Chapter 1: The Web of Lies
The ballroom had never been so silent.
Guests stood frozen as police officers pinned Ethan to the marble floor while his expensive tuxedo became wrinkled beneath his desperate struggle.
"This is a mistake!" he shouted. "You don't understand!"
But nobody was listening anymore.
Sophia, still wearing her white wedding gown, stared at him as though she was looking at a complete stranger.
The man she had loved for four years.
The man she was supposed to spend the rest of her life with.
The man who had just tried to drug her.
Then her gaze shifted toward Emily.
Her Maid of Honor.
Her best friend since college.
Emily's face had completely drained of color.
"Tell me this isn't true," Sophia whispered.
Emily opened her mouth, but no words came out.
The waitress stepped forward.
"My name is Ava Brooks," she said calmly now that security had backed away. "I'm not just a waitress."
Everyone stared at her.
Ava took a deep breath.
"I'm an investigative journalist."
Murmurs spread throughout the room.
She pulled out another photograph.
Then another.
Then another.
Each image revealed secret meetings between Ethan and Emily over the past six months.
Hotel rooms.
Cash transfers.
Signed documents.
Sophia felt her entire world collapsing.
But the final piece of evidence was even worse.
A life insurance policy.
Thirty million dollars.
Sophia's name was listed.
Ethan was the sole beneficiary.
The room gasped.
Sophia stumbled backward.
This had never been about love.
It had been about money.
Everything had been a carefully designed trap.
And her two favorite people had built it together.
As police officers handcuffed Ethan, he looked directly at Sophia.
"You should've just eaten the cake."
Her heart stopped.
May you like
That sentence alone told her everything.
She had almost died on her wedding day.
