Chapter 3
Maria looked at the envelope.
Then at Daniel.
“You followed me.”
“No.”
He smiled.
“I came home.”
“You were supposed to be with your wife.”
“My wife doesn’t want me near her.”
“Maybe there’s a reason.”
Daniel’s smile disappeared.
Maria moved slightly toward the bathroom door.
He noticed.
“Don’t.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re calculating.”
His voice was calm.
That frightened her more than shouting would have.
Daniel lifted the envelope.
“Do you know what’s inside?”
“No.”
“Then why risk coming here?”
“Because Emily asked me.”
“Emily doesn’t know what she’s saying.”
“She knew enough to be afraid of you.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“You think waking up in a coffin makes someone rational?”
“She remembered the tea.”
For the first time, his eyes changed.
Maria saw it.
A tiny hesitation.
“You carried it upstairs,” she said.
“I bring my wife things all the time.”
“She became unconscious afterward.”
“Correlation isn’t proof.”
“That sounds rehearsed.”
Daniel laughed softly.
“You’ve always been smarter than you pretend.”
“I never pretended.”
“No?”
He stepped closer.
“You walk around this house quietly. You hear everything. You see everything. But you act invisible.”
“That’s what people like you expect from people like me.”
His expression hardened.
“People like me?”
“People who believe money makes everyone else furniture.”
Daniel looked at the envelope.
“You’re right about one thing.”
“What?”
“I underestimated you.”
Maria backed toward the dresser.
Her phone was in her pocket.
She needed only a few seconds.
Daniel suddenly said, “Don’t reach for it.”
Her hand stopped.
“Your phone.”
Maria stared at him.
“Take it out slowly.”
“No.”
His face darkened.
“I’m trying not to make this ugly.”
“You buried your wife alive.”
“I did not.”
“Then why are you afraid of this envelope?”
“I’m not afraid.”
He tore it open.
Maria gasped.
Daniel pulled out several folded papers.
A photograph fell to the floor.
He looked down.
So did Maria.
It showed Daniel standing beside another woman.
They were outside a restaurant.
Daniel’s hand rested against the woman’s lower back.
The picture itself meant little.
Until Maria recognized the woman.
Dr. Claire Warren.
Daughter of Dr. Warren Cole.
The physician who had signed Emily’s death certificate.
Daniel quickly picked it up.
Maria whispered, “You know his daughter.”
Daniel folded the photograph.
“It’s not what you think.”
“That’s what guilty people always say.”
He began reading the papers.
His expression changed.
The confidence disappeared.
“What is it?” Maria asked.
He did not answer.
“What did Emily find?”
Daniel read faster.
Then he whispered, “No.”
Maria took one step forward.
“What?”
Daniel looked genuinely afraid now.
Not of Maria.
Of what he was reading.
“She knew.”
“Knew what?”
He shoved the papers back into the envelope.
Maria lunged.
Daniel grabbed her wrist.
She twisted away.
The envelope fell.
Pages scattered.
Maria dropped to the floor.
Daniel reached too.
She grabbed the first page she could.
Three words were printed at the top.
LIFE INSURANCE TRUST.
Below them was Daniel’s name.
And a number.
$20,000,000.
Maria looked up.
Daniel ripped the paper from her hand.
“My God.”
“Give me that.”
“Twenty million dollars?”
“It isn’t what you think.”
“Your wife dies and you get twenty million?”
“It’s a policy.”
“You said you didn’t know what was in the envelope.”
“I didn’t.”
“You’re lying.”
“I knew about the policy. I didn’t know she had documents.”
Maria grabbed another page.
Daniel caught her arm.
This time harder.
“Let go.”
“Stop.”
“You’re hurting me.”
“Then stop fighting.”
Maria slammed her heel down on his foot.
Daniel cursed.
She pulled away and ran.
He caught the back of her sweater.
The fabric ripped.
Maria crashed against the dresser.
A lamp fell and shattered.
She screamed.
Daniel froze.
For half a second.
That was all Maria needed.
She grabbed a broken wooden piece from the lamp base and swung it.
Daniel blocked with his arm.
“Maria!”
“Stay away!”
He stared at her.
“You have no idea what you’re involved in.”
“I know enough.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Then tell me.”
Daniel’s breathing was heavy.
He looked toward the hallway.
Then lowered his voice.
“Emily wasn’t supposed to die.”
Maria almost laughed.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s true.”
“She was inside a coffin.”
“I know.”
“You threatened me at the cemetery.”
“Because I panicked.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at the papers scattered across the carpet.
“Because this is bigger than me.”
Maria did not lower the broken lamp piece.
“Who was the coffin meant for?”
Daniel stared at her.
He seemed to decide something.
Then he said, “Me.”
Maria’s grip loosened slightly.
“Emily said that.”
“She was right.”
“Why would anyone order a coffin for you?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Because I was supposed to die last night.”
Maria’s mind raced.
He continued before she could speak.
“I received a message three days ago.”
“From who?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did it say?”
Daniel pulled out his phone.
He opened a screenshot.
Maria read it.
MIDNIGHT. THURSDAY. YOUR DEBTS END WITH YOU.
Below the sentence was a photograph of a coffin.
The same coffin Emily had been buried in.
Maria stared.
