Chapter 3 - The Cathedral ConfrontationNow, standing in the middle aisle of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the past three days converged into a single, explosive moment.
Ethan thrashed against the wooden railing of the altar, pointing a shaking finger at me as he stumbled down the steps.
"She's an impostor!" Ethan screamed, his voice turning shrill as panic seized his mind. "This is a scam! My wife died on that mountain! The search and rescue team confirmed it!"
"The search and rescue team you paid off, you mean?" William Carter stepped forward, his voice booming through the cathedral like thunder.
A collective gasp swept through the crowd.
"Mr. Carter?" an executive from the front row gasped. "What is the meaning of this?"
"The meaning, ladies and gentlemen," William announced, pulling a thick leather folder from inside his jacket, "is that Ethan Harper attempted to murder my daughter to steal fifty million dollars from my insurance firm."
Vanessa scrambled up from her chair, her eyes darting frantically toward the side exit of the cathedral. "Ethan! We have to go! Now!"
"Nobody moves," a sharp voice commanded from the rear entrance.
Four uniformed officers from the NYPD Financial Crimes Division, accompanied by two federal agents, stepped through the heavy oak doors, blocking every exit.
Detective Miller stepped down the aisle, holding an arrest warrant. "Ethan Harper and Vanessa Vance. Stand where you are."
Ethan looked at the police, then at the media cameras that had been hired to cover the 'grieving widower's eulogy,' and finally at me. His handsome façade shattered completely, replaced by the ugly, desperate rage of a trapped animal.
"You ruined me!" Ethan shrieked, lunging toward me down the aisle. "You were supposed to stay on that mountain! You were nothing before I married you!"
Before Ethan could get within five feet of me, William stepped into his path, delivering a single, devastating punch that caught Ethan squarely on the jaw.
Ethan dropped to the stone floor with a heavy crack, clutching his face as blood trickled from his lip.
The police officers moved in instantly, pinning Ethan’s arms behind his back, the metallic click of handcuffs echoing through the silent church.
Vanessa burst into hysterical tears as female officers cuffed her hands, her black veil falling to the floor. "I didn't push her! It was all Ethan's idea! He forged the documents! He told me she was going to divorce him and take his company!"
I walked slowly down the aisle, stopping directly over Ethan as he lay on the marble floor.
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I leaned down, my voice a soft, deadly whisper that only he could hear.
"The baby is fine, Ethan," I murmured. "And he will grow up with a real father's name... Carter. You will spend the rest of your life watching him thrive through a glass partition."
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