PART 2
Monica Reyes stood near the bridal dressing room.
Ivory lace gown.
Perfect hair.
Soft smile.
Two bridesmaids surrounded her.
A photographer adjusted her veil.
She looked exactly like the woman one hundred and twenty guests expected me to marry.
Elegant.
Warm.
Composed.
Harmless.
For almost two years, that was who I believed she was.
Then Lucas whispered.
“She hit Mommy when you weren’t there.”
The hallway suddenly felt colder.
I looked around.
My daughter Sofia was nowhere in sight.
She had told me that morning she had a migraine.
She said she might arrive late.
Monica had immediately offered an explanation.
“Your daughter doesn’t accept me, Victor.”
“But I’m willing to be patient.”
“Love takes time.”
I had believed her.
Now Lucas was hiding behind my leg.
PART 3
I crouched lower.
“Where is Mommy?”
“With Aunt Rosa.”
My heart stopped for half a second.
Rosa was my younger sister.
She lived almost forty minutes away.
Sofia had told me she was resting at her apartment.
“Why is she with Aunt Rosa?”
Lucas looked confused.
“Mommy was sleepy.”
Sleepy.
Not headache.
Not resting.
Sleepy.
Then he reached into his tiny jacket.
Pulled out a black USB drive.
One corner was scratched.
He placed it in my palm.
“She said if she got really sleepy, I should give this to you.”
I stared at it.
The wedding music drifted faintly from the ballroom.
My pulse started pounding.
