Emily refused to cancel the wedding.
Not because she still trusted Daniel.
Not because she believed everything Jack had said.
She simply couldn't walk away from the mystery.
For twenty-six years, her family had lived around a hole in its own history.
Her father was supposedly dead.
Her uncle supposedly didn't exist.
Richard Vale was supposedly an innocent businessman.
And Daniel was supposedly the man she could trust.
Too many supposedly.
By sunset, Emily was sitting alone in her father's old study.
Jack had left the estate.
Margaret had locked herself in her bedroom.
Daniel was gone.
Emily opened every drawer in the study.
She searched through old files, photographs, receipts and letters.
Nothing.
Then she noticed something strange.
One of the bookshelves was slightly crooked.
She pulled it forward.
Behind it was a narrow compartment.
Inside was a metal box.
Emily's hands shook as she opened it.
There were three things inside.
A key.
A cassette tape.
And a photograph.
Emily picked up the photograph.
It showed three men.
Her father.
Richard Vale.
And Thomas Carter.
Her uncle.
On the back was a date.
June 14, 2000.
Emily stared at the three faces.
Then she noticed something.
Her father and Thomas were looking at the camera.
Richard wasn't.
He was looking at Thomas.
Almost as if he was afraid of him.
Emily inserted the cassette into an old player.
Static filled the room.
Then her father's voice.
"Margaret, if you're hearing this, something went wrong."
Emily stopped breathing.
Her father's voice continued.
"Richard knows about the account."
A pause.
"I thought Thomas was helping him."
Emily's eyes widened.
"Then I realized I had it backward."
The tape crackled.
"Thomas isn't working with Richard. He's been trying to expose him."
Emily covered her mouth.
The recording continued.
"I don't know who else is involved. I don't know who I can trust."
Then her father's voice became quieter.
"But there is one person Richard would never suspect."
The recording ended.
Emily stared at the machine.
One person.
Who?
She rewound the tape.
The sentence repeated.
"There is one person Richard would never suspect."
The front door opened.
Emily turned.
Daniel stood in the doorway.
"Where did you get that?"
Emily stood.
"You knew about this room?"
Daniel didn't answer.
"Did you know about the tape?"
"No."
"Then why are you afraid?"
"I'm not afraid."
"You are."
Daniel looked at the photograph.
His expression changed.
"Where did you find that?"
"Who is Thomas?"
Daniel looked down.
"I've heard the name."
"My mother said I didn't have an uncle."
"Emily—"
"Stop protecting everyone."
She held up the tape.
"My father said Thomas was trying to expose your father."
Daniel stared at her.
"My father wasn't the only one who wanted your father gone."
Emily froze.
"What does that mean?"
Daniel stepped inside.
"I found something too."
He pulled a folded document from his pocket.
Emily took it.
It was a legal transfer dated three weeks after David disappeared.
Rosewood Industries had been transferred to Vantage Holdings.
The signature at the bottom belonged to Richard Vale.
But underneath it was another signature.
Margaret Carter.
Emily stared at it.
"My mother signed this?"
Daniel nodded.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Emily's heart sank.
"Maybe she was part of it."
Daniel shook his head.
"Your mother loved your father."
"People can love someone and still betray them."
Daniel didn't argue.
Instead, he said,
"There's something else."
He pulled out his phone.
On the screen was an old photograph.
Emily looked at it.
It was a picture of a man standing outside a roadside diner.
The man was older, his hair gray, but his face was unmistakable.
Thomas.
Emily whispered,
"Where did you get this?"
"It was sent to me this morning."
"By whom?"
"An unknown number."
Emily looked at the timestamp.
7:12 a.m.
Before the wedding.
The same morning Jack had arrived.
A new message appeared.
DON'T TRUST JACK.
Emily looked up.
"Who sent this?"
"I don't know."
Another message arrived.
THOMAS IS NOT THE MAN YOU THINK HE IS.
Emily's mind raced.
"Call the number."
Daniel did.
It rang once.
Then disconnected.
A second later, Emily's phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
"Hello?"
Silence.
Then a man's voice.
Older.
Calm.
"Emily?"
Her heart stopped.
"Who is this?"
"You found your father's recording."
Emily looked at Daniel.
"Who are you?"
The voice answered.
"Your uncle."
Thomas.
Emily couldn't speak.
"Where are you?"
"Somewhere your father once trusted."
"Tell me where."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because if you come looking for me, they'll know you found the truth."
"Who?"
A pause.
"Your mother."
Emily froze.
"What?"
"Your mother is not the person you should be afraid of."
Daniel grabbed her hand.
The voice continued.
"Emily, listen carefully."
"I am."
"Your father didn't disappear because Richard wanted him dead."
Emily's heart pounded.
"Then why?"
"Because David discovered who was actually stealing the money."
"Who?"
Thomas went silent.
Then he said,
"The person responsible is the reason you were never told I existed."
Emily's eyes moved toward Daniel.
"Is it my mother?"
"No."
"Is it Daniel?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Thomas hesitated.
"The person who sent you the wedding invitation."
Emily's blood ran cold.
"What?"
The line went dead.
Daniel looked at her.
"Who sent the invitation?"
Emily couldn't answer.
Because she suddenly remembered.
She hadn't ordered the wedding invitations.
Her mother had.
And Margaret had insisted on choosing the paper herself.
Emily ran upstairs.
Her mother was still inside her bedroom.
Emily opened the door.
"Mom."
Margaret looked up.
"What happened?"
"Who sent my wedding invitations?"
Margaret stared at her.
Emily repeated,
"Who sent them?"
Margaret slowly stood.
"I did."
"From where?"
"What do you mean?"
Emily held up her phone.
"Thomas called me."
Margaret's face went completely pale.
Emily stepped closer.
"He said the person responsible for Dad's disappearance is the person who sent my invitation."
Margaret whispered,
"Thomas called you?"
"Yes."
Margaret backed away.
"That's impossible."
"Why?"
"Because Thomas is dead."
Emily stared at her.
"You told me he disappeared."
Margaret's eyes filled with tears.
"I lied."
The room went silent.
"Why?"
Margaret looked at the wedding dress hanging beside the window.
Then she said,
"Because your father made me promise that if Thomas ever came back, I would never let him near you."
Emily's voice dropped.
"Why?"
Margaret looked directly at her.
"Because Thomas was the one who killed your father."