Chapter 1 - THE WEDDING THAT ENDED BEFORE IT BEGAN
The first thing I heard was the chapel doors slamming open.
The second was Helen Carter's voice.
“Stop this wedding.”
Every guest turned.
The string quartet stopped playing.
My father’s arm tightened around mine.
I stood at the end of the aisle in my white wedding dress, staring at my future mother-in-law as she marched toward me in a black gown.
But Helen wasn't alone.
A blonde woman followed her.
She was wearing another wedding dress.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Andrew stood beside the altar.
His face had gone completely pale.
“Mom?”
Helen didn't answer him.
She walked straight toward me.
Then she pointed.
“She is a fraud.”
A murmur swept through the chapel.
My heart pounded.
I looked at Andrew.
“Do you know her?”
“No.”
Helen immediately interrupted.
“You don't know what she has done.”
Andrew looked at his mother.
“Mom, this is my wedding.”
“Exactly.”
Helen turned toward the guests.
“And I refuse to let my son marry a woman who has lied about everything.”
The blonde woman stepped beside her.
“This is Vanessa Reed,” Helen announced.
Vanessa smiled at Andrew.
“I never wanted things to happen this way.”
Andrew stared at her.
“I don't know you.”
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“You used to.”
Helen held up a folder.
“She has been pretending to be Lily Bennett.”
I felt every eye in the room move toward me.
My father stepped forward.
“That is enough.”
Helen looked at him.
“You know I'm right.”
“No,” he said. “I know you're desperate.”
Helen's expression hardened.
She opened the folder.
“Lily Bennett does not have the identity she claims.”
Andrew looked at me.
“Lily?”
I could hear the uncertainty in his voice.
That hurt more than Helen's accusation.
I whispered:
“Andrew, you know me.”
“I know.”
“Then trust me.”
He looked at his mother.
Then at Vanessa.
Then back at me.
He said nothing.
That silence broke something inside me.
I slowly removed my veil.
I placed my bouquet on the nearest chair.
“I won't beg anyone to believe me.”
Helen smiled.
She thought she had won.
I turned toward the chapel doors.
Then a man in a gray suit entered.
“Ms. Bennett.”
Everyone looked at him.
Jonathan Reed.
My attorney.
He carried a black leather folder.
Helen's face changed instantly.
“What are you doing here?”
Jonathan looked at Vanessa.
“Stopping a fraud.”
The chapel became silent.
Jonathan opened the folder.
“Vanessa Reed is not Vanessa Reed.”
Vanessa stepped backward.
“What?”
Jonathan placed a photograph on the altar.
It showed Vanessa entering a private bank.
Helen was beside her.
Andrew stared.
“Mom?”
Jonathan continued.
“Her identification was stolen six months ago.”
Helen shook her head.
“This is nonsense.”
“No.”
Jonathan placed another document beside the photograph.
“She used the stolen identity to access the Bennett family trust.”
The guests began whispering.
Andrew looked at Vanessa.
“Who are you?”
She couldn't answer.
Jonathan turned another page.
“She also forged Lily Bennett's signature.”
I looked at the document.
My signature.
Perfectly copied.
The purpose was obvious.
Someone had attempted to transfer my family's estate.
Helen suddenly looked frightened.
Andrew saw it.
“Mom.”
Helen stepped toward him.
“I did this for you.”
“For me?”
“Yes.”
“You brought another woman to my wedding.”
“She was supposed to be your wife.”
Andrew stared at her.
Then he looked at me.
“Lily…”
I shook my head.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
“You didn't need these documents to know me.”
His eyes filled with regret.
“I know.”
“No. You don't.”
I turned away.
Jonathan quietly handed me another document.
It was the Bennett family trust.
My name was at the top.
LILY BENNETT — CONTROLLING BENEFICIARY.
But beneath it was another name.
I stared.
“Who is that?”
My father went completely still.
Jonathan looked at him.
“Perhaps you should tell her.”
I turned toward my father.
“Dad?”
He didn't answer.
The name belonged to someone I had never heard of.
Someone my mother had secretly named as a second heir.
May you like
And suddenly I realized Helen's attack had never really been about my wedding.
It had been about what my mother left behind.
