Chapter 10: The Man We Buried
I stared at the photograph until my eyes burned.
Emily was sitting in the passenger seat beside Adrian.
She was younger, maybe only a few weeks younger than the woman standing in front of me, but I could recognize her immediately.
Same face.
Same dark hair.
Same silver necklace she'd worn to my engagement dinner.
The back of the photograph carried six words.
*He asked me to kill him.*
I looked up.
"Did you?""
Emily's eyes filled with tears.
"No.""
"Then what does this mean?""
She took a shaky breath.
"Adrian didn't mean what you think.""
"That sentence better have an explanation.""
"It does.""
She looked at Marcus.
"Tell her.""
Marcus didn't move.
Emily's voice broke.
"Tell her what happened at the crash.""
Marcus finally looked at me.
"The man who died wasn't Adrian.""
Everything inside me went silent.
I laughed.
It came out small and broken.
"No.""
"Meredith—"
"No.""
I held up the photograph.
"I watched them lower his casket.""
"It wasn't him.""
"I saw his clothes.""
"They were his.""
"I held his mother's hand.""
"I know.""
"I stood at his grave.""
"I know.""
Emily stepped toward me.
"Meredith, Adrian planned it.""
I backed away.
"You're telling me my fiancé faked his own death?""
"Yes.""
"Then why didn't he come back?""
"Because coming back would have gotten you killed.""
My eyes filled with tears.
"Where is he?""
Emily looked at Marcus.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Then he answered.
"Alive.""
The word broke something in me.
I grabbed the back of a chair.
For three months, I had woken every morning expecting to remember him and every night begging myself not to dream.
Every flower I arranged had reminded me of him.
Every wedding I worked had felt like punishment.
And now someone was telling me the man I had buried was alive.
"Where?""
Emily began crying.
"I don't know.""
I stared at her.
"You don't know?""
"Not anymore.""
"Then who does?""
She looked at Marcus.
He shook his head.
"Nobody knows exactly where he is.""
I felt anger rise through the shock.
"You're both going to explain everything.""
Marcus nodded.
"Okay.""
He sat down.
"The accident wasn't supposed to happen the way it did.""
"What happened?""
"Adrian discovered Daniel was moving stolen money through accounts created in his name. But that was only the surface.""
Marcus looked at the photograph.
"Daniel was working for Edward.""
"His father.""
"Yes.""
"What did Edward want?""
"Control of the family trust.""
I looked at Emily.
"And me.""
She nodded.
"Once Adrian married you, the trust would have been vulnerable.""
"But Adrian never signed the papers.""
"Exactly.""
Emily sat down across from me.
"Three days before the wedding, Adrian found out the marriage documents had been altered. They were designed to transfer control to a different beneficiary.""
"Victoria.""
"Yes.""
"So he stopped the wedding.""
"He tried.""
I frowned.
"Then why did he keep pretending everything was normal?""
"Because he knew someone was watching him.""
Emily looked down.
"And he knew that someone was watching you.""
I remembered the strange things.
The black SUV.
The anonymous messages.
The way Colleen had hidden from me.
The envelope.
The fear in Adrian's eyes in the video.
"Why did he need to disappear?""
Emily swallowed.
"Because he found Edward.""
I stared.
"Edward was alive.""
"Yes.""
"Where?""
"We don't know.""
"How did Adrian find him?""
"He tracked one of the shell companies.""
Marcus leaned forward.
"The company led back to a private clinic in another state. Adrian went there.""
"And?""
"He came back terrified.""
Emily closed her eyes.
"Edward told him something.""
"What?""
"That if Adrian exposed him, he wouldn't just kill Adrian.""
She looked at me.
"He'd kill you.""
My throat tightened.
"So Adrian faked his death.""
"Yes.""
"How?""
Marcus answered.
"He worked with someone who could build a new identity.""
I shook my head.
"The body.""
Marcus swallowed.
"A man died in an unrelated accident that same week.""
I stared at him.
"That's horrible.""
"I know.""
"Did Adrian know?""
"He didn't arrange the accident.""
The room fell quiet.
"He used the man's dental records to make the police believe the body was his.""
I looked down.
The closed casket suddenly made sense.
The funeral.
The identification.
Everything.
My knees weakened.
"So I buried a stranger.""
Colleen's voice came from behind us.
"No.""
We turned.
She stood in the doorway, pale and exhausted.
"You buried what they wanted you to believe was Adrian.""
I stared at her.
"Where were you?""
"Outside.""
She stepped into the room.
"I heard everything.""
"Did you know he was alive?""
Her eyes filled with tears.
"At the beginning.""
My anger returned.
"You knew?""
"I helped him disappear.""
"Then why did you let me grieve?""
"Because Adrian begged me to.""
"Why?""
"Because if I told you the truth, you would never have let him go.""
