Chapter 3 - The Unknown Witness and the Digital Trap
As the medical van rolled down the coastal highway toward the opulent resort, my phone buzzed again with a WhatsApp notification from the unknown number.
“Meet me at the marina behind the resort in twenty minutes. Come alone—or at least as alone as a woman in a wheelchair can be. I have the video file from the stairs, and it shows more than just a simple fall.”
I looked at Vesper. He shook his head slowly. “Could be a trap set by your father's lawyers. Let's send in one of our security operatives first to sweep the area.”
We parked three blocks away from the marina. Within ten minutes, one of Vesper’s operatives, a rugged ex-marine named Marcus, signaled that the pier was clear. I wheeled myself down the wooden boardwalk, the salty ocean breeze whipping my hair across my face.
Waiting at the end of the dock was a figure huddled in a dark hoodie. As I rolled closer, the hood fell back, revealing wide, terrified eyes.
It wasn't Briany. It was Alden.
Sutton’s groom.
I gripped my wheelchair wheels, coming to an abrupt halt. “Alden? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be getting ready for the rehearsal dinner retry or fleeing the country?”
Alden looked exhausted, dark circles bruised beneath his eyes. He wasn't wearing his designer suit; instead, he wore a simple windbreaker, his hands trembling as he pulled a small USB flash drive from his pocket.
“I didn't flee, Fallon,” Alden said, his voice raw. “I walked out because I finally saw the monster I was about to marry. And worse... I saw the people who created her.”
“Explain,” I demanded, keeping my guard up.
“Your mother and father called a family meeting in the bridal suite right after you left for the hospital,” Alden explained, stepping closer. “I stood outside the door because I dropped my cufflink. I heard every word. Your father wasn't worried about your leg. He was laughing about the bank transfer. He said, 'Once Fallon defaults on the cargo contract tomorrow morning, the board will have no choice but to award the inspection rights to us.' And Sutton... Sutton bragged about how she timed her step to make sure you landed squarely on the metal pins so you wouldn't be able to contest the paperwork.”
My stomach churned with a mixture of rage and profound nausea. My own flesh and blood had plotted my financial and physical destruction with the cold precision of corporate raiders.
“Why are you telling me this, Alden?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “You were marrying into the family. You stood right beside her while she humiliated me for years.”
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Alden swallowed hard, holding out the flash drive. “Because I have a conscience, Fallon. And because I found out something else. That flash drive doesn't just contain high-definition footage of Sutton shoving you down the stairs from three different angles. It also contains financial records I downloaded from your father's laptop while he was downstairs bragging about the heist. They’ve been forging your signature on corporate documents for over six months.”
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