My phone.
I had dropped it when I slid under the bed.
The screen was dark, but it was still there near my hand.
My fingers moved millimeter by millimeter across the carpet.
Above me, Lena suddenly said, “Wait.”
I froze.
“Did you hear something?”
My heart stopped.
Mark paused.
Silence filled the room.
For three seconds…
Five seconds…
Ten seconds…
Then he sighed.
“It’s an old hotel. Pipes probably.”
They kept searching.
My fingers finally touched my phone.
I slowly turned the screen toward me and pressed the side button.
The brightness nearly blinded me in the darkness.
But I managed to swipe.
Emergency call.
My hand trembled so badly I almost dropped the phone.
I dialed 911.
Then I remembered.
We weren’t in the U.S.
We were in Italy for the wedding.
My brain screamed.
Wrong number.
Wrong number.
Wrong—
Then I remembered.
112.
I hit the call button and immediately muted the phone, pressing it against my chest.
The line connected.
Above me, Mark suddenly said something that made my blood turn to ice.
“Maybe she took it with her when she went to get the champagne.”
Lena paused.
“That was twenty minutes ago.”
A long silence followed.
Then Lena said quietly:
“Mark… what if she never went to get champagne?”
The bed creaked.
Slowly…
Very slowly…
Her heels turned toward the edge of the mattress.
Toward the floor.
Toward me.
My phone vibrated softly against my ribs as the operator answered.
And just as Lena bent down to look under the bed…
The hotel room door burst open.
“Polizia! Don’t move!”
Shouts filled the room.
Heavy boots stormed inside.
Lena screamed.
Mark dropped something that sounded like a folder.
And from under the bed, still shaking, still barely breathing…
I watched my brand-new husband get thrown to the floor in handcuffs on our wedding night. 🚨
But even then…
I didn’t yet know the most terrifying part of the story.
Because the police hadn’t come for them.
They had come for me.
And when the officer crouched down and looked straight into my eyes under the bed…
He said something that made my entire world collapse.
“Ma’am… we need you to come with us.”
“Your brother just accused you of fraud.” 😨
