Chapter 1 - The Wedding That Never Began
For three seconds, Rebecca and I simply stared at each other across the chapel entrance.
Emily’s arms were locked around my neck.
Rebecca’s smile remained fixed because nearly two hundred people were watching us.
But I had known her long enough to recognize fear when I saw it.
“Michael.”
Her voice stayed soft.
“We need to start.”
I looked at the woman I had planned to spend the rest of my life with.
Then I looked at my daughter.
“No.”
Rebecca blinked.
“What?”
“We’re not starting anything.”
A murmur moved through the first rows of guests.
Rebecca took one careful step toward me.
“Michael, whatever happened can be discussed after the ceremony.”
Emily buried her face against my shoulder.
That movement decided everything.
“There won’t be a ceremony.”
Rebecca’s expression cracked.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
“You’re humiliating me.”
“You wrote something to my daughter.”
Her eyes flashed toward Emily.
Then back to me.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I reached into my jacket and unfolded the note.
Rebecca went pale.
I didn’t read it aloud.
Emily had already been frightened enough.
Instead, I held it where Rebecca could see her own handwriting.
“You told my seven-year-old child that I agreed to send her away.”
Rebecca lowered her voice.
“This is not the place.”
“You made it the place when you gave this to her ten minutes before our wedding.”
The priest quietly stepped away from the altar.
My sister Lauren rose from her seat.
Rebecca noticed.
Her voice sharpened.
“Michael, Emily has been having emotional difficulties.”
I almost laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because the lie was so cold.
“What emotional difficulties?”
Rebecca hesitated.
“That’s exactly why we need privacy.”
Emily lifted her head.
“She said the car was already coming.”
The entire chapel seemed to become silent.
“What car?”
Rebecca looked at Emily with a warning in her eyes.
I stepped between them.
“What car, Rebecca?”
She said nothing.
Emily whispered into my ear.
“A gray van.”
My stomach tightened.
“She said they would take me after the pictures.”
I handed Emily to Lauren.
“Stay with Aunt Lauren.”
Then I turned toward my best man.
“David, lock the side doors.”
Rebecca’s eyes widened.
“You cannot imprison people in a church.”
“I’m not imprisoning anyone.”
I pointed toward the rear entrance.
“I’m making sure nobody takes my daughter.”
My phone was already in my hand.
Rebecca grabbed my wrist.
“Michael, stop.”
I looked down at her fingers.
She immediately released me.
I called the police.
Then I called my attorney, Andrew Cole.
He answered on the second ring.
“I thought you were getting married.”
“Not anymore.”
I looked directly at Rebecca.
“I need you to find out whether anyone filed papers involving Emily.”
There was a pause.
“What kind of papers?”
“Custody.”
Rebecca spun around.
“Michael.”
“Guardianship.”
Her face changed again.
That was all the confirmation I needed.
Andrew’s voice became serious.
“I’m checking now.”
Rebecca stepped backward.
Her beautiful lace gown dragged across the chapel floor.
“This is insane.”
“No.”
I pointed to the note.
“This is insane.”
Five minutes later, flashing lights appeared beyond the stained-glass windows.
But before the officers entered, David came running from behind the chapel.
His face was white.
“Michael.”
“What?”
“There’s a gray van parked behind the kitchen entrance.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
David swallowed.
“And there are two people standing beside it.”
May you like
He looked toward Emily.
“They have her name on a clipboard.”
