Chapter 1 - “Your Father Knows Me.”
The wedding was supposed to be perfect.
And for almost three hundred guests, it was.
Crystal chandeliers illuminated the ballroom of the Bellmont Hotel.
White roses covered every table.
A string quartet played softly near the staircase while champagne glasses shimmered beneath the golden lights.
At the center of it all stood Victoria Hale, smiling beside the man she was about to marry.
Ethan Bellmont.
Thirty-two years old.
Handsome, wealthy, and the only son of one of the most powerful real-estate families in Chicago.
He wore a perfectly tailored black tuxedo.
Victoria wore a custom-made ivory wedding gown.
Everyone was watching them.
Everyone except the woman standing outside the ballroom doors.
She was soaked from the rain.
Her dark coat clung to her shoulders.
Her brown hair was wet and tangled around her face.
And she looked like she had traveled a very long way to get there.
A security guard approached her.
“Ma'am, the ceremony has already started.”
“I know.”
“Are you a guest?”
The woman looked through the glass doors.
Her eyes stopped on Ethan.
“No.”
The guard frowned.
“Then I'm afraid you can't come inside.”
She reached into her coat pocket.
Her fingers closed around a small photograph.
She looked at it for a moment.
Then she looked back at Ethan.
“I need to speak to him.”
“About what?”
The woman hesitated.
Then she said quietly,
“His father.”
The guard's expression changed.
“Mr. Bellmont isn't here.”
“Yes, he is.”
The woman stared through the glass.
“He's sitting in the front row.”
The guard followed her gaze.
Sure enough, Richard Bellmont, Ethan's sixty-year-old father, sat beside his wife.
The woman's eyes remained fixed on him.
“He knows exactly who I am.”
Inside the ballroom, Ethan smiled at Victoria.
“You're shaking.”
Victoria laughed nervously.
“I'm getting married.”
“You've known that for six months.”
“That doesn't make it less terrifying.”
Ethan gently squeezed her hand.
“You don't have to be nervous.”
Victoria looked into his eyes.
“I've waited my whole life for this.”
Ethan smiled.
“So have I.”
The officiant began speaking.
The guests became silent.
Richard Bellmont watched his son proudly.
His wife, Caroline, leaned toward him.
“You look happy.”
Richard smiled.
“I am.”
Then the ballroom doors opened.
Everyone turned.
The woman in the wet coat walked inside.
A murmur spread through the room.
Victoria's smile disappeared.
Ethan turned.
His expression changed instantly.
“Who is that?”
The woman walked slowly down the aisle.
The security guard followed several steps behind, clearly unsure what to do.
Ethan stepped away from Victoria.
“Excuse me.”
The woman stopped halfway down the aisle.
Her eyes met Ethan's.
She didn't look angry.
She didn't look frightened.
She looked tired.
And strangely sad.
Ethan stared at her.
“Can I help you?”
She looked at him for several seconds.
Then her eyes moved toward the front row.
Toward his father.
Richard had gone completely still.
The color had drained from his face.
Caroline noticed.
“Richard?”
He didn't answer.
The woman turned back toward Ethan.
“Yes.”
She swallowed.
“You can.”
Ethan frowned.
“This is my wedding.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you here?”
The entire room was silent now.
The woman slowly removed the photograph from her pocket.
She held it toward him.
Ethan didn't take it.
“What is that?”
“Something your father gave me twenty-nine years ago.”
Richard suddenly stood.
“Stop.”
His voice was louder than anyone expected.
Every guest turned toward him.
The woman looked at Richard.
A faint sadness crossed her face.
“You remember me.”
Richard stared at her.
“Leave.”
Ethan looked between them.
“Dad?”
Richard's voice became sharper.
“I said leave.”
The woman didn't move.
Instead, she looked at Ethan.
“Your father knows exactly who I am.”
Ethan's brow furrowed.
“Who are you?”
Richard walked toward them.
“Ethan, don't listen to her.”
“Dad, what is going on?”
“Nothing.”
The woman gave a quiet, humorless laugh.
“Nothing?”
Richard stopped.
The woman looked around the ballroom.
“That's what you told me twenty-nine years ago.”
Caroline stood up.
“Richard, who is this woman?”
He didn't answer.
Victoria stepped closer to Ethan.
“Ethan…”
He barely heard her.
His eyes remained on the stranger.
“Why do you know my father?”
The woman looked directly into his eyes.
“Because he was there when your mother gave birth to you.”
The room went silent.
Ethan stared at her.
“What?”
Richard's face had become expressionless.
