Chapter 4 - My Fiancé Was Working for the Man Who Stole Me
Bella stared at the bank records.
Thousands of dollars had moved from an account controlled by Adrian to Vincent.
Dates.
Amounts.
Descriptions disguised as business expenses.
Her wedding had been engineered.
Not just to humiliate her.
To isolate her.
Vincent had been preparing her financially and emotionally for dependence.
Adrian had intended to step into her life after the wedding.
Bella suddenly understood why Vincent had insisted on moving her savings into a joint account.
Why he had repeatedly told her that no one else cared about her.
Why Jessica had appeared only after Bella had signed the final contracts.
It was all designed.
Marcus looked at her.
“Did Vincent know who you were?”
“I don't know.”
Eleanor answered quietly.
“He knew enough.”
Vincent was arrested that evening for fraud-related offenses tied to the conspiracy.
Jessica cooperated after investigators showed her the payment records.
She cried when Bella saw her.
“I didn't know about your childhood.”
“You knew Vincent was lying to me.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the money.”
“Yes.”
“You helped him.”
Jessica nodded.
“I thought I was getting a man who loved me.”
“You were getting a man who wanted your loyalty.”
Jessica looked down.
“I know that now.”
Bella did not forgive her.
Not yet.
But she no longer needed revenge.
She needed answers.
Adrian was still missing.
The hunt led back to Hawthorne House.
The property had been rented through a corporation connected to one of his associates.
Bella walked through the empty ballroom.
The flowers were gone.
The chairs had been cleared.
The microphone removed.
Only a few petals remained under the stage.
Eleanor stood beside her.
“You don't have to come in here.”
“I need to.”
“Why?”
“So I can remember the truth.”
Bella walked to the spot where Vincent had kissed Jessica.
She stood there for a moment.
Then she smiled.
“Three days ago I thought this room was the worst place in the world.”
“And now?”
“Now I think it is where my life started.”
Eleanor hugged her.
The investigation uncovered a new problem.
Someone had forged Bella's foster care records.
The agency that had supposedly processed her case had lost several original documents.
The name on one intake form was not Bella Hart.
It was Isabella Vale.
Her entire legal identity had been changed.
A woman named Margaret Hart had signed the temporary guardianship paperwork.
Bella's heart stopped.
“Who is Margaret Hart?”
Eleanor knew immediately.
“The woman who raised you?”
“Yes.”
“She worked for us.”
Bella looked at her mother.
“You knew her?”
“We knew of her.”
“She saved me.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“She may have saved you from Adrian.”
“May?”
The truth was devastating.
Margaret had discovered Bella after the kidnapping.
Instead of turning her over immediately, she had hidden the child's identity because Adrian was searching for her.
She had later entered the foster system under a false name.
“But why didn't she tell me?”
“She was afraid.”
“She could have told me when I turned eighteen.”
“She tried.”
Bella stared.
“What?”
“She wrote you letters.”
“I never got them.”
Marcus discovered why.
Vincent's father had connections to the foster agency.
Several letters had been intercepted.
Bella had spent years wondering why she had no family.
Her family had spent years believing she was inaccessible.
The separation had been manufactured.
By people who wanted her forgotten.
Then investigators found Margaret Hart.
She lived in Vermont.
Bella traveled there with Eleanor.
Margaret opened the door.
The moment she saw Bella, she covered her face.
“Oh God.”
Bella whispered:
“You knew me.”
Margaret nodded.
“I knew you were Isabella.”
“Why did you let me grow up believing I was nobody?”
“Because I was told they'd kill you.”
“Who?”
“Adrian.”
Margaret's hands trembled.
“I was twenty-three when I found you. You were six. You were bleeding and terrified.”
Bella cried.
“I remember a red scarf.”
Margaret smiled through tears.
“That was mine.”
“You called me brave.”
“Because you were.”
Margaret brought out a wooden box.
Inside were twelve letters.
All addressed to Bella.
All unopened.
“I tried to get them to you.”
Bella touched one.
“Why didn't they reach me?”
“Someone intercepted them.”
The name was Vincent's father.
Another connection.
Another hidden piece.
Bella opened the first letter.
Margaret had written:
You were loved before you could remember being loved.
Bella pressed the paper to her chest.
Margaret looked at Eleanor.
“I am sorry.”
Eleanor hugged her.
“You kept my daughter alive.”
Bella reached for Margaret's hand.
“Thank you.”
Outside, Marcus received a call.
“Adrian just made a mistake.”
“What?”
“He accessed one of his old accounts.”
“Where?”
“Philadelphia.”
May you like
Bella looked toward Eleanor.
“Let's finish this.”
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