Continuation PART 3: THE SECRET OUR FAMILIES HID FROM ME When my brother told me that my father had discovered something about Vanessa's family, I felt like my entire world was collapsing. I was still standing in that hotel room with Vanessa and Michael. The wedding guests were waiting for us, my phone wouldn't stop ringing, and the woman I had planned to spend the rest of my life with was begging me not to listen to my own father. I looked at her and asked, “Vanessa, what exactly are you hiding from me?” She shook her head. “Daniel, please. Let's leave this hotel first. I will explain everything at home.” I laughed. “Home? You still think we're going home together after what I've just witnessed?” She started crying again. Michael sat on the edge of the bed, his head buried in his hands. For eight years, I had considered him my brother. I had trusted him with my business, my secrets, and my future. Yet he had been hiding his relationship with my bride from me. I walked out of the hotel without saying another word. When I arrived at my parents' house, my father was waiting in the sitting room. My older brother stood beside him, holding a brown envelope. My father looked at my wedding suit and asked, “Where is Vanessa?” “The wedding is cancelled, Dad. I caught her with Michael in a hotel room.” My mother gasped. My father didn't look surprised. That was the moment I became suspicious. “Dad, why aren't you shocked? Did you already know something about her?” He remained silent for a few seconds before pointing to the chair opposite him. “Sit down, Daniel. There is something I should have told you before you agreed to marry that girl.” I sat down slowly. He opened the brown envelope and removed some old documents. “Do you remember the business I started before you were born? The one that collapsed when you were still a child?” I nodded. He continued. “Vanessa's father was my business partner. Years ago, we invested our money in a property development project. The business failed, and a huge amount of money disappeared. Your grandfather believed Vanessa's father had stolen it. Her father denied everything, and the two families stopped speaking.” I frowned. “What does that have to do with my marriage?” My father looked directly into my eyes. “Three months before your engagement, Vanessa's father came to see me. He claimed he had found documents that could prove what really happened to our money.” I leaned forward. “What documents?” My father pushed one of the papers toward me. “He said he would hand them over after our families reconciled. He wanted you and Vanessa to marry.” I stared at him in disbelief. “So you're telling me her family wanted this marriage because of an old business dispute?” “That's what I feared,” he replied. “But I didn't have enough evidence to accuse anyone.” I stood up angrily. “Dad, why didn't you tell me? You allowed me to plan a wedding without knowing any of this!” He lowered his head. “I thought I could resolve the matter before your wedding. I didn't want to destroy your happiness over something that happened years ago.” I was furious, but before I could respond, my phone rang. It was Vanessa. I almost ignored the call, but something made me answer. “Daniel,” she said, crying, “please don't let our families destroy what we had.” I replied, “What we had? You were in a hotel room with my best friend!” She went quiet. Then she said something I wasn't expecting. “Michael wasn't the only man I was hiding from you.” My heart stopped. “What do you mean?” She began sobbing. “Daniel, there is something about your past that you don't know. Your father isn't telling you the whole story either.” I looked at my father immediately. He had gone completely still. I asked Vanessa, “What does my past have to do with you?