Chapter 4 — The Woman Behind the Smile
The ballroom exploded into chaos.
Guests screamed.
Officers sprinted after the fleeing bride.
Her heels clattered across polished marble before she kicked them off and disappeared into the hotel kitchen.
The groom started after her.
Claire grabbed his wrist.
"No."
"She isn't alone."
He froze.
"What do you mean?"
Claire looked toward the security cameras mounted above the ballroom doors.
"She never works alone."
Meanwhile...
The bride burst through the rear loading dock.
A black luxury SUV was already waiting with the engine running.
She yanked open the passenger door.
"Drive!"
The driver didn't move.
Instead...
He slowly removed his sunglasses.
The bride's face went pale.
It wasn't her driver.
It was Detective Sarah Monroe.
"You've been under surveillance for six months."
The bride slammed the door and bolted into the alley.
She almost escaped.
Almost.
Until a voice echoed behind her.
"You forgot one thing."
Claire stood at the alley entrance.
Holding a small silver flash drive.
The bride froze.
"What is that?"
Claire's expression never changed.
"The original wedding video."
"The one you thought you erased."
The bride laughed nervously.
"There's nothing on it."
Claire looked straight into her eyes.
"There is now."
Detective Monroe inserted the flash drive into a portable tablet.
The screen illuminated.
A hidden security recording began to play.
Not from tonight.
From eleven months earlier.
The image showed someone standing beside Claire's damaged car...
...seconds before it exploded.
The face slowly came into focus.
The groom looked down at the screen.
Then staggered backward in horror.
"No..."
"It can't be..."
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Because the person planting the bomb...
...was his own father.
