Paralyzed Millionaire Was Abandoned at the Altar — Then He Looked at the Maid and Said…
Chapter 5
Ethan stared at the photograph.
Grace was leaving her apartment.
Someone had been watching her.
He called his head of security.
“Find the photographer.”
Within hours, they discovered the photograph had been taken by a private investigator.
The investigator had been hired by Amelia.
Ethan’s jaw tightened.
“Why?”
The investigator wouldn’t say.
Ethan confronted Amelia the following day.
She looked nervous.
“I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
“You had her followed.”
“I wanted answers.”
“You lost the right to ask me for anything.”
She looked away.
“Grace is hiding something.”
“You don’t know her.”
“You don’t either.”
Ethan froze.
“What does that mean?”
Amelia took a breath.
“The woman you’re protecting has a connection to the accident.”
His face went cold.
“What accident?”
“Yours.”
Ethan stared.
She handed him a photograph.
It showed the road where Ethan had been injured three years earlier.
A woman stood near the crash site.
Her face was partially hidden.
But the coat was unmistakable.
Grace’s coat.
Ethan’s stomach turned.
“Where did you get this?”
“My father hired someone to investigate.”
“Why?”
“Because your accident wasn’t random.”
Ethan looked at the photograph again.
The crash had been blamed on a drunk driver.
He had never questioned it.
Now suddenly everything was different.
Amelia continued:
“Your grandfather suspected sabotage.”
“Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
“Because they couldn’t prove it.”
Ethan turned away.
“Get out.”
She left.
That night, Ethan confronted Grace.
She was working at the restaurant.
He waited until closing.
She saw him.
Her face changed.
“What are you doing here?”
“I need the truth.”
She froze.
“About what?”
“Were you at the scene of my accident?”
Her expression collapsed.
“Yes.”
Ethan stared.
“Why?”
She took a breath.
“I was.”
“How did you know me?”
“I didn’t.”
“Then why were you there?”
She looked down.
“My brother worked for the construction company that your family owned.”
Ethan froze.
“Noah?”
“Yes.”
“What does he have to do with my accident?”
“He was investigating safety violations.”
Ethan’s mind raced.
“Noah was a whistleblower?”
“Yes.”
“He had been reporting problems?”
“Yes.”
Grace began crying.
“He told me someone was threatening him.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then why were you at the accident?”
“Because Noah called me.”
“When?”
“Twenty minutes before your car crashed.”
Ethan’s breathing became shallow.
“What did he say?”
Grace wiped her eyes.
“He said, ‘They’re going after someone else now.’”
“Who?”
He already knew.
Him.
Grace nodded.
She had arrived at the scene minutes after the crash.
She had seen Ethan trapped in the wreckage.
She had called emergency services.
Then she disappeared because she was terrified.
Ethan stared at her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I thought the people responsible would find you again.”
“Who were they?”
“I don’t know.”
He looked at the photograph.
“Then why were you hiding it?”
“Because I didn’t know whether I could trust your family.”
Ethan felt the floor shift beneath him.
The woman he thought had left because she feared his money had actually been protecting a secret connected to his accident.
But there was something worse.
A note arrived at the restaurant.
It contained one sentence:
Ask your wife why she really left you at the altar.
Ethan stared at it.
Amelia had been the one who abandoned him.
Now someone was claiming the real reason was even darker.
