Chapter 2 - NOT A WEDDING GUEST
I pulled Sophie behind me.
The stranger’s hand disappeared inside his jacket.
“Don’t,” I warned.
He stopped.
Then slowly removed a hotel key card.
Not a gun.
My heart still hammered like one had been pointed at me.
“Easy,” he said.
“Who are you?”
Amanda spoke first.
“His name is Marcus.”
The man’s smile vanished.
“Amanda.”
“What?”
“You talk too much when you panic.”
I looked between them.
“How do you know my fiancée?”
“Former fiancée,” Marcus said.
Amanda flinched.
That was enough.
I turned on the phone’s camera.
Marcus noticed.
“You recording?”
“Absolutely.”
He laughed once.
“Smart.”
Amanda suddenly grabbed my sleeve.
“Ryan, please. Take Sophie downstairs.”
“You just tried to grab her.”
“I wasn’t trying to hurt her.”
“You said you’d send her away.”
“I can explain.”
“Start.”
Marcus leaned against the wall like we were discussing a parking ticket.
Amanda swallowed.
“There were supposed to be papers after the wedding.”
“I know.”
“They weren’t what you think.”
Marcus snorted.
Amanda shot him a furious look.
“What?” he said. “You want to keep lying?”
Before Amanda could answer, elevator bells chimed.
Hotel security.
Two guards stepped out.
I had never been happier to see uniforms.
“Sir?”
“This man isn’t part of my wedding party,” I said. “I want him removed, and I want the police called.”
Marcus straightened.
Amanda whispered, “Ryan, don’t.”
The guards approached.
Marcus raised both hands.
Then he looked directly at me.
“Ask your lawyer about the Oakridge Trust.”
My heart stopped.
“What did you say?”
One guard took his arm.
Marcus didn’t resist.
“The Oakridge Trust.”
I stared at him.
Nobody was supposed to know that name.
My mother had created the trust before she died.
It held the house where Sophie and I lived, several investment accounts, and shares in a company my grandfather had started.
I barely discussed it with Amanda.
In fact, I had never told her its legal name.
Marcus smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Security walked him toward the elevator.
Amanda started crying.
Real tears this time.
“Ryan, I wanted to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
“That this didn’t start with you.”
That answer was worse than every lie before it.
I looked down at Sophie.
She was trembling.
I picked her up.
“We’re leaving.”
Amanda followed.
“Ryan.”
“Stay away from us.”
“You need to listen.”
“No. You need a lawyer.”
I carried Sophie toward the elevators.
That was when Amanda shouted something that stopped me cold.
“If you leave this hotel with Sophie, they’ll know exactly where you’re going.”
I turned.
Amanda’s makeup was streaked with tears.
Her voice dropped.
May you like
“They’ve already been inside your house.”
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