Chapter 1

The bridal suite had been locked from the inside for 20 minutes.

I stood in the hallway clutching the bridal bouquet, knocking on the door every few seconds.

"Sophie, the guests are seated. Your dad is getting anxious at the table."

There was no answer.

I pressed my ear against the door. No sound of the hair dryer or the makeup brushes tapping against the counter. Nothing.

A chill ran through me. I turned and shouted to a hotel employee at the end of the hall, asking for the spare key.

The moment the door opened, I froze.

My adoptive daughter Sophie Bennett's reception dress lay scattered across the floor, and a crooked message was scrawled across the mirror in lipstick.

"I'm going to find my real family."

My phone slipped from my hand, and the bouquet fell apart at my feet.

Her fiance, Ethan Carter, came running from the main hall, all the color draining from his face.

He held up his phone with trembling hands. It took him several tries to speak.

"Margaret… the 300 thousand dollars for the down payment for the house is gone. All of it."

300 thousand dollars.

It was money the Carter family had scraped together by selling two properties they owned back home in Northbridge. The final payment to the developer was due tomorrow.

I snatched his phone and saw the bank alert. At 4:03 am, exactly 300 thousand had been transferred out.

The recipient was listed under an unfamiliar set of initials.

I frantically called Sophie.

All I got was, "The number you are calling is switched off."

Hotel security pulled up the footage from the back entrance.

There she was, wearing the cardigan I had personally picked out for her, suitcase in hand, climbing into an unlicensed SUV.

Just before the door closed, she looked back and smiled at the camera.

That smile sent a chill down my spine.

It wasn't the look of a girl who had been deceived.

It was the look of someone who thought she was about to make it big and was mocking the life she was leaving behind.

Chaos had already erupted in the banquet hall.

Ethan's mother suffered a medical emergency and was rushed out on a stretcher.

His father struck my husband, Leon Bennett, with his cane, screaming for his money back.

Leon stumbled backward, clutching his chest. His face was ashen, and sweat covered his forehead.

I wanted to withdraw our savings from the bank and cover the money ourselves, if only to keep the Carter family from coming after us.

But when I searched through my bag, my heart dropped.

I quickly called a neighbor and asked them to check our safe at home. A message came back moments later.

"The safe is empty. The passbook and property deeds are gone."

I sank onto the hotel hallway carpet, my vision going black.

Then the bridesmaid, Emily Hayes, ran over and shoved her phone in front of me.

It was a livestream with a pink backdrop and 23 thousand viewers.

Sophie sat in front of the camera, perfectly made up and dressed in designer clothes, with two suspiciously perfect tears rolling down her cheeks.

She began, "Everyone, I finally escaped today. You have no idea what I've been through for the past 25 years. They treated me like a cash cow and forced me to marry a man I don't love just so they could get money from the groom."

The comments exploded.

"Girl, you're so brave!"

"Call the police!"

"Those adoptive parents belong in prison!"

She only grew bolder, publicly naming Leon and me and even revealing our workplaces and address.

"The money I took was compensation I deserved. It was for 25 years of my youth. Honestly, 300 thousand dollars isn't nearly enough."

I stared at her tear-streaked face, my stomach churning.

"Margaret, your phone's blowing up," Emily said, grabbing my arm. "Everyone is asking what happened."

During the short walk from the hotel lobby to the parking lot, I received dozens of calls.

Coworkers. Supervisors. Leon's friends. Reporters.

Everyone was asking the same thing.

"What did you do to that girl?"

I couldn't answer.

Meanwhile, Sophie's livestream continued.

Her voice came through the phone in that same sweet, childish tone I had heard for 25 years.

"Once I'm back with my real family, my wealthy brother will give me the most lavish wedding ever."

At the time, I didn't have the energy to wonder who was behind the online outrage.

Only later did I realize that this was just the beginning.