“She's lying.”
The woman shook her head.
“No.”
She slowly raised the photograph.
“This is your father.”
Ethan finally took it.
He looked down.
It was an old photograph.
Richard.
Much younger.
Standing outside a hospital.
And beside him was a woman Ethan had never seen before.
The woman in the photograph was holding a newborn baby.
Ethan's fingers tightened around the photograph.
“Who's the baby?”
The stranger looked at him.
“You.”
A gasp came from somewhere in the audience.
Victoria covered her mouth.
Ethan looked at his father.
“Dad?”
Richard didn't answer.
“Is that me?”
“Ethan, give me the photograph.”
“No.”
For the first time, Ethan's voice became hard.
“Tell me she's lying.”
Richard looked at him.
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
The stranger's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't come here to destroy your wedding.”
Ethan stared at her.
“Then why did you come?”
She took a slow breath.
“Because I was told I would never see you again.”
Ethan's face tightened.
“By who?”
She looked at Richard.
“Your father.”
Richard's jaw clenched.
“That was twenty-nine years ago.”
The woman nodded.
“Yes.”
“It's over.”
“No.”
Her voice was quiet.
“But the truth isn't.”
Caroline stepped forward.
“This is insane.”
The woman looked at her.
“You should ask your husband where he was the night Ethan was born.”
Caroline's face changed.
Richard immediately turned toward her.
“Caroline, don't.”
She stared at him.
“What does she mean?”
“She's trying to manipulate you.”
“Then answer her.”
Richard said nothing.
Ethan looked at his father.
Then at the photograph.
Then back at the woman.
“Who are you?”
The woman hesitated.
For a moment, she seemed unable to say it.
Finally, she whispered,
“My name is Anna Miller.”
Ethan waited.
Anna looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“And I am your mother.”
The words seemed to stop the entire room.
Victoria's hand fell away from Ethan's arm.
Richard closed his eyes.
Caroline took a step backward.
And Ethan simply stared at Anna.
“No.”
Anna's lips trembled.
“I know this is a terrible way for you to find out.”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“My mother died when I was six.”
Anna looked at Richard.
Richard wouldn't look at her.
Anna's voice broke.
“That is what he told you.”
Ethan's breathing became heavier.
“Dad?”
Richard finally opened his eyes.
He looked at his son.
And for the first time in Ethan's life, his father looked afraid.
The officiant quietly stepped away from the altar.
Nobody spoke.
Then Ethan asked the question that would change everything.
“If you're my mother…”
He looked at Anna.
“Why did you leave me?”
Anna's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't.”
She looked at Richard.
“He took you from me.”
Richard's face hardened.
“That is not what happened.”
Anna turned toward him.
“Then tell him.”
Richard said nothing.
“Tell him why you paid me to disappear.”
A shocked murmur swept through the ballroom.
Ethan froze.
“You paid her?”
Richard's silence was answer enough.
Anna reached into her coat again.
This time she pulled out a small, yellowed envelope.
She held it toward Ethan.
“I kept every letter you sent me.”
Ethan stared at the envelope.
“Letters?”
“You wrote them when you were seven.”
His face changed.
“I don't remember.”
“You weren't supposed to.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Anna.”
She looked at him.
“You've had twenty-nine years.”
Her voice was no longer trembling.
“You don't get another night.”
She turned toward Ethan.
“Read the letters.”
Ethan didn't move.
Anna placed the envelope on the floor between them.
Then she walked toward the exit.
Ethan watched her leave.
But before she reached the doors, she stopped.
Without turning around, she said,
“Ask your father one more question.”
Ethan's voice was barely audible.
“What question?”
Anna slowly turned her head.
“Ask him why he told everyone your mother was dead…”
She looked directly at Richard.
“…when she was standing outside the hospital begging him not to take you.”
Then she walked out.
The ballroom doors closed behind her.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Ethan looked at the envelope on the floor.
Then he looked at his father.
Richard said nothing.
Victoria stood beside Ethan, tears forming in her eyes.
“Ethan…”
He didn't look at her.
His entire world had changed in less than five minutes.
He bent down.
Picked up the envelope.
And saw his own childhood handwriting on the first letter.
At the bottom was a name he had never been allowed to remember.
Mom.
Ethan slowly looked up at his father.
“Dad…”
Richard's face remained pale.
Ethan's voice hardened.
“Who did you make me believe my mother was?”
Richard didn't answer.
And somewhere outside the ballroom, Anna disappeared into the rain.
May you like
The wedding was over.
But the truth had only just begun.
