Chapter 7 - The Secret Inside Sarah’s Last Days
Chapter 7 - The Secret Inside Sarah’s Last Days
The chapel no longer felt like a wedding venue.
The flowers were still there.
The music was still playing softly in the background.
The chairs were still arranged neatly for the guests.
But everything beautiful about the morning had disappeared.
Because everyone was waiting for the truth.
I looked at Rebecca.
The woman who was supposed to become my wife.
The woman who had promised to stand beside me forever.
Now she was standing in front of me surrounded by secrets.
And for the first time…
I wondered if I had ever truly known her.
“What happened to Sarah?”
My voice was calm.
But inside, everything was shaking.
Rebecca looked at the floor.
“I don’t want to talk about this here.”
I almost could not believe what I was hearing.
“Here?”
I looked around.
“At our wedding?”
She closed her eyes.
“Michael…”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You don’t get to choose when the truth comes out anymore.”
The guests became completely silent.
Even those who had been whispering stopped.
Because everyone understood.
This was no longer a misunderstanding.
This was something much deeper.
Rebecca’s mother stepped forward.
“Maybe he deserves to know.”
Rebecca looked at her.
“Mom, please.”
Her mother looked hurt.
“You promised me you would tell him before the wedding.”
Those words hit me.
“Before the wedding?”
I looked at Rebecca.
“You planned to tell me?”
She swallowed.
“Yes.”
“When?”
She did not answer.
I nodded slowly.
“After I married you?”
Rebecca looked away.
And once again…
Silence gave me the answer.
Emily moved closer to me.
I immediately reached for her hand.
She was watching everything.
She was trying to understand why adults kept secrets.
And I hated that she was learning that lesson today.
Daniel opened the folder again.
“There are records from the weeks before Sarah’s accident.”
I looked at him.
“Records?”
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
He hesitated.
“Messages.”
My heart tightened.
“Between who?”
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
“Between Rebecca and Sarah.”
Rebecca’s face went pale.
“You went through those?”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at me.
“Sarah saved them.”
I stared at him.
“Why?”
Daniel answered quietly.
“Because she was afraid.”
The word stayed in my mind.
Sarah was afraid.
The woman I loved.
The woman who always believed everything could be fixed.
She was afraid.
I looked at Rebecca.
“What did you say to her?”
Rebecca’s eyes filled with tears.
“I was angry.”
“At Sarah?”
She nodded.
“Not because of Emily.”
I frowned.
“Then why?”
Rebecca took a deep breath.
“Because I thought Sarah would always be between us.”
The confession shocked me.
“She was dying.”
“I know.”
“She was the mother of my child.”
“I know.”
“Then how could you see her as competition?”
Rebecca looked down.
“I was young.”
I stared at her.
“You were thirty.”
She had no answer.
Daniel opened a document.
“The messages started three months before the accident.”
I looked at him.
“What did they say?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“Rebecca wanted Sarah to change her will.”
My entire body went cold.
“What?”
Rebecca immediately spoke.
“That is not what happened.”
Daniel continued.
“Rebecca believed Sarah’s family inheritance should go through Emily’s legal guardian.”
I looked at Rebecca.
“And you wanted that guardian to be you.”
She did not deny it.
The silence was enough.
I felt something inside me break.
Not because of money.
Because of what it meant.
Rebecca was not just planning a future.
She was planning control.
Over my daughter.
Over Sarah’s wishes.
Over everything.
“You wanted access to Emily’s inheritance.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“No.”
“Then what did you want?”
Her eyes filled with frustration.
“I wanted to make sure Emily was protected.”
I laughed quietly.
Not because it was funny.
Because I could not believe she still believed that.
“You keep saying protection.”
I looked at the note.
“At some point, you need to admit you were making decisions for everyone.”
Rebecca became silent.
Then she whispered:
“Sarah didn’t trust me.”
The sentence surprised me.
“What?”
Rebecca looked at me.
“She never trusted that I could love Emily.”
I did not answer.
Because maybe that was the first honest thing she had said.
“She thought I would replace her.”
I looked at Emily.
Then back at Rebecca.
“And were you?”
Rebecca started crying.
“No.”
But her voice was uncertain.
That uncertainty hurt.
Daniel suddenly pulled another paper from the folder.
“There is one more thing.”
I looked at him.
“What now?”
He handed it to me.
“This was found in Sarah’s personal belongings.”
I unfolded it.
The handwriting was Sarah’s again.
But this time, there was only one sentence.
One sentence that made my entire body freeze.
“If anything happens to me, do not let Rebecca make decisions about Emily alone.”
I slowly lowered the paper.
The chapel disappeared around me.
The guests disappeared.
The wedding disappeared.
Because the woman I trusted had not just hidden a secret.
She had hidden a warning.
A warning from the woman who knew her better than anyone.
I looked at Rebecca.
She was crying.
But I needed to know one thing.
“Did Sarah die because of what happened between you two?”
Rebecca looked at me.
And for the first time…
She looked completely broken.
“I didn’t kill Sarah.”
The words shocked everyone.
Because nobody had asked that question.
Not out loud.
But Rebecca had answered it anyway.
And that was when I realized something terrifying.
There was another secret.
A secret even bigger than the wedding.
Bigger than the note.
Bigger than the guardianship plan.
The question was no longer why Rebecca wanted Emily gone.
The question was…
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What was Rebecca trying to hide about the day Emily lost her mother?
TO BE CONTINUED...
