The Fiancé

British accent

Five years after Daniel’s death, Marta had finally learned to live without him.

At first, grief had occupied every part of her life. She avoided familiar streets, ignored invitations and kept his final voice message saved on her phone, although she could no longer play it. The police had told her that Daniel’s car struck a barrier on a wet November night and burst into flames. His body had been identified through dental records because it was impossible to recognise.

For years, she accepted that explanation. Daniel had been the man she intended to marry, and questioning the circumstances of his death had seemed almost disloyal.

Eventually, life began to move again. Marta changed jobs, moved into a quieter flat and stopped waking at night convinced she had heard his key in the door. She still carried a small engagement photograph in her purse, but it had become less a source of comfort than proof of a life that no longer existed.

One Friday evening, her colleagues persuaded her to join them for dinner at a crowded Italian restaurant. The room was noisy, filled with conversation and clinking glasses. Marta was listening to a familiar story when something across the room caught her attention.

A man at a corner table lifted his hand to brush back his hair.

The gesture was so familiar that she stopped breathing.

He wore a silver watch on his left wrist. A thin scar crossed his eyebrow. When he turned towards the light, the restaurant seemed to disappear around her.

It was Daniel.

He looked older, but there was no doubt. Beside him sat a dark-haired woman who appeared completely relaxed, as if the man opposite her had no past worth hiding.

Then Daniel looked up.

For one brief second, recognition crossed his face. It vanished immediately.

Marta stood before she had decided what to do.

“Daniel?”

The woman glanced between them.

The man gave Marta a controlled smile. “I’m sorry. You must have mistaken me for someone else.”

“You proposed to me.”

A few nearby diners turned to look.

His expression remained calm, yet his fingers tightened around his glass.

Marta removed the old photograph from her purse and placed it on the table. Daniel looked at it for less than a second, but that was enough.

“I don’t know you,” he said.

The woman frowned. “Michael, what is this?”

Michael.

Marta took back the photograph and left without another word. She was shaking, but not from grief. Whatever had happened five years earlier, Daniel had recognised her and chosen to lie again.

A week later, she returned to the restaurant. Shortly after ten, Daniel emerged alone and walked towards a car in a side street.

“You should have stayed away,” he said before turning around.

“So it is you.”

He closed his eyes briefly. “I never expected you to see me.”

“Why did you fake your death?”

Daniel glanced along the empty street. “I stole money from people who do not forgive mistakes. Disappearing was the only way to survive.”

“You allowed me to mourn you for five years.”

“I was protecting you.”

“No. You were protecting yourself.”

Marta told him she intended to contact the police. For the first time, his confidence weakened.

“Get in the car,” he said. “I can explain everything.”

She knew she should refuse, but she wanted the whole truth. Reluctantly, she entered the passenger seat.

Daniel drove beyond the city towards an old bridge. The roads were almost empty.

“If the police discover I’m alive, they will find me too,” he said.

“They already should have.”

Headlights appeared behind them. A black SUV was approaching at dangerous speed.

Daniel checked the mirror and went pale.

“They’ve found me.”

The SUV struck the back of the car. Marta was thrown forward as Daniel fought the steering wheel. A second impact forced them towards the bridge barrier.

“Jump!” he shouted.

Marta opened the door and threw herself onto the road. Behind her, Daniel’s car broke through the barrier and disappeared into the river.

The SUV slowed, then sped away.

Daniel’s body was recovered three days later. The investigation revealed that he had fabricated his death, stolen millions and lived under a false identity.

A week afterwards, Marta returned to the bridge. She tore the engagement photograph in half and released it into the wind.

She had not lost Daniel twice.

She had simply discovered that the man she loved had never truly existed.

📒 Key vocabulary

• struck (strike, struck, struck) – hit something with force
• barrier – a structure that blocks movement or prevents access
• burst (burst, burst, burst) – break open suddenly and violently
• flames – the visible fire produced when something burns
• clinking – making a light ringing sound, usually when hard objects touch
• hiding – staying in a place where you cannot easily be found
• glanced (glance, glance, glanced) – look at something quickly
• frowned (frown, frowned, frowned) – bring the eyebrows together to show worry, confusion or disapproval
• fake – deceive people  by pretending
• mourn – to feel and show sadness because someone has died
• SUV – sports utility vehicle; car with large wheels and 4-wheel drive
• impact – the force of one object hitting another
• sped (speed, sped, sped) – move very quickly
• fabricated (fabricate, fabricated, fabricated) – invent or create something false in order to deceive people

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