She Asked Me to Be Her Fake Fiancé at Her Ex’s Wedding… Then Kissed Me in Front of Everyone
Chapter 4
We left the wedding under police escort.
No one spoke in the car.
Olivia sat beside me.
Her hand was still holding mine.
When we reached my apartment, she finally released it.
“I owe you an explanation.”
“Yes.”
She looked exhausted.
“My grandmother had money.”
“So it seems.”
“She never told me.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“What does the ring have to do with it?”
Olivia sat down.
“My grandmother used to say it was a promise.”
“Between her and Daniel’s grandfather?”
“Yes.”
“About the trust?”
“I don’t know.”
She looked at me.
“But I think Daniel knew something.”
“Maybe.”
She shook her head.
“I hate that I don’t know what’s real anymore.”
I sat beside her.
“Then start with what you know.”
She looked at me.
“I know you came with me.”
“Yes.”
“I know you protected me.”
“Yes.”
“I know I kissed you.”
I smiled.
“Yes.”
She laughed.
“That part is real.”
I stared at her.
She looked away.
Silence.
Then she said:
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why?”
“Because it wasn’t part of the plan.”
“Maybe the plan was wrong.”
She looked at me.
“What are you saying?”
“I don’t know.”
My phone rang.
It was my lawyer.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“Your company acquired a property five years ago.”
“Which one?”
He gave me the address.
I froze.
It was Olivia’s grandmother’s old estate.
I had no idea.
“How?”
“The purchase was made through a holding company.”
“Who owned it?”
He hesitated.
“Your father.”
My stomach tightened.
My father had died eight years ago.
I looked at Olivia.
“What?”
I explained.
Her face went pale.
“Our families were connected before we met.”
“Yes.”
She stood.
“We need to go there.”
We drove to the estate.
The house had been abandoned for years.
Inside, everything was covered in dust.
Olivia walked slowly through the rooms.
“I remember this.”
“From childhood?”
“Yes.”
She stopped in the library.
“My grandmother used to lock me in here.”
“Why?”
“To keep me away from the safe.”
I looked at her.
“You knew there was a safe?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
She pointed.
“Behind that painting.”
We moved it.
Nothing.
She frowned.
Then pressed a small carving on the frame.
A panel opened.
Inside was a key.
Olivia picked it up.
A tag hung from it.
E.C.
She looked at me.
“Ethan Carter.”
“That could be coincidence.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“My grandmother knew your family.”
We found the safe downstairs.
The key fit.
Inside were documents.
Photographs.
And a letter.
The letter was addressed to me.
My father’s handwriting.
I opened it.
Ethan,
If you ever find this, the time has come.
I kept reading.
The woman you trust will be the one who knows the truth.
I looked at Olivia.
“What does that mean?”
She stared at me.
“I don’t know.”
Then the next line made my blood run cold.
Do not marry her until you know why Daniel left her.
Olivia went still.
“Why did he leave?”
I looked at her.
Daniel had told her he wanted someone else.
But maybe that wasn’t true.
I turned the page.
Another name.
Thomas Hart.
Olivia’s father.
She whispered:
“My father?”
The letter continued.
He did not betray us.
He was threatened.
Olivia covered her mouth.
“What?”
I looked at her.
“Your father didn’t abandon your family.”
She shook her head.
“My father died when I was nineteen.”
“Yes.”
“He was killed in an accident.”
I looked at the letter.
“Maybe it wasn’t an accident.”
Suddenly footsteps echoed upstairs.
Someone had entered the house.
I grabbed Olivia’s hand.
“Stay behind me.”
We heard a man’s voice.
“Miss Hart?”
Olivia froze.
She whispered:
“I know that voice.”
“Who?”
“My father’s lawyer.”
The footsteps stopped outside the room.
Then the door handle turned.
