I stared at Ethan’s signature until the letters blurred.

“If Sophie finds out what we did, we’re dead.”

The sentence was written in Ethan’s handwriting.

But I had no idea what “we did” meant.

The senior officer took the document from my hands.

“Did your ex-husband ever mention being threatened?”

“No.”

“Financial problems?”

“No.”

“Enemies?”

I almost laughed.

Ethan Xu had spent seven years making sure I knew as little as possible about the parts of his life he considered inconvenient.

“He was marrying another woman less than forty-eight hours after divorcing me. Apparently, there were many things he didn’t mention.”

The officer studied me.

“Her name is Chloe Zhang. Do you know her?”

I shook my head.

That was true.

I knew Ethan had another woman.

I had never cared enough to learn her name.

At least, that was what I had told myself.

The police drove me to the hotel where the wedding had been scheduled.

The ballroom looked almost absurdly beautiful.

White roses.

Crystal lights.

Gold ribbons.

A giant photograph of Ethan and Chloe smiling beneath the words:

FOREVER BEGINS TODAY.

Except forever had apparently lasted less than one morning.

Upstairs, the preparation suite had been sealed.

There was blood on the carpet near the bathroom.

Not enough to tell us what had happened.

Enough to make everyone nervous.

Then an officer opened the wardrobe.

Inside hung Ethan’s wedding suit.

His watch sat on the table.

His wallet was still there.

His passport too.

But his phone was missing.

So was Chloe.

“Mrs. Shen—”

“Miss Shen,” I corrected.

The officer nodded.

“Miss Shen, when did you last speak to Ethan?”

“Yesterday morning.”

“After the divorce?”

“Yes.”

“What did he say?”

I remembered standing outside the civil affairs office.

Ethan had looked at the divorce certificate for several seconds before asking:

“Are you really leaving tonight?”

I thought he was mocking me.

I had answered:

“Don’t worry. I won’t interrupt your wedding.”

He had grabbed my wrist.

Not hard.

Just suddenly.

“Sophie, go somewhere far away for a few days.”

At the time, I assumed he wanted me gone because Chloe didn’t want the ex-wife nearby.

Now those words sounded different.

Go somewhere far away.

Not leave me alone.

Not don’t interfere.

Go somewhere far away.

I told the officer.

His expression sharpened.

“Did he know you were going to Thailand?”

“No. I booked the flight afterward.”

That night, I stayed at my old apartment.

At 2:13 a.m., someone slid an envelope beneath the door.

I heard the sound.

By the time I opened it, the corridor was empty.

Inside was a hotel key card.

Room 1708.

And a handwritten note.

“Ask Linda what happened seven years ago.”

My hands turned cold.

Linda.

Ethan’s mother.

I called her immediately.

She answered on the fourth ring.

“Sophie?”

“What happened seven years ago?”

Silence.

Then the call ended.

Twenty minutes later, someone knocked.

Linda stood outside.

She looked ten years older than she had at our divorce.

“Let me in.”

I stepped aside.

She didn’t sit.

Instead, she took a photograph from her handbag.

It showed Ethan and me on our wedding day.

But someone else stood in the background.

A young woman.

Chloe.

My stomach tightened.

“She knew Ethan before me?”

Linda nodded.

“They were engaged.”

I stared at her.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Ethan told me he’d never been engaged.”

“He lied.”

“Why?”

Linda’s eyes filled with tears.

“Because Chloe disappeared three months before you met him.”

I felt the room tilt.

“What does that have to do with today?”

Linda gripped the photograph.

“Everything.”

Seven years ago, Ethan had been working with Chloe and his cousin Victor Xu on a property development company.

A large amount of investor money disappeared.

Victor blamed Chloe.

Chloe vanished.

The case quietly collapsed when the missing funds were returned.

Then Ethan met me.

At least, that was the story everyone accepted.

Until Chloe returned eight months ago.

“She contacted Ethan,” Linda whispered.

“What did she want?”

“I don’t know.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

Linda suddenly looked terrified.

“She had evidence.”

“Of what?”

Before she could answer, her phone rang.

Unknown number.

She answered.

Nobody spoke.

Then a recording played.

Ethan’s voice.

“If you’re hearing this, something happened before the wedding.”

