I Was the Only Employee Sitting Alone at My Boss’s Wedding — Then Her Younger Sister Whispered a Secret That Changed Everything
Chapter 5
The lights in the mansion went out.
Someone had cut the power.
Panic spread through the reception hall.
Guests shouted.
Security guards moved through the crowd.
Olivia grabbed Natalie’s hand.
“Stay with me.”
I pulled my phone out.
No signal.
Ethan stood near the center of the room.
Completely calm.
That frightened me more than the blackout.
Then he spoke.
“Nobody leaves.”
A security officer locked the main doors.
Olivia stared.
“You planned this.”
Ethan didn’t answer.
Natalie whispered:
“We need another exit.”
I knew the property.
There was an underground service tunnel leading to the old boathouse.
I had seen it during previous company retreats.
“Follow me.”
We moved through the kitchen.
A guard saw us.
I shoved a cart into his path.
We ran.
Behind us, someone shouted.
Olivia pulled off her heels.
“Why didn’t I wear practical shoes?”
Natalie laughed despite everything.
We reached the tunnel.
The door was locked.
I looked at Olivia.
“Code?”
She entered her birthday.
Nothing.
Natalie tried her mother’s.
Nothing.
Then Olivia remembered.
Her father had used the year of her birth.
The door opened.
We rushed inside.
The tunnel was dark and damp.
We moved quickly.
After several minutes, we reached the boathouse.
A small motorboat waited near the dock.
Natalie looked at me.
“Can you drive?”
“Enough not to drown us.”
She laughed.
Olivia climbed aboard.
We pushed away from the dock.
A spotlight swept across the water.
Ethan’s security team was searching.
We shut off the engine and drifted behind a small island.
Olivia sat silently.
Her wedding dress was soaked at the hem.
Her face looked shattered.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at her.
“For what?”
“For not seeing it.”
Natalie took her hand.
“You couldn’t.”
Olivia whispered:
“He said he loved me.”
Natalie answered:
“Maybe he did.”
Olivia looked at her.
“Then why?”
“Some people love what they can control.”
The words hurt.
But they were probably true.
We waited until the lights moved away.
Then I started the engine.
We reached the opposite shore.
From there, we called federal authorities.
This time, the response was immediate.
Agents had already been investigating Ethan’s financial network.
The files gave them what they needed.
By dawn, search warrants were issued.
By eight in the morning, Ethan’s offices were being searched.
By noon, Graham Vale had been arrested.
Ethan disappeared.
Olivia spent the entire day giving statements.
She was exhausted.
She didn’t cry.
Not once.
At sunset, she sat on the porch of her family’s guesthouse.
I brought her coffee.
“Black?”
She nodded.
“You remembered.”
“I know you.”
She looked at me.
“Why did you help me?”
I didn’t hesitate.
“Because you asked me to work for you six years ago.”
She smiled sadly.
“And now?”
“Now you’re my friend.”
She looked toward the lake.
“Maybe I need more friends like you.”
I sat beside her.
“I think you do.”
Neither of us noticed Natalie watching through the window.
She smiled.
She had just witnessed something neither Olivia nor I was ready to admit.
Something had changed between us.
