Five Years After My Wife’s ‘Death,’ I Went to My Best Friend’s Wedding — The Bride’s Face Stopped My Heart

Five years after losing my wife, I’d built a quiet life with my daughter. But that peace shattered when the groom lifted the bride’s veil—and I saw her.

Elena and I had once defied her wealthy parents to be together. We married, had our daughter, and struggled to make ends meet. Then one day, she left a note: I want a divorce. Months later, her parents told me she’d died in a car crash.

I mourned her for years—until that wedding. When our eyes met, she turned pale and ran. “You’re supposed to be dead,” I said when I found her. She whispered, “My father made me disappear. I thought you’d be better off.”

Her lies ruined another man’s wedding, but this time, I didn’t chase her. I went home to Sophie—the only person who’d never left.