Chapter 4 - The Woman in the Photograph
Rachel spent the night at Olivia’s apartment.
David called seventeen times.
His messages moved through predictable stages.
Confusion.
Concern.
Anger.
Apology.
By midnight, he began sending photographs from their relationship.
The restaurant where they first met.
The balcony where he proposed.
A picture of Rachel asleep against his shoulder during a train journey.
Under the final image, he wrote:
Do not let one misunderstanding destroy everything we built.
Rachel stared at the message.
Everything we built.
She wondered who he meant by we.
At 2:13 a.m., a message arrived from an unknown number.
You found the property file.
Rachel showed Olivia.
“Don’t respond,” Olivia said.
A second message appeared.
David will tell you it began as business and became love.
Rachel’s fingers went cold.
A third message followed.
He said the same thing to me.
Attached was a photograph.
David stood beside a dark-haired woman outside a courthouse. His arm was around her waist. She wore an engagement ring.
The photograph was dated four years earlier.
Rachel enlarged the image.
David looked younger but unmistakable.
The woman beside him appeared exhausted. Her expression did not match David’s smile.
Another photograph arrived.
It showed the same woman entering a bank with Brenda.
Then came an image of a newspaper clipping.
LOCAL TEACHER CHARGED IN FINANCIAL FRAUD INVESTIGATION
The woman’s name was Natalie Pierce.
According to the article, Natalie had been accused of attempting to transfer funds from a school charity account into a private business. The charges were later dismissed due to insufficient evidence, but Natalie resigned from her position and disappeared from public records.
Rachel typed a reply despite Olivia’s warning.
Who are you?
The response came quickly.
Someone who believed him before you did.
Where is Natalie?
No answer.
Rachel searched the woman’s name through public databases. Natalie had once taught literature at a private secondary school. Her professional profile ended abruptly after the fraud allegations.
There were no recent addresses.
No employment records.
No marriage certificate linking her to David.
Only the photograph proved they had been engaged.
By morning, Rachel had received no further messages.
At nine, David appeared outside Olivia’s building.
He could not enter without permission, so he waited on the sidewalk holding a white box from Rachel’s favorite bakery.
Olivia watched through the window.
“He knows where I live, but he’s never visited before.”
Rachel’s phone rang.
She answered without speaking.
“Rachel,” David said softly, “please come downstairs.”
“No.”
“I want to explain.”
“Explain Natalie Pierce.”
Silence.
Olivia turned toward Rachel.
David’s voice changed.
“Where did you hear that name?”
“Was she your fiancée?”
“It was years ago.”
“Did she own property?”
“What?”
“Did your family try to gain control of her money?”
“No.”
“Did you accuse her of fraud when she refused?”
“That’s not what happened.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
David exhaled slowly.
“Natalie was unstable.”
Rachel looked at Olivia.
There it was.
Not dishonest.
Not mistaken.
Unstable.
“She stole money,” David continued. “My mother tried to help her, and Natalie blamed us when she was caught.”
“The charges were dismissed.”
“Because records disappeared.”
“Did your mother have access to those records?”
David did not answer.
Rachel approached the window.
Below, David looked up toward Olivia’s apartment.
He could not see Rachel through the reflection on the glass.
“Did you meet me because of my grandmother’s land?” she asked.
His face changed even from five floors above.
“No.”
“The company trying to purchase it shares your office.”
“My mother manages several investments.”
“The company was created before we met.”
“That doesn’t mean I knew who you were.”
“Did you know my name before the charity event?”
“No.”
It was the first answer Rachel knew with absolute certainty was a lie.
The charity event had required advance registration. Guest names, professions, and donor histories had been shared with sponsors.
Hale Strategic Consulting had been one of those sponsors.
Rachel ended the call.
David remained outside for nearly an hour before leaving the bakery box beside the entrance.
At noon, Olivia’s building manager called upstairs.
A woman had arrived asking for Rachel.
She refused to give her name.
Rachel and Olivia went down together.
The woman waiting in the lobby wore a long gray coat despite the warm day. Her dark hair was shorter than in the old photograph, and a thin scar crossed the side of her chin.
Rachel recognized her immediately.
“Natalie?”
The woman’s gaze moved toward the glass entrance doors.
“You shouldn’t have said my name on the phone.”
“Were you the one messaging me?”
“No.”
Rachel felt a chill.
May you like
Natalie stepped closer.
“If someone sent you my photographs, then they know I’m alive.”
