Chapter 3 - Before the Wedding
Daniel listened six times.
Maya married you because of me.
It sounded like betrayal stacked on betrayal.
By morning, Ethan agreed to meet at a coffee shop.
No Maya.
Daniel chose a public place deliberately.
“What did you mean?”
Ethan looked exhausted.
“Maya and I knew each other before you met her.”
Daniel stared.
“How long?”
“Two years.”
Maya had told Daniel they met through a charity auction eighteen months earlier.
Lie.
Ethan explained.
He met Maya at a concert.
They dated briefly.
Not serious, according to Ethan.
Three months.
Then ended.
Why?
Ethan cheated.
Maya cut him off.
Months later Daniel met her separately at a fundraiser.
Neither Maya nor Ethan told him immediately.
Why?
Embarrassment.
Then Daniel and Maya became serious.
Ethan admitted he was furious.
“You married someone I used to date.”
“I didn't know.”
“I know.”
“Did she?”
“Yes.”
Daniel leaned back.
Maya knew Daniel was Ethan’s father from the beginning.
That changed everything.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
Ethan stared into his coffee.
“She said she'd tell you.”
“She didn't.”
“No.”
Then Daniel asked the question he was afraid of.
“When did it start again?”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Three months ago.”
Three months.
Daniel and Maya had been married fourteen months.
“What happened?”
Ethan said it began with arguments.
Maya complained Daniel was always traveling for work.
Ethan accused her of using Daniel.
Maya accused Ethan of being jealous.
Then one night they talked until 2 a.m.
Old feelings resurfaced.
Nothing physical that night.
Then texts.
Then meetings.
Then betrayal.
Daniel stopped him.
He did not want details.
“Did you love her?”
Ethan looked away.
“Yes.”
“Before me?”
“I thought I did.”
“And now?”
Silence.
Daniel felt something inside him crack.
Not only marriage.
Fatherhood.
Then:
“Why say she married me because of you?”
Ethan looked frightened.
“Because Maya approached you after she found out who you were.”
Daniel stared.
That was worse.
“You're saying she targeted me?”
“I don't know.”
“What do you know?”
Ethan admitted Maya had been researching Daniel’s company before the charity auction.
Mercer Coast Logistics.
Regional delivery company.
Worth maybe twelve million.
Nothing glamorous.
But Daniel recently inherited voting control from his late brother.
Maya knew.
How?
Ethan had once told her his family had money.
Then she appeared at a fundraiser Daniel attended.
Coincidence?
Maybe.
Ethan no longer believed so.
Then Daniel asked:
“Why would she marry me if she wanted you?”
Ethan whispered:
“She didn't want me back then.”
“Then what did she want?”
“I think she wanted access to you.”
“For money?”
“I don't know.”
Then Ethan slid his phone across the table.
Old message from Maya.
Two weeks before Daniel met her.
MAYA:
Is your dad still trying to buy Marlowe Harbor?
Daniel went cold.
Marlowe Harbor.
A waterfront warehouse complex.
Daniel had attempted to acquire it three years earlier.
Deal failed.
Owner was hidden behind trusts.
Marlowe.
The same name as Maya’s mysterious account.
Daniel looked up.
“Who is Maya?”
May you like
Ethan shook his head.
“I don't think Maya Jensen is her real name.”
