Chapter 4 - THE BRIDE WHO REFUSED TO DISAPPEAR
Liam appeared on television the following morning.
Chloe watched from Teresa's kitchen.
He stood outside the Bellmont Hotel wearing a dark suit and an expression of carefully rehearsed grief.
“My fiancée disappeared on what should have been the happiest day of our lives.”
He paused.
“I love Chloe. I only want her home.”
Samantha stood beside him.
She was crying.
Chloe gripped her coffee mug.
The reporter asked whether Chloe had been involved in financial misconduct.
Liam lowered his eyes.
“I don't want to speculate.”
Chloe laughed bitterly.
Then he continued.
“But there were documents she was reviewing before she vanished.”
Dominic entered the kitchen.
He stopped when he saw the television.
His expression hardened.
Liam looked directly into the camera.
“Chloe, if you're watching, please come home.”
Chloe set down her mug.
“No.”
Dominic looked at her.
She turned toward him.
“I'm not hiding forever.”
Naomi arranged for Chloe to give a formal statement through appropriate channels.
She preserved the original documents.
The wedding schedule.
Messages from Liam.
Financial records Chloe could lawfully access.
And the names of people who had been present at the hotel.
The police interviewed Chloe.
She explained what she'd overheard.
She described the unsigned papers.
She identified the service corridor she'd used to escape.
Investigators reviewed hotel security footage.
It showed Liam following her.
Then leaving the building through a different exit.
The footage did not prove everything.
But it contradicted parts of his public story.
Chloe also contacted Harborline.
Her former supervisor, Elaine Porter, answered.
“Chloe?”
Elaine sounded shocked.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
A pause.
Then Chloe asked:
“Did my father ever speak to you about financial irregularities?”
Silence.
Elaine lowered her voice.
“Why?”
Chloe's stomach tightened.
“Because I think Liam was involved.”
Elaine exhaled.
“Oh, Chloe.”
“What?”
“Your father came to see me two weeks before he died.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
“What did he say?”
Elaine hesitated.
“He said someone was using old shipping contracts to move money through companies that existed only on paper.”
Chloe's heart hammered.
“Did he name Liam?”
“No.”
“Did he have proof?”
Elaine was silent.
Then she said:
“He left something with me.”
Chloe sat straighter.
“What?”
“A sealed envelope.”
Her hands shook.
“Where is it?”
Elaine swallowed.
“I've kept it in my office safe.”
Chloe looked toward Dominic.
He had gone completely still.
Elaine continued.
“Your father told me to give it to you if anything happened to him.”
Chloe closed her eyes.
May you like
Then whispered:
“I'm coming.”
