After that, none of this matters.
The second said:
If Anna becomes difficult, there are other options within the family.
My eyes moved toward Claire.
She stared back at me.
“No.”
Daniel finally spoke.
“Anna, those are fake.”
Rebecca laughed.
“Of course.”
“Everything she’s saying is insane.”
Dad asked, “Then what does the key open?”
Silence.
“Why did you recognize it?”
More silence.
“Why is your legal wife standing in my daughter’s wedding reception?”
Daniel’s composure cracked.
“Because she wants money.”
Rebecca stepped forward.
“I spent six years hiding from you.”
“You took my life!”
“You stole someone else’s!”
His face twisted.
For the first time I saw something beneath the charm.
Something ugly.
Something furious.
And suddenly I understood why Rebecca had disappeared.
Daniel turned toward me.
“Anna, listen to me.”
“No.”
“You know me.”
I almost laughed.
“No.
Apparently I don’t even know your name.”
“It’s still me.”
“Which you?”
He flinched.
“The man who loves you.”
“You slept with my sister.”
Claire sobbed.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at her.
All evening, some part of me had been avoiding that conversation.
Maybe because Ethan—Daniel—had become so monstrous that Claire’s betrayal seemed smaller beside it.
But it wasn’t.
Not to me.
“How long?”
Claire cried harder.
“Anna—”
“How long?”
“Eight months.”
Eight months.
I closed my eyes.
“Why?”
“He told me your relationship was over.”
A laugh escaped me.
“We were planning a wedding.”
“He said it was complicated.”
“Complicated?”
“He said you were only going through with it because of family pressure.”
Daniel interrupted.
“Claire, stop talking.”
That made everyone look at her.
Claire stared at him.
Something changed in her face.
Fear became anger.
“You told me she knew.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“You said Anna knew you wanted out.
You said the marriage was just a financial arrangement.”
I looked at my sister.
“And you believed him?”
“At first.”
The words nearly broke me.
“At first?”
Claire swallowed.
“Then I started finding things.”
“What things?”
“The names.”
Daniel went still.
Claire looked toward Rebecca.
“I found Daniel Sloan six weeks ago.”
Now Rebecca looked surprised.
Claire wiped her face.
“I searched one of the old companies he mentioned.
I found an archived article about the accident.
There was a photograph.”
She looked directly at me.
“That’s when I realized Ethan Caldwell was dead.”
Daniel whispered,
“Claire.”
“Shut up.”
It was the first strong thing she had said all night.
She stood.
“I told him I was going to you.”
The video suddenly made sense.
She deserves to know.
Daniel had told Claire to wait until after the wedding.
Not merely because he wanted to continue an affair.
Because the wedding itself mattered.
Claire looked ashamed.
“He threatened me.”
Dad stepped forward.
“With what?”
“He had photographs.
Messages.
Everything.
He said he’d tell Anna I had pursued him and destroy my career.”
“You still could have told me,” I said.
“I know.”
Her voice cracked.
“I was a coward.”