I shook my head.
"You're right.""
Colleen gave a broken smile.
"That's what he was afraid of.""
I looked at Emily.
"Then what about the crash?""
Emily wiped her eyes.
"He needed everyone to believe the death was real.""
"And the photograph?""
She touched it.
"He asked me to 'kill' him.""
She made quotation marks with her fingers.
"Not literally. He asked me to kill Adrian Parker.""
I frowned.
"His identity.""
"Yes.""
"He wanted me to destroy his old life.""
She looked at me.
"That included your wedding.""
The room felt painfully quiet.
"Why were you in the car with him?""
"To help him disappear.""
"What happened?""
"He drove to the meeting point.""
Emily's voice trembled.
"Someone followed us.""
"Who?""
"Daniel.""
She looked at Marcus.
"And someone else.""
"Who?""
She looked directly at me.
"Edward.""
My heart stopped.
"His father was there?""
"Yes.""
"Then why wasn't Adrian killed?""
"Because Adrian escaped before they reached the car.""
I stared at her.
"Then who died?""
"A man who was already dead.""
I flinched.
She continued.
"Adrian left the car at an abandoned service road. Daniel arrived minutes later. Edward's people found the vehicle, saw the staged evidence, and believed Adrian had crashed.""
"But the car actually crashed.""
"Yes.""
"Who drove it?""
Emily looked at Marcus.
He answered.
"I did.""
I stared.
"You?""
"I drove the empty car into the ravine.""
"And the body?""
"Already inside.""
My stomach turned.
"You all planned this.""
"Yes.""
I looked at every person in the room.
"All of you.""
Colleen nodded.
"We did.""
"Except Julian?""
"Julian helped afterward.""
I laughed bitterly.
"My entire life was a conspiracy.""
"No," Colleen said.
"Your entire life was the reason for the conspiracy.""
I looked down.
For the first time, I understood.
The wedding.
The flowers.
The paperwork.
The trust.
The funeral.
Everything had been built around keeping me alive.
Even the lies.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
One new message.
My hands trembled as I opened it.
*I'm sorry I made you mourn me.*
I stopped breathing.
Another message appeared.
*I had to make them believe I was dead.*
Then another.
*I never stopped loving you.*
I looked at Emily.
She was crying.
"Is it him?""
She nodded.
I typed one word.
*Where?*
The reply came almost immediately.
*Look outside.*
I turned toward the window.
Across the street, beneath a streetlamp, stood a man in a dark coat.
My heart stopped.
Even from that distance, I knew the way he stood.
The slight tilt of his shoulders.
The way one hand rested in his pocket.
The way he always leaned his weight onto his right leg.
Adrian.
My body moved before my mind could catch up.
I ran.
I flew down the stairs and out the front door.
"Adrian!""
The man turned.
For one second, I couldn't move.
Three months of grief.
Three months of anger.
Three months of believing the person I loved had been lowered into the ground.
All of it vanished when he looked at me.
His eyes were red.
He looked thinner.
Older.
Alive.
He took one step toward me.
"Meredith.""
I slapped him.
The sound cracked through the quiet street.
He didn't move.
I slapped him again.
Then I started crying.
"You let me bury you.""
His face collapsed.
"I know.""
"You let me think you were dead.""
"I know.""
"I hated you.""
"I know.""
"Every morning.""
"I know.""
"Every single morning.""
He stepped closer.
"I wanted to come back.""
"Then why didn't you?""
"Because every time I thought about it, I saw your face.""
I stared at him.
"I didn't understand.""
He took a shaking breath.
"That was the point.""
He reached into his coat.
I flinched.
He slowly pulled out an old photograph.
Our engagement party.
Me laughing.
Him looking at me like I was the only person in the room.
"I kept this.""
Tears rolled down my cheeks.
"Why?""
"Because it reminded me what I was trying to save.""
I looked at him.
"And now?""
He stepped close enough that I could hear his breathing.
"Now it's safe.""
I shook my head.
"How do I know?""
"You don't.""
He paused.
"Not yet.""
Behind him, a black sedan turned onto the street.
Adrian's face changed instantly.
He looked past me toward the others.
"Go inside.""
"What?""
"Meredith, now.""
"Why?""
His eyes locked onto mine.
"Because there's one person we haven't found.""
The sedan stopped.
A man stepped out.
Adrian grabbed my hand.
"Who?""
He looked at the man.
Then whispered,
"Edward.""
I turned.
The stranger slowly removed his hat.
And smiled.
"Hello, son.""
Adrian pulled me behind him.
For the first time since he had returned from the dead, fear appeared in his eyes.
But this time, I wasn't the woman being protected.
I stepped beside him.
And took his hand.
Because three months ago, I had lost my fiancé.
May you like
Tonight, I finally found him.
And together, we were going to find out who had really been waiting for us to die.
