My Fiancé Went Back to His First Love—So I Married Her Billionaire Fiancé Instead
Chapter 8
Emily couldn’t sleep that night.
Someone using her mother’s identity sounded impossible.
Her mother had died twelve years earlier.
There were records.
A death certificate.
A funeral.
A grave.
Alexander sat across from her while investigators examined the flash drive.
“What if Jacob is lying?”
“He may be.”
“What if he’s telling the truth?”
“Then we find out.”
The files contained emails.
Bank transfers.
Photographs.
One email had been sent from an account registered under Emily’s mother’s maiden name.
Emily stared.
“It can’t be.”
Alexander zoomed in.
The email was connected to a private trust.
A trust created thirteen years earlier.
One year before her mother’s death.
Emily’s hands trembled.
“Open it.”
Inside was a scanned letter.
Her mother’s handwriting.
Emily,
If you ever see this, someone is trying to use my name.
Do not trust anyone who claims to represent me.
Emily’s heart raced.
There was another sentence.
The truth about your father is in the Blackwell archives.
She looked at Alexander.
“What truth?”
“I don’t know.”
They searched the Blackwell archives.
Hundreds of documents were stored in a private database.
Eventually they found a file from eighteen years earlier.
It concerned Emily’s father.
He had been working with Alexander’s father on a major acquisition.
The deal had collapsed.
Money disappeared.
Then Emily’s father suddenly resigned.
Alexander studied the records.
“There’s a missing payment.”
“How much?”
“Forty million.”
Emily stared.
“Who received it?”
“An unknown account.”
“Could it be Victoria’s family?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Alexander opened a second file.
A name appeared.
Richard Carter.
Emily’s uncle.
She froze.
“My uncle?”
“Yes.”
“He died years ago.”
Alexander frowned.
“Apparently not.”
Emily stared at the screen.
Richard Carter was alive.
And he had been receiving payments for years.
The mystery deepened.
Her uncle had disappeared after her father’s death.
Emily had been told he moved overseas.
Apparently, he had never left.
That night, the family lawyer called.
“There is something you need to know.”
“What?”
“Your mother did not die naturally.”
Emily stopped breathing.
“What?”
“There was an investigation.”
“And?”
“The case was closed.”
“Why?”
“We were told to stop.”
“Who told you?”
A pause.
“Your father.”
Emily felt sick.
“Why?”
“Because he believed it would put you in danger.”
The call ended.
Emily looked at Alexander.
“This started before I was born.”
Alexander nodded.
“Yes.”
“And Jacob and Victoria?”
“They’re part of the latest chapter.”
“Then what’s the real story?”
Alexander didn’t answer.
Instead, he opened the final file from Jacob’s flash drive.
A video appeared.
Victoria was speaking to someone.
Not Jacob.
Not Daniel.
A man sat with his back to the camera.
Victoria said:
“Emily has no idea who her father really was.”
The man replied:
“Does she know about the ledger?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“What happens after the wedding?”
The man answered:
“We take the shares.”
Victoria smiled.
“And Alexander?”
“He will either cooperate…”
A pause.
“…or disappear.”
Emily stared.
The man turned slightly.
She saw his face.
Her uncle.
Richard Carter.
She covered her mouth.
“My uncle.”
Alexander nodded.
Then the video continued.
Richard looked directly at Victoria.
“Emily must marry Alexander.”
Victoria frowned.
“Why?”
“Because once the merger is complete, we control both sides.”
Emily stared.
She suddenly understood.
The entire plan had been built around her.
Her fiancé.
Her inheritance.
Her marriage.
Even Alexander.
Everyone had been pieces on a board.
Except for one thing.
Richard had made one mistake.
He had underestimated Emily.
And Emily was no longer willing to play by anyone else’s rules.
