Chapter 2 - The Bride Who Stopped Smiling
Two hours earlier, Evelyn had been smiling.
She stood in front of the ballroom mirror while two attendants adjusted her veil.
The white lace gown fit perfectly.
Her blonde hair fell softly over her shoulders.
She looked like the bride everyone expected.
Elegant.
Sweet.
Nervous.
Thomas had even joked that she looked too young to be getting married.
Evelyn laughed.
“I feel like I'm dreaming.”
Nobody noticed how tightly she was gripping her bouquet.
Nobody except Thomas's daughter, Claire.
Claire had been helping with the final wedding preparations.
She was Evelyn's closest friend.
Or at least she had been.
When Claire entered the bridal suite that morning, she found Evelyn standing beside the locked drawer.
“What are you doing?”
Evelyn turned too quickly.
“Nothing.”
Claire noticed the key in her hand.
“What's in there?”
“Wedding documents.”
Claire smiled.
“You're acting strange.”
Evelyn's expression softened.
“I'm just nervous.”
Claire accepted the answer.
She shouldn't have.
Later, Thomas saw Claire arguing quietly with Evelyn near the service hallway.
He couldn't hear the words.
But he saw Claire's face.
She looked frightened.
Thomas started walking toward them.
Claire noticed him.
“Dad.”
Evelyn immediately smiled.
Everything changed.
“Thomas! We're just talking about the ceremony.”
Claire nodded.
But her eyes told him something else.
Thomas remembered that moment now.
He remembered how Claire had looked at him.
As if she wanted to say something.
As if she couldn't.
Then, shortly before the ceremony, Claire disappeared.
Evelyn told everyone she had gone upstairs.
Thomas believed her.
Until Toby found him.
Now, standing in the hallway, Thomas replayed every detail.
His daughter had disappeared.
Evelyn had known where she was.
And a three-year-old child had been carrying a USB drive with a warning.
Thomas pulled the drive from his pocket.
His phone screen was still displaying the thumbnail.
He pressed it.
The video loaded.
The image shook.
A woman's voice could be heard crying.
Thomas recognized it immediately.
Claire.
“Please... somebody help me.”
Thomas's jaw tightened.
Evelyn suddenly reached for his phone.
Thomas pulled it away.
“No.”
“Thomas, you don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She couldn't.
Her eyes moved toward the ballroom.
Then toward the elevator.
Thomas noticed.
“Where is my daughter?”
May you like
Evelyn's silence was answer enough.
👉 Thomas had finally realized Claire's disappearance wasn't an accident—and Evelyn had been the last person seen with her.
