Chapter 2: The Folder
My hands wouldn't stop shaking.
I stared at that photograph.
The woman in it was smiling.
The two children beside Ryan looked just like him.
"Who are they?" I asked.
Ryan said nothing.
Mr.
Crawford spoke quietly.
"His legal wife.
And their sons.
They live in Phoenix."
Vanessa took a step back.
"Ryan…
what is he talking about?"
Ryan turned on her fast.
"Stay out of this."
"Don't tell me to stay out of it." Her voice had changed.
"You told me she was the one you were leaving.
You told me there was no one else."
Ryan grabbed her arm.
"Vanessa, stop talking."
She pulled free.
"How many of us are there?"
Nobody answered.
Mr.
Crawford looked at me.
"Mrs.
Bennett, your father hired us six weeks ago.
He found the first marriage license before you did."
I felt the ground shift under me.
My father had known.
He had known and said nothing.
"Why didn't he tell me?" I whispered.
Mr.
Crawford paused.
"Because he found something else.
Something worse."
He reached into the folder again.
Ryan moved forward.
"Don't you dare—"
The second man stepped between them.
Mr.
Crawford placed a single document in my hands.
I looked down.
And the name printed at the top made my legs go weak.
---
What was on that document — and what did Emily's father really find?
May you like
The full truth is darker than anyone expected.
Click the link below to read the complete story.
