The lake house was dark when we arrived.
The place where Daniel had proposed to me looked different at night.
Lonely.
Abandoned.
Almost threatening.
I unlocked the front door.
Inside, everything smelled like dust and old wood.
I remembered Daniel kneeling beside the fireplace three years earlier.
He had been nervous.
So nervous that he dropped the ring.
I had laughed.
Then he laughed.
And then he had asked me to marry him.
I had said yes before he finished the question.
I swallowed.
“Where would Daniel hide something?”
Lucas looked around.
“Somewhere sentimental.”
Ethan walked toward the fireplace.
He touched the stone.
“Here.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Daniel told me.”
He pushed one of the stones.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside was a small metal box.
My hands trembled as I opened it.
There were documents.
Bank statements.
Photographs.
Contracts.
And one handwritten letter.
I began reading.
The truth was worse than I imagined.
Twenty years earlier, my father and Daniel's father had been business partners.
They had stolen millions from their company.
When they were discovered, they blamed a third partner.
That man went to prison.
But he had a daughter.
My mother.
I stopped reading.
“What?”
Ethan looked at me.
“Your mother wasn't your father's wife when they met.”
I shook my head.
“I know.”
“No.”
He pointed to the papers.
“Your mother was the daughter of the man they framed.”
I couldn't breathe.
“My father framed her father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect himself.”
I looked at the documents.
“And Daniel knew?”
“Yes.”
“That's why he disappeared.”
Lucas nodded.
“He wanted to expose our father.”
I turned toward Ethan.
“And you?”
“I wanted the same thing.”
A noise came from upstairs.
We all froze.
Footsteps.
Someone was inside.
Ethan raised a finger to his lips.
The footsteps came closer.
Then a voice whispered:
“Mia?”
My heart stopped.
“Daniel?”
I ran toward the stairs.
Ethan grabbed my arm.
“Wait.”
The footsteps stopped.
A figure appeared at the top of the staircase.
It was Daniel.
Alive.
His face was bruised.
His shirt was torn.
But he was standing.
I burst into tears.
“Daniel!”
He came down the stairs.
I ran into his arms.
For several seconds, I forgot everything else.
I forgot the strange groom.
The gunman.
The secrets.
I only knew that the man I loved was alive.
Then Daniel pushed me away.
His eyes were filled with fear.
“Who brought you here?”
“Ethan.”
Daniel looked at his brother.
Then at Ethan.
His face hardened.
“You shouldn't have come back.”
Ethan didn't move.
“I had to.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Mia, you have to leave.”
“Not without you.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He reached for my hand.
Then he saw the ring.
His expression changed.
“Where did you get that?”
I looked down.
“The ring you gave me.”
Daniel went pale.
“I never gave you that ring.”
Silence.
“What?”
He took my hand.
“This isn't mine.”
I looked at Ethan.
Then Lucas.
Nobody spoke.
Daniel whispered:
“They've already replaced you.”