Chapter 13 - The Wedding TapeDaniel stood frozen.
Chloe had vanished.
Again.
He wanted to scream.
Instead, he forced himself to breathe.
Ruiz approached.
“We'll find her.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“What?”
“This time I know where they're taking her.”
“Where?”
“The wedding.”
Ruiz frowned.
“Our wedding?”
Daniel nodded.
“The ceremony wasn't the beginning.”
He remembered something.
A strange moment during his wedding.
A camera malfunction.
A ten-minute gap in the recording.
He had always thought it was technical.
It wasn't.
They found the wedding footage in the archive.
Daniel played it.
The ceremony began.
Guests smiled.
Music played.
Then—
static.
The screen went black.
Ten minutes later, the video returned.
But Daniel noticed something.
His father stood beside Chloe.
Whispering into her ear.
Daniel paused the frame.
His father's lips formed three words.
Remember the basement.
Daniel's heart raced.
“The basement.”
Ruiz looked confused.
“Your house?”
Daniel nodded.
They drove to the old Mercer mansion.
The fire had been extinguished.
The basement remained untouched.
Daniel searched the walls.
Nothing.
Then Chloe's wedding ring began vibrating.
Daniel stared.
He touched it to the wall.
A hidden door opened.
Inside was a recording room.
One screen.
One chair.
And one videotape.
Daniel inserted it.
His father appeared.
Older.
Tired.
Afraid.
“Daniel, if you're watching this, Chloe has been taken.”
Daniel stared.
His father's voice continued.
“You will want to rescue her.”
A pause.
“Do not.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“Why?”
“Because the person holding her is not the enemy.”
The video changed.
Vanessa appeared.
Then Daniel's mother.
Then Marcus.
Then Chloe.
All standing together.
Working together.
Daniel stared.
“They were all part of the plan.”
His father continued.
“The four families believe they control you.”
He smiled sadly.
“They don't know what you became.”
The screen showed Daniel at seventeen.
He was writing in a notebook.
Then he looked directly at the camera.
The teenage Daniel spoke:
“If I ever forget, remind me of this.”
He held up the black journal.
“I created the second ledger.”
He turned the page.
“And I hid the original inside the only person I knew I could never betray.”
Daniel's heart stopped.
Chloe.
His father continued:
“You love her.”
Daniel whispered:
“Yes.”
“That is why they will use her.”
The tape ended.
A door opened behind Daniel.
Chloe stood there.
Alive.
Daniel turned.
“Chloe.”
She walked toward him.
“I remember everything.”
Daniel approached.
“What happened?”
“They wanted me to unlock your memories.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I had to know the truth.”
Daniel held her.
She whispered:
“Your father didn't create the second ledger.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You did.”
Silence.
“What?”
“When you were seventeen.”
Daniel stepped back.
Chloe continued.
“Your father took credit for it.”
Daniel's mind exploded with memories.
He saw himself.
Writing.
Planning.
Building.
Destroying.
And one final memory.
A woman beside him.
Chloe.
Not his wife.
A teenager.
His partner.
His first love.
Daniel staggered.
“We knew each other.”
Chloe nodded.
“Before we forgot.”
Daniel looked at her.
“Why did we forget?”
May you like
She whispered:
“Because we chose to.”
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