Chapter 7 - The Other Brides
The woman with the sign disappeared before reporters reached her.
Lena recognized the initials on the notebook page.
“M.R.”
Her name was Marisol Reyes.
She had never married Ethan.
She had been engaged to him three years after Lena’s divorce.
Marisol agreed to meet Ava in a crowded café.
She arrived wearing sunglasses and checked the exits before sitting.
“He told me Lena was dangerous,” Marisol said. “He said she had invented abuse because she wanted his money.”
Ava felt ashamed.
Ethan had told her the same story about a “possessive former girlfriend,” though he never used Lena’s name.
“What happened to you?” Ava asked.
Marisol placed an old phone on the table.
“I refused to sign a prenuptial agreement that gave his mother control of my future earnings.”
“Then?”
“He locked me in a guest room for six hours.”
Lena’s face tightened.
“Did you report him?”
“I tried. Victoria sent a doctor who declared I was experiencing a panic episode. Ethan said the door had jammed accidentally.”
Marisol opened a folder of photographs.
Bruised wrists.
A damaged door handle.
Messages from Ethan.
Apologize, and this ends.
Your family will suffer if you embarrass mine.
There were also bank transfers.
Victoria had paid Marisol one hundred thousand dollars after the engagement ended.
The payment agreement required silence.
“Why speak now?” Ava asked.
Marisol removed her sunglasses.
“Because he married you.”
She had seen the wedding announcement and tried to contact Ava before the ceremony.
Ethan intercepted the first message.
After the honeymoon began, Marisol created a new account and contacted Lena, who finally reached Ava.
Ava realized two women had spent weeks trying to save a stranger.
Marisol opened the notebook photograph.
“There are more initials.”
One belonged to a former personal assistant.
Another belonged to a college girlfriend.
The third remained unknown.
Ava’s attorney began contacting them.
By evening, two women agreed to give statements.
One had been pressured into leaving the country after Ethan threatened to release private recordings.
Another said Victoria paid her university debt in exchange for signing a confidentiality agreement.
Every relationship followed the same pattern.
Charm.
Isolation.
Rules.
Threats.
Then reputation destruction.
Ethan was not acting alone.
Victoria protected him, selected women with careers she could influence, and used business contracts to create leverage.
Ava looked at the canceled Cole contract.
“The company partnership was never about my clinics.”
Lena nodded.
“It was how they measured whether they could control you.”
Then Ava received an email from Ethan’s attorney.
Attached was a document bearing her digital signature.
May you like
It transferred half her business to Ethan.
👉 Ava had escaped the belt—but Ethan claimed she had signed away her company before they ever left for the honeymoon.
