I was frozen. Who was this woman? Why was she there?
And most of all… why did Mia think she was her father’s wife?
Jonathan looked shaken. He stared at the figure outside, pale, unable to say a word.
The woman kept smiling, expressionless—almost too calm. Her smile was too wide, too confident. She didn’t move. She was waiting.
A shiver ran down my spine.
Slowly, Jonathan walked toward the door. The guests, still seated, followed his every move like something out of a bad dream. I saw his hand tremble as he turned the doorknob.
— “You… what are you doing here?” he whispered, in a voice I didn’t recognize.
The woman tilted her head, almost amused.
— “Aren’t you going to introduce me?” she asked softly, her eyes then landing on me.
Her gaze pierced right through me. There was no warmth. Just a strange intensity—almost threatening—hidden behind that smile.
— “Jonathan?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended. “Who is she?”
He turned back to me, visibly panicked.
— “That’s… that’s Justine.”
He paused.
— “My ex-wife.”
A murmur of shock rippled through the guests. I was stunned.
I thought he had never been married. He told me so—clearly. And now this woman was standing there, very real, on the most important day of our lives.
But what chilled me the most was what Mia added then, in her innocent voice:
— “She comes to the house when you’re asleep, Abi. She tells me not to trust you…”
A heavy silence fell. My legs almost gave out.
Jonathan turned to his daughter, ashen-faced.
— “What? What do you mean, sweetie? When did she come?”
Mia shrugged.
— “Sometimes at night. She says Mommy is coming back.”
I couldn’t breathe.
Justine, still outside, shrugged, her eyes gleaming with something strange.
— “We all have secrets, don’t we, Jonathan?”
Then, before anyone could react, she turned… and disappeared into the crowd, as if she had never been there.
Jonathan collapsed into a chair, head in his hands.
I stood frozen, heart pounding, eyes fixed on the open door.
One thing was clear:
That woman would be back.
And she wasn’t done with us.