"He Told Everyone I Was His Wife. By Midnight, I Learned Why He Chose Me."

CHAPTER 3 — The Truth Daniel Never Wanted Found

Daniel forced out a laugh.

"This is ridiculous."

"You expect everyone to believe some old photograph?"

Dante didn't answer.

Instead, he nodded once toward his security team.

A projector screen descended from the ballroom ceiling.

The music stopped.

Every guest turned.

A video appeared.

Security footage.

Not from tonight.

From three months earlier.

Daniel sat inside a downtown café with Vanessa.

Their voices were perfectly clear.

"I'll leave Ellie after the promotion."

"She helped pay my bills."

"Now she's just dead weight."

Vanessa laughed.

"And the apartment?"

"Once I convince her to move out, we'll sell it."

Daniel smiled.

"She'll never know the mortgage was mostly hers."

Gasps echoed throughout the ballroom.

Ellie's heart shattered all over again.

Not because Daniel had left her.

Because every sacrifice she had made had been planned from the beginning.

The guests who had mocked her moments earlier now looked at Daniel with open disgust.

Marcus quietly stepped away from Vanessa.

"I had no idea," he said.

Vanessa reached for him.

"Marcus—"

He pulled his hand away.

"We're done."

Daniel lunged toward Dante.

"You set me up!"

"No."

Dante remained perfectly still.

"You exposed yourself."

Police officers entered the ballroom.

They already had documents in their hands.

Fraud.

Forgery.

Financial theft.

Daniel had secretly transferred money from Ellie's accounts while convincing her he was "handling their future."

Handcuffs clicked around his wrists.

For the first time in years...

Ellie watched him lose everything he had stolen from her.