THE GROOM WHO WAITED Part Four

Daniel stared at the photograph until the words beneath it blurred. DON'T LET DANIEL FIND OUT THE TRUTH. He read the message again. Then again. His wife was alive. That was all that mattered. For the first time in two days, Daniel allowed himself to breathe. He called the number. Nothing. He sent a message. Where are you? A minute passed. Then his phone buzzed. Come alone. An address followed. Daniel grabbed his keys. --- The house was on the outskirts of the city. Small. Old. Almost hidden behind overgrown bushes. Daniel knocked once. The door opened. His wife stood there. Alive. For a few seconds, neither of them spoke. She looked exhausted. Her hair was messy, her eyes swollen from crying. But it was her. Daniel stepped forward. She immediately backed away. "Don't." His face tightened. "You let me think you were dead." "I know." "You let me stand in a morgue and look at a woman wearing your wedding dress." "I know." "You left me at the altar." Tears filled her eyes. "I know, Daniel." "Then tell me why." She looked away. "Because they were going to kill me." Daniel went silent. "Who?" "My father." He stared at her. "What?" She shook her head. "Not just him. There are other people involved." Daniel couldn't understand. "My father has been laundering money for years. I found out accidentally. I found documents. Bank transfers. Names. Payments." "Why didn't you tell me?" "Because I thought I could handle it." She laughed bitterly. "I was wrong." She explained everything. Two days before their wedding, she had gone to the hospital for a DNA test. Not because she suspected Daniel. Because she had discovered that the man she had always believed was her biological father wasn't her father at all. The result confirmed it. Her real father was someone else. And that man had been investigating her father's criminal activities for years. She had found out that her father knew. And worse, he knew she had discovered the truth. "That's when the threats started," she whispered. Daniel sat quietly. "So you planned all this?" She nodded. "I couldn't just disappear. They would have searched for me." "So you used another woman?" Her eyes filled with tears. "I didn't kill her." Daniel looked at her sharply. "I know." "The woman in the morgue was already dead. She was unidentified. I found her through someone who helped me." Daniel shook his head. "That's insane." "I know." "You could have told me." "I wanted to." She reached for his hand. "But if I told you, they would have followed you too." Daniel pulled his hand away. "You still should have trusted me." She began crying. "I was scared." "And I was standing at an altar wondering what I had done wrong." She looked at him. "I'm sorry." Daniel wanted to be angry. He was angry. But seeing her standing there alive made everything complicated. Then he noticed something. "Where is your phone?" She froze. "What?" "Your phone." "I don't have it." Daniel's expression changed. "Who helped you disappear?" She didn't answer. "Who?" Before she could speak, headlights appeared outside. A car stopped in front of the house. His wife grabbed his arm. "They found us." --- The front door shook. Someone was trying to force it open. Daniel looked at his wife. "What do we do?" She pointed toward the back door. "Run." They ran. But before they reached the gate, Daniel heard a familiar voice from inside the house. "Daniel!" He stopped. The detective. The same detective who had been investigating his wife's disappearance. His wife grabbed him. "Don't go back." But Daniel turned. The detective stood in the doorway. And beside him was Daniel's father-in-law. The man Daniel's wife had just accused of everything. The older man smiled. "You finally found her." Daniel's wife went pale. Then the detective said something that made Daniel's blood run cold. "There's something your wife didn't tell you." Daniel looked at her. "What?" The detective held up a file. "The DNA test wasn't about finding her biological father." He opened the file. "It was about you." Daniel stared at him. His wife began to cry. "Daniel..." The detective continued. "The DNA results showed that you and your wife are not who you thought you were." Daniel couldn't speak. "What does that mean?" The detective looked at the two of them. "It means your entire relationship was built on a lie." And then his wife whispered: "I'm sorry." Daniel looked at her. "For what?" She swallowed. "Because I knew before I married you."

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