Chapter 2: The Name I Was Never Supposed to See
Part 2 ⬇️
I was barely half a block from Bellini's when my phone rang.
Marcus.
I let it ring.
It rang again.
Then a third time.
I stopped walking and answered.
"She's asking to speak to the manager," he said.
His voice was low.
Careful.
"I know," I said.
"That's me."
Silence.
"Diane—"
"Tell her the manager is unavailable this evening."
I hung up.
I stood on that sidewalk for a long moment, breathing the cold air, waiting to feel something — guilt, maybe, or doubt.
But it didn't come.
What came instead was a memory.
Two years ago, at Marcus's parents' anniversary dinner, Margaret had pulled me aside in the hallway and said something I had never repeated to anyone.
Not even Marcus.
She had said: *"You know he almost married someone else.
Someone the whole family loved.
You should think about that."*
I had smiled and walked back to the table.
I had never asked who she meant.
Standing on that Chicago sidewalk, I realized I had been afraid of the answer.
My phone lit up again.
This time it wasn't Marcus.
It was a number I didn't recognize.
And the name typed into the message below it stopped me cold.
---
What Diane found in that message changes everything — and Margaret's secret is bigger than anyone knew.
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