Chapter 3: The File With My Name On It
I had spent the last three years believing I knew exactly who Cole Marston was.
That was the cruelest part.
Not the cheating.
Not even the fact that my own sister had looked me in the eyes and told me she had won.
The cruelest part was realizing that every memory I had built my life around now had a question mark attached to it.
Was that moment real?
Was that promise real?
Was that person real?
And now there was a file with my name on it sitting in Adrian Marston’s hand.
A file I apparently was not supposed to open.
I stared at him across the hotel lobby.
For the first time, I understood why Cole was afraid of his older brother.
Adrian looked nothing like him.
Cole was charming.
Warm.
The kind of person who remembered everyone’s birthday and made strangers feel like old friends.
Adrian was different.
He stood completely still.
His dark coat was buttoned neatly.
His expression was unreadable.
But his eyes were focused.
Like he had spent a long time preparing for this exact moment.
Tessa stood beside him, looking uncomfortable.
That alone told me something was wrong.
My sister was never uncomfortable.
Tessa could walk into any room and make people notice her.
She had always been fearless.
But now she kept glancing at Adrian like she was worried he knew something she didn’t.
I ended the call.
Then I looked at him.
“You’re Adrian.””
He nodded.
“Yes.””
“The man who knew my fiancé was cheating on me.””
His jaw tightened.
“I suspected.””
“That’s not an answer.””
“No,” he said quietly.
“It isn’t.””
I stepped closer.
“Then give me one.””
The hotel lobby suddenly felt too bright.
Too public.
People walked past us carrying suitcases and laughing about weekend plans.
Nobody knew that my entire future had collapsed thirty feet away from them.
Adrian looked at the folder.
Then back at me.
“You shouldn’t read this here.””
I almost laughed.
“You’re worried about privacy?””
His expression changed slightly.
“I’m worried about what happens after you read it.””
That sentence should have scared me.
Instead, it made me angry.
Because everyone kept talking around me.
Cole.
Tessa.
Now Adrian.
Everyone had information.
Everyone had secrets.
And I was the only person whose life was being destroyed.
“I am done being the last person to know anything,” I said.
Adrian studied me for a moment.
Then he handed me the folder.
I took it.
It was heavier than it looked.
Maybe because of the paper inside.
Maybe because of everything those papers represented.
“You said not to open it,” I reminded him.
“I said not to open it here.””
I looked at him.
“What’s the difference?””
“The difference is that once you know what’s inside, you can’t go back to the woman you were ten minutes ago.””
I swallowed.
“I already can’t.””
For the first time, something like regret crossed his face.
“Come with me.””
I should have said no.
Every instinct told me to walk away.
To go home.
To block every number connected to the Marston family.
To crawl into bed and pretend the last twenty-four hours had never happened.
But there was a reason I followed him.
Because deep down, I knew one thing.
Cole had lied to me.
Tessa had betrayed me.
But Adrian?
Adrian was the only person who looked like he hated what happened.
We drove five minutes to a quiet coffee shop near the river.
It was the kind of place I would have loved before today.
Soft music.
Wooden tables.
Warm lights reflecting against the windows.
A place where couples whispered and laughed.
I sat across from Adrian, the folder between us.
He didn’t touch his coffee.
Neither did I.
“Start talking,” I said.
He nodded.
“Cole and I grew up differently.””
I frowned.
“What does that have to do with anything?””
“Everything.””
He looked out the window.
“People think Cole is the good brother.””
I didn’t answer.
Because that was exactly how everyone saw him.
The easygoing one.
The successful one.
The person everyone wanted around.
“Cole learned early that people forgive him when he makes them feel special,” Adrian continued.
“That sounds like jealousy.””
“It would be if I was talking about personality.””
He looked at me.
“I’m talking about patterns.””
I crossed my arms.
“What patterns?””
Adrian opened the folder.
The first thing I saw was not a photo.
Not a message.
Not a document.
It was a bank statement.
My name was nowhere on it.
But Cole’s was.
I looked closer.
“Why am I looking at his account?””
“Because of the withdrawals.””
I scanned the page.
Several large transfers.
Different dates.
Different amounts.
I looked up.
“What is this?””
“Money moved from Cole’s personal account into another account.””
“Whose?””
Adrian was silent.
Then:
“Tessa’s.””
The room seemed to tilt.
I stared at the paper.
“No.””
“I know what it looks like.””
“No.””
I pushed the folder slightly away.
“You’re saying he was paying her?””
“I’m saying money was transferred.””
“That’s not the same thing.””
“No.””
Adrian’s voice was careful.
“That’s why I kept investigating.””
I looked at him.
“What else?””
He opened another document.
This time, a printed email.
The sender was Cole.
The receiver was someone named Marcus Hale.
I didn’t recognize the name.
“What is this?””
“Your wedding planner.””
My stomach dropped.
“Why would Cole email my wedding planner?””
Adrian didn’t answer.
I read the first line.
*We need to make sure Emma never sees the original contract.*
My hands went cold.
I kept reading.
*The cancellation fee can be handled after everything is finalized.*
I looked up.
“What does this mean?””
Adrian leaned forward.
“It means Cole wasn’t just having an affair.””
I felt my heartbeat in my throat.
“He was preparing for something.””
The room became silent.
I looked down at the folder.
The papers.
The proof.
The pieces of a life I thought I understood.
“What was he preparing for?””
Adrian hesitated.
That scared me more than anything else.
Because if he didn’t know, he would have said so.
“He was preparing to leave you.””
I stared at him.
“He was going to leave me?””
“Yes.””
“But why?””
Adrian looked away.
“I don’t know everything yet.””
I almost stood.
“You don’t know?””
“No.””
“Then why are you showing me this?””
“Because I know enough.””
I waited.
“Enough to know what?””
His expression hardened.
“Enough to know Cole was waiting until after the wedding.””
The words barely registered.
“After the wedding?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Adrian took a breath.
“Because after you became his wife, separating from him would have been much harder.””
I felt sick.
“He was planning to marry me so he could—”
“Control the situation.””
I looked away.
The coffee shop suddenly felt like it was closing in.
All those conversations about our future.
Buying a house.
Having children.
Growing old together.
Had they all been part of some plan?
I thought about the proposal.
The ring.
The tears in his eyes.
I had believed they were proof of love.
Now I wondered if they were just part of the performance.
My phone buzzed.
I looked down.
A message.
From Cole.
*Please talk to me. You’re making a mistake.*
Another message appeared.
*Emma, Adrian is not who you think he is.*
I showed Adrian.
He read it.
His expression didn’t change.
“He always does that.””
“Does what?””
“Turns the person exposing him into the villain.””
I stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
This one was different.
No anger.
No apology.
Just three words.
*Ask about July.*
I looked at Adrian.
“What happened in July?””
For the first time all night, Adrian looked genuinely uncomfortable.
“Emma—”
“No.””
I placed the phone on the table.
“You don’t get to stop now.””
He looked at me.
“July was when everything changed.””
“What happened?””
He stayed silent.
I felt my anger rising.
“What happened in July?””
Finally, he reached into the folder and pulled out one last photograph.
He placed it face down on the table.
“Before you see this,” Adrian said, “you need to understand something.””
“What?””
“Cole didn’t start his betrayal with Tessa.””
My breathing stopped.
“Then who?””
Adrian slowly turned the photograph over.
And I saw myself.
Standing outside a restaurant.
Five months earlier.
With a man I had never met.
A man who was not Cole.
On the back of the photograph was a handwritten note.
Four words.
May you like
Four words that made my blood run cold.
*She knows too much.*
