I Was the Only Employee Sitting Alone at My Boss’s Wedding — Then Her Younger Sister Whispered a Secret That Changed Everything
Chapter 3
We went to a small guesthouse on the edge of the property.
It had been empty for years.
There was no internet connection.
No cameras.
No staff.
Perfect.
I opened my laptop.
Natalie sat beside me.
I plugged in the flash drive.
The first folder contained financial records.
The second contained emails.
The third contained video files.
I opened the first.
A security camera showed Ethan Mercer entering a private office.
He was speaking to a man I didn’t recognize.
Then the image zoomed.
I recognized him.
Graham Vale.
Former chief financial officer of Hartwell International.
He had disappeared after being investigated for embezzlement.
I turned to Natalie.
“How is he involved?”
“He isn’t supposed to be anywhere near the company.”
We watched.
Ethan handed Graham a file.
Then Graham handed him a bank statement.
The account belonged to a corporation registered in the Cayman Islands.
The next video was worse.
Ethan was speaking to someone on the phone.
“She signs tonight.”
The voice on the other end was distorted.
Ethan replied:
“Once the shares transfer, the board won’t matter.”
I paused the video.
Natalie covered her mouth.
“That’s my sister.”
I nodded.
There was no question.
He was planning to gain control of Hartwell.
But then I noticed something else.
The timestamp.
Three months earlier.
Ethan had been planning this long before the wedding.
I opened the emails.
There were messages between Ethan and several directors.
They discussed removing Olivia.
Replacing her.
Restructuring the company.
Then I saw my own name.
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
Natalie looked at the screen.
One email said:
Daniel Reed remains loyal to Olivia. He needs to be removed from the strategy division before completion.
I stared.
My employment wasn’t accidental.
Ethan had been trying to get rid of me.
Another email appeared.
He may have access to the father’s old files.
Natalie looked at me.
“What old files?”
“I don’t know.”
I searched my memory.
Olivia’s father had once asked me to audit several acquisition records.
I had found irregularities.
I reported them.
He told me to keep copies.
I had forgotten about them.
Until now.
I opened my personal cloud account.
A folder still existed.
The files were encrypted.
I remembered the password.
My hands shook as I opened them.
The first document was an old acquisition agreement.
The second showed unauthorized transfers.
The third contained handwritten notes from Olivia’s father.
One sentence was circled.
If Ethan Mercer ever gets close to Olivia, tell her the truth.
Natalie stared at me.
“He knew.”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t he tell her?”
“He tried.”
“Did he?”
I opened the metadata.
The documents had been created five days before his death.
But there was no evidence they had ever been sent.
Then we found a recorded voicemail.
Olivia’s father spoke quietly.
“Richard, I need you to listen carefully.”
The recording was addressed to someone named Richard Vale.
The same last name as Graham.
He continued:
“Ethan is working with people inside the company. If I disappear, don’t let Olivia sign anything.”
The recording ended.
Natalie was crying.
I closed the laptop.
“We need to stop the wedding trip.”
She looked at me.
“How?”
I thought.
Security.
Private planes.
The Mercer estate.
I knew enough about company operations to understand how powerful Ethan was.
We needed proof that could force Olivia to listen.
“We go to her.”
Natalie shook her head.
“She won’t believe me.”
“Then she’ll believe evidence.”
I looked at the clock.
11:47.
Thirteen minutes until midnight.
The wedding celebration was still going.
And somewhere inside the mansion, Olivia believed she was about to begin the happiest chapter of her life.
She had no idea we were racing to stop the worst mistake she would ever make.
