Chapter 2: The Bride's Perfect Crime

The lawyer placed several photographs on the table.

Each image came from traffic cameras recorded three years earlier.

One photograph showed Vanessa standing near the bridge.

Another showed her speaking to a mechanic just hours before the crash.

The final image silenced everyone.

A bank transfer.

Two million dollars.

Paid to the mechanic one day later.

Vanessa's breathing became uneven.

"This proves nothing."

The lawyer calmly continued.

"The mechanic confessed yesterday."

"He cut the brake lines on Sophia's vehicle."

"The order came from Vanessa."

Gasps echoed across the ballroom.

Daniel stared at the woman he had almost married.

"You tried to kill her?"

Vanessa finally laughed.

Not nervously.

Coldly.

"You still don't understand."

"I loved you."

"She had everything."

"You were supposed to be mine."

Security guards stepped toward her.

Vanessa tried to run.

But Emily suddenly walked in front of Sophia.

Tiny.

Fearless.

"You hurt my mommy."

The child's voice stopped everyone.

Vanessa froze.

For the first time...

She looked ashamed.

Police officers entered moments later.

The mechanic had confessed in full.

Vanessa was arrested in front of every wedding guest.

Her diamond ring slipped from her finger as the handcuffs closed around her wrists.

The ballroom that had celebrated her wedding became the place where her lies ended forever.

But Daniel wasn't celebrating.

He was staring at Sophia.

Knowing prison could punish Vanessa...

Yet nothing could erase the years Sophia had lost.