Chapter 3: The Best Man's Warning
“Marcus?””
I repeated the name slowly.
Vanessa stood beside the vanity, her phone clutched in both hands. The torn envelope lay between us, and my wedding ring rested on the polished surface beside it.
“Why is my best man texting you?”” I asked.
She shook her head.
“Ethan, please.””
“Why did Marcus send you that message?””
“He's trying to help.””
“Help with what?””
She glanced at the document, then toward the open doorway.
I followed her gaze.
The chandelier hallway was still bright and busy. Guests in formal black and jewel-toned outfits passed beneath the crystal lights. A bridesmaid carrying a bouquet hurried toward the ballroom entrance, smiling at someone out of sight.
The world was moving forward as though my wedding were still a celebration.
I felt as if I'd stepped outside it.
“Call him,” I said.
Vanessa tightened her grip on the phone.
“What?””
“Call Marcus. Put him on speaker.””
“That's ridiculous.””
“Then it should be easy.””
“He's getting ready for the ceremony.””
“Apparently, he's also involved in a conversation about a document carrying my forged signature.””
“You don't know that!””
“Then let him explain.””
She looked at me with open resentment.
For a moment, I almost apologized out of habit.
That was the worst part.
Even now, even after finding that document, some instinct inside me wanted to soothe her. To lower my voice. To make this easier for her because she'd always hated confrontation.
I stopped myself.
“Call him,” I repeated.
Vanessa pressed her lips together.
Then she tapped the screen.
The call rang once.
Twice.
On the third ring, Marcus answered.
“Vanessa?”” His voice sounded hurried.
“You need to tell me what's happening.””
I leaned closer to the phone.
“I'm right here, Marcus.””
Silence.
Then he said, “Ethan?””
“Good morning, best man.””
“Where are you?””
“In Vanessa's bridal suite. Holding a document with my name and a signature I never wrote.””
Another silence.
Longer this time.
Vanessa stared at the floor.
Marcus finally spoke.
“Listen to me. Don't sign anything.””
I looked at the legal pages.
“Was I supposed to?””
“No.””
“Then why does this document already have my signature?””
“I don't know what you're looking at.””
I laughed once, sharply.
“You knew enough to warn her that I know about it.””
Marcus exhaled.
In the background, I could hear muffled voices and the sound of a door closing.
“Ethan,” he said, “I need you to stay calm.””
“That's what people say when they don't want you to ask the next question.””
“I'm trying to keep you from making a decision you'll regret.””
“Then give me a reason to trust you.””
He didn't answer.
I looked at Vanessa.
She had turned away from me, one hand pressed against the front of her gown. The diamond bracelet on her wrist trembled slightly as she moved.
“Marcus,” I said, “did you know someone was going to transfer my assets after the ceremony?””
“I can't explain this over the phone.””
“Why not?””
“Because there are things you don't understand yet.””
“Then explain them.””
“Not like this.””
I glanced toward the doorway.
“Where are you?””
“Downstairs.””
“Come up here.””
“I can't.””
“Why?””
Marcus hesitated.
Then I heard another voice in the background, lower and unfamiliar.
“Tell him nothing.””
Marcus immediately moved the phone away from his mouth.
But not before I'd heard it.
“Who was that?”” I demanded.
“Ethan, just listen—”
“Who was that?””
“I'm coming to you.””
The call ended.
I stared at the phone.
Vanessa slowly lowered hers.
“You shouldn't have called him,” she said.
I turned toward her.
“Why?””
“Because now everything is going to get worse.””
“Worse than what?””
She closed her eyes.
I waited.
A tear slid down her cheek, leaving a shining track through her makeup. It looked real. That was the cruelest detail. She had always been able to cry in a way that made me forget what we'd been arguing about.
But this time, I didn't move to comfort her.
“Vanessa,” I said quietly, “what exactly was supposed to happen after the ceremony?””
She wiped her cheek with the edge of a tissue.
“I never wanted you to find out like this.””
“Find out what?””
She looked at the legal document.
“I thought we'd have time to explain everything.””
“Who is we?””
She didn't answer.
I picked up the first page again and read the heading.
POST-MARRIAGE ASSET TRANSFER.
Below it, the text continued in dense paragraphs. I scanned the page, looking for a company name, a property address, or some specific asset that might tell me what this agreement was meant to do.
There was a reference number.
A date.
Several clauses marked for review.
But nothing I could confidently identify as the destination of the transfer.
I wasn't going to pretend I understood more than I did.
What I understood was that someone had prepared a legal document, placed it inside my bride's handbag, and attached my name to an agreement I had never signed.
And Vanessa had known enough to be frightened when I found it.
“Did you plan to marry me today knowing this document existed?”” I asked.
She stared at me.
“I love you.””
“That's not an answer.””
“I wanted to marry you.””
“That's not an answer either.””
She pressed both hands against her face, careful not to disturb her makeup.
“I was trying to protect us.””
“From what?””
She lowered her hands.
“You wouldn't understand.””
“Then stop deciding what I can understand.””
Her eyes filled again.
“I didn't think it would happen this way.””
“What did you think would happen?””
She looked toward the door.
I followed her gaze.
Footsteps approached along the hallway.
A moment later, Marcus appeared in the doorway wearing a perfectly tailored black tuxedo, his dark tie slightly crooked and his expression strained.
He was my oldest friend.
We'd met years ago, back when we were both trying to build careers and pretending we weren't worried about rent. He'd stood beside me through my father's funeral. He'd helped me move apartments in the rain. When I proposed to Vanessa, he'd hugged me so hard he nearly knocked me over.
I'd chosen him as my best man because I trusted him more than almost anyone.
Now he wouldn't meet my eyes.
“Ethan,” he said.
I held up the legal document.
“Tell me why my name is on this.””
Marcus stepped inside and closed the door.
Vanessa immediately moved toward him.
“You said he wouldn't see it until afterward.””
Marcus flinched.
The room went silent.
I slowly lowered the document.
“Until afterward?””
Vanessa froze.
Marcus stared at her as if she'd just pulled the floor out from under him.
She looked back at me, her mouth trembling.
“I didn't mean—”
I turned to Marcus.
“After what?””
He rubbed a hand over his face.
“Ethan, you need to understand something before you do anything else.””
“I'm listening.””
Marcus glanced at Vanessa.
She shook her head once.
He looked away from her.
Then he reached inside his tuxedo jacket and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.
“I wasn't supposed to give you this,” he said.
I stared at the paper.
“What is it?””
Marcus placed it on the vanity, beside my wedding ring.
“Something I found out this morning.””
He unfolded it.
At the top was my full name.
Below it was a date, a reference number, and a line of printed text that made my chest tighten.
Marcus looked directly at me.
“Ethan, the signature on that transfer document isn't the first time someone has used your name without your permission.””
Vanessa made a small, broken sound behind him.
I looked down at the second paper.
Then I saw the date.
It was from months before our wedding.
May you like
And beneath the date was a name I recognized.
One that should never have appeared on a document connected to my life.