Linda nearly dropped the phone.

I grabbed it and turned on the speaker.

Ethan continued.

“Sophie must not be involved.”

My heart stopped.

“If Chloe has disappeared too, find Victor.”

The recording ended.

The police traced the call.

Prepaid number.

No location.

But Victor Xu had already disappeared.

The hotel key card suddenly mattered.

Room 1708 belonged to a different hotel across the city.

The police went with me.

Inside, we found no Ethan.

No Chloe.

Only a laptop.

Its screen displayed one folder.

SOPHIE.

I opened it.

Seven years of documents appeared.

My properties.

My parents’ estate.

Bank valuations.

Company records.

Insurance information.

Even copies of documents I had never given Ethan.

I felt sick.

Our marriage hadn’t been random.

Someone had investigated me before Ethan ever proposed.

Then we found a video.

It had been recorded eight years earlier.

Ethan sat across from Victor.

Chloe was behind the camera.

Victor pushed a contract across the table.

“You marry Sophie Shen, and we get access to the buildings through the redevelopment agreement.”

My breathing stopped.

Ethan didn’t touch the contract.

“No.”

Victor laughed.

“Her parents are dead. She has no business experience. She won’t understand what she’s signing.”

“I said no.”

“Then repay your share of the missing money.”

Ethan looked toward Chloe.

“You said this was legal.”

Chloe’s voice came from behind the camera.

“It was supposed to be.”

The video ended.

I couldn’t move.

Ethan had known who I was before we met.

Our first meeting.

Our dates.

His proposal.

Had any of it been real?

The officer beside me opened another file.

There were dozens of recordings.

In the earliest ones, Ethan discussed approaching me.

In later ones, something changed.

He began arguing with Victor.

Refusing to let me sign investment papers.

Moving assets away from projects connected to my buildings.

Protecting me without ever telling me there was danger.

Then came the final recording.

Dated three days before our divorce.

Ethan sat alone.

“If Sophie remains my wife, Victor can use the spousal authorization I signed years ago to connect her assets to the investigation.”

He rubbed both hands over his face.

“So I’m divorcing her.”

My chest tightened.

Then he said something I never expected.

“Chloe agreed to stage the wedding. Victor believes I’m transferring everything to her afterward.”

Stage the wedding.

I looked at the officer.

“Chloe wasn’t his lover?”

“We don’t know yet.”

The recording continued.

“Once Victor appears, Chloe gives the evidence to police.”

Ethan looked directly into the camera.

“And Sophie stays out of it.”

Suddenly the ridiculous speed of his remarriage made sense.

The divorce.

The wedding the next day.

His warning that I should travel.

Even Linda’s strange lie about him being hospitalized.

They had been trying to keep me away.

Then the laptop screen went black.

A message appeared.

LIVE CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.

The webcam activated.

A dark room appeared.

Someone was sitting in a chair.

Ethan.

His shirt was stained.

His hands were tied.

But he was conscious.

My heart slammed against my ribs.

Then another figure stepped into view.

Victor Xu.

He smiled directly at the camera.

“Sophie.”

The police officer reached for his radio.

Victor lifted one finger.

“I wouldn’t.”

Then he dragged Chloe into view.

She was alive too.

Victor leaned toward the camera.

“For seven years, Ethan has been ruining my plans because he fell in love with the woman he was supposed to deceive.”

Ethan raised his head.

“Sophie, close the laptop.”

Victor laughed.

“No. She deserves the truth.”

He placed a document in front of the camera.

I recognized my father’s signature.

My entire body went cold.

Victor smiled.

“Ask Ethan why your parents really transferred those buildings to you before they died.”

I couldn’t breathe.

Ethan struggled against the chair.

“Don’t listen to him.”

But Victor turned the document around.

On the final page was another signature.

Ethan Xu.

Dated nine years ago.

Two years before Ethan and I supposedly met.

I stared at him through the screen.

“You knew my parents?”

Ethan stopped struggling.

For the first time, he looked afraid to answer me.

Victor’s smile widened.

“Oh, Sophie.”

“You still think this story began with your marriage?”

He tapped Ethan’s signature.

“Your husband knew exactly who you were long before he ever introduced himself.”

And then the screen went black.