The Wedding Was Built on a Forgery
Chapter 02 - The Wedding Was Built on a Forgery
The footage showed Adrian sitting across from a courthouse clerk three weeks earlier. He slid the envelope across the desk, removed Maya’s marriage certificate from a folder, and placed a second document beside it. The camera had no sound, but the images were clear enough: the clerk stamped a forged annulment while Adrian watched.
Maya felt the room tilt. Adrian had not merely abandoned her. He had tried to erase her.
The video cut to another date. This time Adrian sat at the same black table now standing beside the dance floor. Evelyn’s attorney handed him a prenuptial agreement. When the attorney stepped away, Adrian exchanged several pages with copies hidden beneath a velvet ring case. He signed the altered document and smiled directly beneath the security camera.
Evelyn’s father pushed through the crowd and seized the papers from the table. His attorney scanned them, then went pale. The substituted pages would transfer control of the Hart Foundation and several family properties to Adrian immediately after the wedding.
“You were going to steal everything,” Evelyn whispered.
Adrian raised both hands. “The footage is edited. Maya made it because she wants money.”
Maya could barely breathe. “I didn’t even know you were getting married.”
He faced her with sudden fury. “You knew exactly what you were doing when you came here.”
That was when a young bridesmaid stepped out from behind the floral arch. Her name was Sophie, Evelyn’s nineteen-year-old sister. Her satin dress trembled because her whole body was shaking, but she did not step back.
“I sent Maya the invitation,” Sophie said. “And I played the footage.”
Evelyn stared at her. “How did you get it?”
Sophie pointed to Adrian’s tablet on the black table. “I saw him threatening the clerk in the hotel garage. Later, I found a folder on his tablet called ‘Exit Plans.’ It had copies of the videos, forged documents, fake medical records, and a schedule for leaving the country tomorrow morning.”
The guests erupted. Adrian’s eyes moved from the tablet to the nearest exit. Noah stepped between him and Maya.
Sophie continued, her voice growing stronger. “There’s also an audio file. He says the baby is his. He says he’ll make Maya look unstable if she ever finds him.”
Maya covered her mouth as tears spilled down her face.
Adrian suddenly charged toward the table. He knocked over a chair, grabbed the tablet, and tore a small black USB drive from its side. Then he ran toward the elevators.
May you like
The doors opened before he reached them.
Three police officers were already waiting.
