Chapter 6: The Secret in the Envelope
I read the sentence three times.
Then a fourth.
My hands started shaking.
For six months, I had replayed the crash in my mind.
The rain.
The phone call.
The police officer standing at my door.
The empty space where my family used to be.
But nobody had ever suggested there was something more.
I carried the letter into the house and locked the door.
A strange thing happens when you lose everything.
You become afraid of losing even the smallest piece of truth.
I sat at the kitchen table.
The same table where Ethan used to help Lily with homework.
The same table where Noah spilled orange juice every morning.
I unfolded the paper.
There were only a few paragraphs.
The writer claimed to know about Ethan’s final days.
Claimed Ethan had been worried.
Claimed he had discovered something before the accident.
I stopped reading.
Because one sentence caught my attention.
*Your husband changed the estate documents three weeks before he died.*
My heart raced.
That wasn’t possible.
Ethan and I had updated our documents years ago.
Daniel handled everything.
I grabbed my phone and called him.
He answered immediately.
“Emma?””
“Did Ethan change the estate plan before the crash?””
Silence.
A long silence.
Too long.
“Daniel?””
“Where did you hear that?””
I stood up.
“Answer me.””
He exhaled.
“Emma, there are things I was waiting to discuss with you.””
My stomach dropped.
“What things?””
“Not over the phone.””
“Daniel.””
His voice became serious.
“Can you come to my office tomorrow morning?””
I looked at the letter.
The anonymous warning.
The secret.
The possibility that Ethan had been hiding something.
“Was he afraid of someone?””
Another pause.
Then Daniel said quietly:
“I think Ethan knew something was wrong.””
I couldn’t breathe.
The room felt smaller.
“What do you mean?””
“I mean your husband was asking questions.””
“About what?””
Daniel didn’t answer.
And that scared me more than anything.
After the call ended, I walked through the house.
Every room carried a memory.
Lily’s room.
Noah’s room.
The bedroom where Ethan and I had planned our future.
Had he known?
Had he been trying to protect us?
That night, I barely slept.
At 3:12 a.m., my phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then another message appeared.
*You need to stop asking questions about Ethan.*
I sat up.
My heart pounding.
A second message came.
*Some things are better left buried.*
I stared at the screen.
The old fear returned.
But this time, it wasn’t the helpless grief I felt after the crash.
This was different.
Someone was trying to scare me.
And they made one mistake.
They reminded me of exactly what I had lost.
I typed back.
*Who are you?*
The message showed as delivered.
Then read.
For five minutes, nothing happened.
Then the reply appeared.
Three words.
May you like
Three words that made me drop my phone.
*Ask your father.*
