Chapter 4: The Message That Changed Everything
Naomi read the message twice.
*THE WIFE IS AT THE WEDDING. GET THE ORIGINAL FILE BEFORE SHE TALKS TO ANYONE.*
Marcus snatched his phone against his chest.
Too late.
Brielle had seen it, too.
“Who sent that?”” she demanded.
Marcus shook his head.
“It's a business contact.””
“A business contact who knows your wife is standing at your wedding?””
“Brielle, please.””
“No.”” She pointed at the phone.
“Unlock it.””
Marcus stared at her as if she had slapped him.
“You don't have the right to demand access to my phone.””
“And you apparently don't have the right to marry me.””
A few guests gasped.
Near the front row, Patricia reached for her daughter's arm, but Brielle gently pulled away. Her white wedding gown rustled as she stepped closer to Marcus.
“I gave you a year of my life,” Brielle said.
“I listened when you told me you were afraid of losing someone again. I held you when you said you still dreamed about your first wife.””
Naomi felt sick.
Marcus had not merely invented a death.
He had built an entire personality around it.
Brielle's voice cracked.
“You told me you visited her grave every year.””
Marcus looked away.
“Brielle, I loved you.””
“Then why did you need a dead wife to make me fall in love with you?””
He opened his mouth.
She slapped him.
The sharp sound echoed through the ballroom.
Marcus stumbled half a step, his cheek reddening.
“Don't you ever put your hands on me again,” Brielle said, although she was the one who had struck him.
“I don't even know who you are.””
Marcus looked around at the guests, humiliated.
“Everybody needs to stop recording.””
A man near the aisle lowered his phone only long enough to answer.
“Then stop giving us something to record.””
Naomi almost smiled, but the expression died before it reached her face.
Her attention remained on the message.
The sender's name was hidden behind a string of initials: *R.V.*
She recognized the initials.
Richard Vale.
Marcus's attorney.
Richard had attended their tenth wedding anniversary dinner. He had once helped Naomi review paperwork for a small business she had hoped to open. He had sat at their dining table, complimented her cooking, and joked that Marcus was lucky to have a wife who understood him.
Now someone with his initials was telling Marcus to obtain an original file before Naomi could speak.
“What original file?”” Naomi asked.
Marcus shoved the phone into his pocket.
“It's none of your business.””
“Someone sent you a message about me. It became my business the moment you typed my name into a document and declared me dead.””
He lowered his voice.
“Naomi, you don't know what you're getting yourself into.””
“Then explain it.””
“I can't.””
“Can't, or won't?””
He stared at her.
That silence told her more than his denials had.
Brielle turned toward the guests.
“This wedding is over.””
The officiant quietly closed his book.
A few people stood. Others remained seated, apparently unwilling to miss what might happen next.
Patricia moved beside her daughter.
“Come with me, sweetheart.””
Brielle shook her head.
“Not yet.””
She faced Marcus again.
“Did you submit that application yourself?””
Marcus rubbed his cheek.
“My attorney handled the paperwork.””
“Did you tell him your wife was dead?””
“I told him the marriage was over.””
“That's not the same thing.””
“I know that now.””
Brielle stared at him in disbelief.
“You know that now?””
Marcus's eyes darted toward the ballroom entrance.
Naomi followed his gaze.
A tall Black man in a charcoal suit had appeared beside the doors. He carried a leather briefcase and wore an expression that looked calm until his eyes landed on Naomi.
Then his face changed.
Richard Vale.
He walked toward the altar, avoiding the guests who tried to stop him with questions.
“Marcus,” Richard said quietly.
“We need to leave.””
Naomi stepped into his path.
“Hello, Richard.””
He stopped.
For a moment, he looked almost pleased to see her, as though they had met at a grocery store rather than at her husband's attempted wedding.
“Naomi. This is an unfortunate misunderstanding.””
She lifted the application.
“Is that what you call this?””
Richard glanced at the paper.
“Legal documents can be confusing without context.””
“Then give us the context.””
He adjusted the cuff of his jacket.
“I'm not able to discuss privileged communications in a public setting.””
“I'm not asking you about a private conversation. I'm asking why a document declares me dead.””
Richard's jaw tightened.
“That's a serious allegation.””
“It's printed right here.””
He extended his hand.
“May I see it?””
“No.””
“Naomi, I strongly recommend that you let me review the document.””
“And I strongly recommend that you stop talking to me as if I'm one of your clients.””
A murmur rose from the crowd.
Richard's composure slipped.
“Marcus, get your children out of here.””
Jordan immediately stepped closer to Naomi.
“We're staying with Mom.””
Richard looked down at him.
“Son, this is an adult matter.””
Jordan's small face hardened.
“My dad made it our matter when he left us.””
Richard had no answer.
Brielle picked up her bouquet from the table, then dropped it again.
“Mr. Vale, did you prepare this application?””
“I advised Mr. Hayes on several matters.””
“Did you know he was married?””
Richard glanced at Marcus.
The exchange lasted less than a second.
It was enough.
Brielle took a shaky breath.
“You did know.””
“Miss Carter, I cannot discuss my client's affairs.””
“Then don't. Answer one question. Did you know Naomi was alive when you helped arrange this marriage?””
Richard's lips pressed together.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Richard, don't say another word.””
Naomi looked from one man to the other.
There it was again.
Fear.
Not the fear of being caught in an affair. Not the embarrassment of a wedding gone wrong.
They were afraid of something that existed beyond the ballroom.
Something written down, signed, filed, and kept somewhere Naomi hadn't yet found.
Richard leaned toward Marcus.
“We need the original before this goes any further.””
“It's safe,” Marcus whispered.
“Where?””
Marcus hesitated.
Naomi heard the question.
She also saw Richard's reaction.
The attorney's fingers tightened around the handle of his briefcase.
“You said you destroyed it,” Richard murmured.
Marcus's face went white.
Brielle covered her mouth.
Naomi felt every muscle in her body go rigid.
Destroyed what?
The application in her hands was only a copy. The handwritten note had mentioned final approval, and the messages referred to an original file.
Now Richard had admitted there was something Marcus was supposed to have destroyed.
Naomi looked at her husband.
“What did you destroy, Marcus?””
He didn't answer.
“Was it a document about me?””
Silence.
“Was it a document about our children?””
Marcus suddenly reached for the paper.
Naomi stepped backward, shielding it against her chest.
“Don't touch me!””
The ballroom erupted in voices.
Richard moved between them.
“Enough. Everyone needs to calm down before someone makes a decision they regret.””
Naomi stared at him.
“You're still trying to control this room.””
“I'm trying to prevent a misunderstanding from becoming a catastrophe.””
“What catastrophe?””
Richard glanced at Marcus.
Marcus looked toward the exit.
And then Brielle spoke.
“Whatever you two are hiding, I'm not protecting either of you.””
She turned toward Naomi.
“If you have evidence, I'll help you get it to the proper authorities.””
Marcus stared at her.
“Brielle, you don't understand what you're offering.””
“Then tell me.””
He said nothing.
Brielle wiped her tears with the back of her hand.
“That's what I thought.””
Naomi's phone vibrated inside her purse.
She ignored it at first, but the vibration came again.
Then a third time.
She pulled it out.
An unknown number had sent a photograph.
It showed a thick manila envelope lying on a desk. A handwritten label was visible across the front.
*ORIGINAL — NAOMI HAYES*
Beneath the photograph was a single sentence.
If you want to know who declared you dead, go to the address on the back of your marriage certificate.
Naomi looked up.
May you like
Richard was watching her.
And from the way his expression changed, she knew he had just realized someone else was playing a game he could no longer control.
