I Hid In A Bridal Shop And Overheard My Kids Planning To Put Me In A Nursing Home. They Didn’t Realize I Was Recording Every Word. Should I Reveal The Truth At The Altar?
H2: A Voice from the Past
The woman on the other end of the line said,
“Mr. Carter, my name is Laura Winters. Kenneth Walsh told me you’re investigating Nicholas Stone. I want to help, because he destroyed my life too.”
Her voice carried the weight of someone who had survived devastation and emerged hardened by it. I gripped the encrypted phone tighter, my study door locked. Kenneth had warned me he was reaching out to Nicholas’s previous victims, but hearing Laura’s voice made it viscerally real. My son, the man I had raised, was a serial predator.
“Ms. Winters, thank you for calling. I’d like to hear your story directly.”
Laura took a breath, steeling herself.
“Two years ago, I met a man named Matthew Reed at a charity gala in Boston. I had just lost my husband to cancer six months earlier. Matthew was charming, attentive, understanding. He seemed to know exactly what I needed to hear.”
The pattern was already emerging, chillingly familiar.
“We dated for three months. He proposed. I was grateful to feel alive again. He said he was starting a tech company, needed investment capital. I trusted him completely. Over two months, I transferred $400,000 to accounts he controlled. Then, three days before our wedding, he vanished. Phone disconnected, apartment cleared out. Matthew Reed didn’t exist.”
My chest tightened.
“I’m so sorry.”
Laura’s laugh was bitter.
“I went to the police. They were sympathetic but said without proof of his real identity, there was little they could do. The money went offshore, untraceable.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
“He’s doing the same thing to my daughter. Using our family’s grief.”
Laura’s voice sharpened.
“Your wife passed away?”
I confirmed.
“Two years ago. Elizabeth. Nicholas started getting closer to Scarlet almost immediately afterward.”
Laura spoke with quiet intensity.
“Kenneth mentioned you have evidence. Would it help if I could identify Nicholas Stone as Matthew Reed?”
My pulse quickened.
“You have proof?”
Her tone turned triumphant.
“I have photographs. Wire transfer receipts with his signatures. And a wedding venue contract from a Boston hotel. I kept everything, hoping someday I could use it against him.”
Within minutes, Kenneth had set up a secure video conference. Laura Winters appeared on my screen, a dignified woman in her late 60s, silver hair styled elegantly, eyes sharp with determination.
She held up a photograph. Even through the screen, I recognized Nicholas. Different styling, glasses, a neatly trimmed beard, but unmistakably him.
“This is Matthew Reed. Taken at our engagement party 18 months ago.”
She showed bank transfer receipts, each signed with Nicholas’s distinctive handwriting, but under the name Matthew Reed. Then a contract from the Boston Harbor Hotel for a wedding reception, signed by both Laura Winters and Matthew Reed. The evidence was irrefutable.
Nicholas had targeted Laura with the same calculated precision he was now using on our family. The realization struck me: he had used my company’s money to fund those Boston trips. All those business conferences I had approved expenses for—he had been courting Laura, stealing her money while simultaneously stealing mine.
“Mrs. Winters,”
I said carefully.
“Nicholas targets wealthy people who have recently lost someone they love. Grieving and vulnerable.”
Laura nodded, understanding dawning.
“Your daughter lost her mother. He’s exploiting her grief.”
I thought of Scarlet. How Nicholas had been there constantly after Elizabeth’s funeral, supporting her, consoling her, gradually isolating her from friends. My daughter wasn’t a willing criminal; she was a victim he had manipulated into becoming his accomplice.
“What can I do to help?”
Laura asked.
I made a decision that would either save my family or condemn us all.
“In 16 days, there’s going to be a wedding. 300 guests. Nicholas is supposed to marry my daughter to access her trust fund. I want to expose him publicly. Would you be willing to attend? To confront him with the truth about Matthew Reed?”
Laura didn’t hesitate.
“I’ll be there. I’ve waited two years for a chance to see that bastard face consequences.”
Relief washed over me.
“Thank you. Kenneth will coordinate the details.”
After Laura disconnected, Kenneth’s face remained on the screen. His expression was grim.
“Chris, there’s something else. The planning for your family’s theft started three years ago. Right after Elizabeth’s death.”
The words hit like a physical blow.
“He used my wife’s death as a launching point.”
Kenneth nodded slowly.
“He identified your family as targets while you were grieving. But there’s more. I’m having trouble verifying Nicholas Stone’s background before he came to you at age 15. It’s like he didn’t exist.”
My blood ran cold.
“What are you saying?”
Kenneth’s voice was measured but serious.
“I’m saying Nicholas Stone might be a completely fabricated identity. We may not even know his real name.”
