Chapter 6 - The Ring He Was Still Wearing
Officer Reed zoomed in on the wedding photograph using Clara’s phone.
Ethan stood beside Rebecca beneath the chapel sign.
Rebecca wore a short white dress and held artificial roses.
Ethan wore a dark suit.
And on his left hand was the wedding band Clara had placed there six years earlier.
Daniels frowned.
“When did you and Ethan divorce?”
“We didn’t.”
“Did either of you file?”
“No.”
Reed looked at Daniels.
“Then he could not legally marry someone else.”
Clara already knew that.
But hearing a police officer say it made the betrayal feel even more grotesque.
The chapel photograph was not merely proof of adultery.
It could be evidence of attempted bigamy or a fraudulent ceremony.
Daniels asked whether Clara knew which chapel it was.
She enlarged the sign.
Silver Star Wedding Chapel.
The location tag showed Las Vegas.
Reed stepped aside and used his radio quietly.
Clara remained behind the threshold.
She refused to let the sight of uniforms or official language make her abandon control of her own doorway.
Daniels asked whether Ethan had mentioned an annulment or a prior divorce.
“No.”
“Could the ceremony have been symbolic?”
“Possibly.”
She scrolled to another image Ethan had sent.
It showed him and Rebecca holding a document with the words Marriage Certificate partially visible.
Daniels looked grim.
“Do you know whether that is authentic?”
“No.”
“But Ethan told you directly that he married her?”
“Yes.”
Clara showed the message again.
I married Rebecca.
No metaphor.
No ambiguity.
Daniels asked whether Ethan commonly made reckless threats.
Clara looked at the folder.
“He rarely threatens directly.”
“What does he do?”
May you like
“He creates paperwork that makes his version look official.”
👉 Ethan’s greatest weapon was not anger—it was his habit of manufacturing documents before anyone questioned him.
