The Wedding Card💌

Chapter 4

The bell above the café door chimed softly as the man stepped onto the sidewalk.

The warmth of the diner gave way to the cool late-afternoon breeze, carrying the rich aroma of roasted coffee and the distant hum of traffic. A delivery truck rumbled past, briefly drowning out the chatter spilling from nearby storefronts, while pedestrians flowed around him without a second glance. Dressed in an unremarkable charcoal jacket and dark trousers, he looked like any other office worker heading home after a long day. It was exactly as he intended.

Without looking back, he tucked the folded newspaper beneath his arm and blended effortlessly into the steady stream of people moving along the sidewalk.

Years of surveillance work had taught him that the best investigator was the one no one remembered seeing. There was no need to hurry, no need to glance over his shoulder. Drawing attention was the quickest way to lose it.

A block away, he slowed beside a dark sedan parked beneath the sprawling branches of an old oak tree. The vehicle was clean but ordinary, the kind that disappeared in traffic as easily as its driver did.

He unlocked the rear door, tossed the newspaper onto the back seat, then settled behind the wheel. The interior smelled faintly of leather and fresh coffee, evidence that he had been there far longer than anyone inside the café would have guessed.

Only then did he reach into the inner pocket of his jacket and remove a small leather notebook, its worn cover hinting at years of careful use. He flipped to a fresh page and began writing in neat, deliberate handwriting.

Subject: Mia Morgan

Status: Engaged to Ace Myers

Wedding: Less than one month away

His pen hovered over the page.

Ace Myers.

The name was familiar. Even someone outside the corporate world knew it.

The investigator underlined the surname once.

"So that's the connection," he murmured.

He slipped the notebook onto the passenger seat before unlocking his phone.

The photograph filled the screen.

Taken discreetly through the gap beneath his newspaper, it showed the wedding invitation resting between two coffee cups, Bea's hand lying casually beside it as she reached for her drink. The embossed gold lettering was perfectly sharp.

Mia Morgan & Ace Myers

He zoomed in just enough to verify the names once more before saving the image to an encrypted folder. Then he locked the screen.

Almost immediately, the phone vibrated. A single message appeared.

Update?

He considered typing a reply, thought better of it, and pressed the call button instead.

The line connected after a single ring.

"I've confirmed her identity," he said evenly.

"And?"

"She's Ace Myers' fiancée."

Silence lingered on the other end.

"You're certain?"

"I have photographic confirmation."

"Send it."

"I will."

"What else did you learn?"

"Nothing unusual. She met a friend at a diner, and most of their conversation revolved around the wedding. From what I gathered, the ceremony is less than a month away. She appears relaxed, unaware of any surveillance, and hasn't displayed any security precautions."

"Anyone accompanying her?"

"No."

"No security detail?"

"None that I could identify."

Another brief silence followed.

"Good work."

The investigator hesitated. In his line of work, curiosity was usually a liability, but this assignment had been unusual from the beginning.

"May I ask the objective of this assignment?"

The silence that followed stretched just long enough to make him regret asking.

"No questions," the voice replied at last. "Just do your job."

"I understand."

The tone softened ever so slightly.

"I'll tell you this much. Ace Myers has made some very powerful enemies over the years."

The investigator remained silent.

"Men like Myers spend fortunes protecting their companies, investments, and reputations. What they often fail to protect are the people they love."

The line went dead immediately.

The investigator lowered the phone slowly and rested it on the passenger seat.

He had spent nearly a decade working corporate investigations. Most of his assignments involved financial audits, employee background checks, or suspected industrial espionage. Occasionally he was hired to expose infidelity or locate missing assets.

Following a CEO's fiancée? That was a first.

His gaze drifted back toward the café.

Through the wide front window, Mia laughed at something Bea had said before reaching across the table to steal one of her fries. Bea caught her wrist with a playful swat, earning an exaggerated pout that dissolved into shared laughter a second later.

She looked completely unaware that anyone had spent the last hour documenting her movements.

His phone buzzed once more.

A secure message appeared on the screen.

Continue surveillance. Do not approach the subject.

He read it twice before deleting it permanently.

Slipping the phone back into his pocket, he started the engine.

The sedan eased away from the curb, merging effortlessly into the afternoon traffic until it became just another vehicle among hundreds.

His gaze drifted back toward the café.

Through the wide front window, Mia laughed at something Bea had said before reaching across the table to steal one of her fries. Bea swatted her hand away with a playful glare, making them both laugh even harder.

Inside the café, Bea stirred her coffee with a mischievous grin.

"So, have you decided who's catching the bouquet? Because if it's me, I fully expect it to lead me straight to a ridiculously rich husband."

Mia laughed so hard she nearly spilled her iced latte.

"I don't think that's how it works."

"It should."

Their laughter lingered in the cozy little diner long after the black sedan disappeared around the corner.

For Mia, it was simply another joyful afternoon spent planning the happiest day of her life.

She had no way of knowing that somewhere inside a confidential report, her name now sat at the top of a growing file, identified as the one person capable of reaching Ace Myers through his heart.