Chapter 6: The Ghost From His Past
Marcus looked like he had seen someone who should have been gone forever.
The room waited.
Nobody dared speak.
Finally, I whispered:
“Who was it?””
Marcus didn’t answer.
He looked toward the window.
His hands were shaking.
“Marcus.””
My voice broke through his silence.
He turned toward me.
And the pain in his eyes scared me more than anger ever could.
“Someone I knew before you.””
Isabella looked down.
Like she already knew.
I noticed.
“Isabella.””
She looked up.
“Yes?””
“You knew who it was.””
She didn’t deny it.
That was the worst part.
Marcus stared at her.
“You knew?””
Isabella’s eyes filled with tears.
“I suspected.””
“You suspected?””
His voice rose.
“You let all of this happen because you suspected?””
She looked ashamed.
“I was trying to stop it.””
“No.””
Marcus shook his head.
“You were trying to control it.””
The officer stepped closer.
“Mr. Bennett, who was on the phone?””
Marcus remained silent.
Then he said one name.
A name that changed the entire room.
“Victoria.””
The air disappeared from my lungs.
I had heard that name before.
Not from Marcus.
From old photographs.
From stories.
From the years before our marriage.
Victoria Hayes.
His first love.
The woman everyone in his family once believed he would marry.
The woman who disappeared after a scandal nearly destroyed Marcus’s relationship with his father.
I looked at him.
“Your ex?””
Marcus nodded slowly.
“She left eight years ago.””
“Why would she do this?””
He didn’t answer.
Because maybe he didn’t know.
Elaine suddenly spoke.
“She came back because she wants what she believes was taken from her.””
Marcus turned.
“Mom.””
Elaine looked guilty.
“She contacted me first.””
The room froze.
“You said you didn’t know who it was.””
Elaine looked down.
“I didn’t know how to tell you.””
Marcus stared at her.
“You lied.””
“Yes.””
The honesty shocked everyone.
Elaine sat down slowly.
“I thought Victoria was just angry.””
“And then?””
Elaine looked at me.
“She told me Khloe was not who she claimed to be.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
Marcus immediately stepped closer to me.
“Don’t listen to her.””
But Elaine continued.
“She showed me documents.””
The officer looked interested.
“What documents?””
Elaine hesitated.
“Birth records.””
A cold silence filled the room.
I felt confused.
“Why would my birth records matter?””
Nobody answered.
Then Marcus’s phone buzzed.
A message appeared.
One photo.
He looked at it.
And all color left his face.
“What is it?””
He didn’t respond.
“Marcus?””
Slowly, he turned the phone toward me.
The photo showed an old document.
My name.
My date of birth.
And a signature at the bottom.
A signature I recognized.
My mother’s.
But the message underneath was the part that terrified me.
*You married the wrong woman. Ask her who she really is.*
I looked at Marcus.
“I don’t understand.””
Neither did he.
But then Isabella whispered:
“Victoria wasn’t trying to destroy your marriage.””
Everyone looked at her.
“She was trying to expose something.””
Marcus stared.
“Expose what?””
Isabella looked at me.
Her voice barely came out.
“The truth about who Khloe really is.””
My heart pounded.
Because suddenly the question wasn’t why they wanted to hurt me.
It was why they were so desperate to reveal something about me.
Something I didn’t even know.
And before anyone could speak, Marcus’s phone received another message.
This time, it wasn’t a photo.
It was a location.
A place from my childhood.
May you like
And one sentence.
*Come alone if you want to know why your mother lied to you.*
