger.
There it was.
A payment to Jonathan Bennett.
But beneath it was a note.
Payment made according to agreement.
Daniel’s blood ran cold.
He searched further.
Another document revealed something worse.
Clara’s father had not borrowed the money.
He had been paid to keep silent.
About what?
Daniel had no idea.
Then he found an old letter.
His father’s handwriting.
Jonathan,
If Edmund discovers the truth, neither family will be safe.
Daniel stared at the page.
Edmund.
His uncle.
The same man who had tried to seize Clara’s farm.
The same man who had opposed their marriage.
Daniel suddenly realized the wedding was not the only thing Edmund wanted to stop.
He wanted the truth buried.
