THE GROOM WHO WAITED Part Three

Daniel didn't move. He kept the phone against his ear long after the call had ended. The detective was watching him. "Who was that?" Daniel slowly lowered the phone. "My wife." The detective frowned. "You're sure?" "I know my wife's voice." "Could someone be impersonating her?" Daniel shook his head. "She said my name the way she always does." For the first time since the investigation began, Daniel felt something other than fear. Hope. His wife was alive. Somewhere. And she had just called him. --- The police traced the number. It had been switched off. The SIM card was unregistered. But there was something strange. The call had lasted only eleven seconds. And it had come from a location less than three kilometres from the church. Daniel's stomach turned. "She was there?" "Possibly," the detective said. "Then let's go." --- They arrived at an abandoned building behind an old shopping complex. The place looked deserted. Broken windows. Dusty floors. An old wooden door hanging from one hinge. Daniel stepped inside. "Daniel." He stopped. That voice again. This time, it was coming from upstairs. He ran. "Daniel!" He reached the first floor and found a small room at the end of the corridor. The door was open. Inside was a chair. A table. And a wedding photograph. Daniel picked it up. It was a photograph of him and his wife taken three months before the wedding. He stared at it. Then noticed something. Someone had scratched out his wife's face. "What is this?" The detective took the photograph from him. Behind it was another message. YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO MARRY HER. Daniel's face went pale. "What does that mean?" Before the detective could answer, they heard footsteps outside. Someone was running. Daniel rushed into the corridor. "Stop!" A figure disappeared down the stairs. The detective chased after them. Daniel followed. But by the time they reached the ground floor, the person was gone. Only a black coat remained on the floor. The same kind of coat the mysterious woman had been wearing in the photograph. --- Inside the pocket, they found a key. And a small envelope. Daniel opened it. There was only one photograph inside. It was his wife. But she wasn't wearing her wedding dress. She was sitting in a hospital bed. Daniel stared at the picture. "She was in a hospital?" The detective looked at the date written at the bottom. "Two days before your wedding." Daniel's mind raced. He had spoken to his wife that day. She had told him she was at home preparing for the wedding. She had lied. There was another thing. The photograph had been taken inside a hospital Daniel knew very well. The hospital where his wife had been born. --- They went there immediately. The receptionist searched the records. After several minutes, she looked up. "Yes. She was admitted here." Daniel's voice shook. "For what?" The receptionist hesitated. "She came in for a blood test." "What kind?" The receptionist looked at the detective. "A DNA test." Daniel's heart sank. "Why would my wife take a DNA test?" The receptionist didn't know. But she gave them the name of the doctor who had ordered it. Dr. Ibrahim. Unfortunately, Dr. Ibrahim had disappeared two days earlier. --- That evening, Daniel returned home alone. His wedding suit was still hanging in the bedroom. Her shoes were beside the bed. Her perfume was on the dresser. Everything looked exactly as she had left it. Except for one thing. There was a note underneath his pillow. Daniel picked it up with trembling hands. He recognised his wife's handwriting immediately. It said: Daniel, if you are reading this, I failed to stop them. He read the next line. Then stopped breathing. The woman in the morgue is wearing my wedding dress because I gave it to her. Daniel sat down on the bed. His hands began to shake. There was more. I knew they would come looking for me. I needed them to believe I was dead. And finally: I'm sorry I made you wait at the altar. Daniel stared at the note. Then his phone buzzed. A message. No number. Just a photograph. It showed his wife standing outside a house. Alive. And underneath the photograph were six words: Don't let Daniel find out the truth.

The Groom Who Waited

Referral Earning

Points-to-Coupons