Morgan looked sheepish. “No. I hired them. I had to stop this.”

Daniel stared at him in disbelief.

Morgan explained: weeks earlier, a bartender had recognized Lisa’s photo.

She was known for targeting young, wealthy men—rushing them into marriage, draining their accounts, then vanishing.

Her “parents” weren’t real, just part of her crew. And, Morgan added, Lisa was pregnant—with someone else’s child. The bartender overheard her bragging about finding a “rich fool” to trap.

Daniel’s face went pale. “She never told me.”

“Because it wasn’t yours,” Morgan said softly.

My heart ached for Daniel. “You knew all this and still let it happen?”

“I needed proof,” Morgan replied. “Daniel had to see it for himself.”

“You humiliated him,” I snapped.

“Better humiliated than used and ruined,” Morgan said.

Arnold stepped in. “Right now, Daniel’s what matters.”

We turned to him. He quietly slid the wedding band off his finger. “Well,” he said, “I guess that’s that.”

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, hugging him.

He steadied himself. “Better now than later.”

The guests slowly left. The cake remained untouched. The hall was nearly empty.

Daniel looked around and gave a dry laugh. “Some wedding day, huh?”

I pulled him close. “This isn’t your fault.”

“I should’ve listened.”

“You loved her. There’s no shame in that.”

Healing took time. But eventually, he smiled again. He stopped looking at his phone, waiting for a message that would never come.

And maybe—just maybe—he learned to trust his mother’s instincts a little more.