“You went to police?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because I knew what it meant.”
“What?”
Daniel lowered the phone.
“My father-in-law.”
“Emily’s father?”
“Yes.”
“Robert Cross is dead.”
“I know.”
“What does he have to do with this?”
Daniel’s expression twisted.
“He found out I was stealing from the company.”
Maria said nothing.
Daniel gave a bitter laugh.
“There. You wanted truth.”
“You stole from Cross Medical?”
“Not at first.”
“What does that mean?”
“I moved money between accounts. I planned to put it back.”
“People always say that too.”
“It grew.”
“How much?”
Daniel looked away.
“Eight million.”
Maria nearly dropped the lamp piece.
“Eight million dollars?”
“I was desperate.”
“For what?”
“Debts.”
“Gambling?”
“No.”
“What, then?”
He hesitated.
“That doesn’t matter.”
“It matters if people are dying.”
Daniel rubbed his face.
“Robert discovered it.”
“And then he died?”
“Yes.”
“You killed him.”
“No!”
The force of his answer startled her.
Daniel stepped closer.
Maria raised the wood.
He stopped.
“I swear to you, I didn’t kill Robert.”
“Why should I believe anything you say?”
“Because after he died, the money kept disappearing.”
Maria frowned.
“What?”
“Someone continued using the same accounts.”
“Your accounts?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
“You expect me to believe someone stole your theft?”
Daniel laughed bitterly.
“That’s exactly what happened.”
Maria studied him.
He looked terrified.
But fear did not make him innocent.
“Who is Claire Warren?”
Daniel went still.
Maria nodded toward the photograph.
“Doctor’s daughter.”
“She’s a consultant.”
“For what?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
“Your marriage?”
“Don’t.”
“So you’re sleeping with her.”
“No.”
“Then why hide the picture?”
“Because Emily believed I was.”
“Was she wrong?”
Daniel said nothing.
Maria’s stomach turned.
“Of course.”
“It wasn’t serious.”
“She’s your wife’s doctor’s daughter.”
“I know how it looks.”
“It looks like your mistress helped her father declare your wife dead.”
“She did not.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Claire called me after the funeral started.”
Maria narrowed her eyes.
“What did she say?”
Daniel’s face lost color.
“She asked me why Emily was being buried.”
Maria stared.
“She didn’t know?”
“Apparently not.”
“What did you say?”
“I thought she was playing some kind of game.”
“And?”
“She started crying.”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“She said her father had disappeared.”
Maria felt the room become colder.
“Dr. Cole is missing?”
“Since this morning.”
“He signed the death certificate.”
“I know.”
“Then disappeared.”
“Yes.”
Maria lowered the broken wood by an inch.
Daniel’s phone rang.
Both of them jumped.
The screen showed UNKNOWN.
Daniel stared.
“Answer it.”
“No.”
“Answer it.”
He hesitated.
Then pressed speaker.
“Hello?”
For several seconds, nothing.
Then breathing.
A man’s voice followed.
“You opened the envelope.”
Daniel’s face drained.
“Who is this?”
“You should have burned it.”
Maria looked around the room.
Someone knew.
Someone knew they were there.
Daniel shouted, “What do you want?”
The voice laughed.
“You still think this is about money.”
“What is it about?”
“Ask your wife.”
The call disconnected.
Maria stared at Daniel.
“What does Emily know?”
“I don’t know.”
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Both froze.
Daniel whispered, “Stay here.”
“No chance.”
Another crash.
Glass this time.
Someone was inside.
Daniel opened the bedroom door.
The hallway was dark.
He stepped out.
Maria followed at a distance.
They reached the staircase.
The kitchen light was on.
A shadow moved below.
Daniel grabbed a heavy brass candleholder from the hallway table.
“Who’s there?”
No answer.
Maria’s phone finally reached her hand.
She dialed emergency services.
Before she could speak, a figure rushed from the kitchen.
Black clothing.
Face covered.
Daniel swung the candleholder.
The intruder ducked.
A hard blow struck Daniel in the stomach.
He folded.
Maria screamed into the phone.
“Someone’s in the house!”
The intruder turned toward her.
Maria ran upstairs.
Footsteps followed.
Fast.
She reached Emily’s room.
Locked the door.
The intruder hit it from outside.
Once.
Twice.
Wood cracked.
Maria looked for an escape.
Second-floor window.
Too high.
Bathroom.
No exit.
The door shook again.
Then stopped.
Silence.
Maria held her breath.
A voice came through the wood.
Soft.
Almost friendly.
“Maria.”
She froze.
The intruder knew her name.
“You should have let Emily die.”
Maria backed away.
The voice continued.
“Now everyone you love is going to pay for it.”
Footsteps moved away.
Maria stayed frozen until police sirens approached.
When officers entered, the intruder was gone.
Daniel was alive.
Bruised.
Bleeding from his lip.
But alive.
The blue envelope was gone.
Every page.
Every photograph.
Taken.
Police searched the house.
No fingerprints.
No weapon.
No clear entry point.
Except one broken kitchen window.
Maria gave her statement.
Daniel gave his.
Neither mentioned his theft.
Not yet.
When Maria finally returned to the hospital, dawn was approaching.
Emily was awake.
Two police officers stood outside her room.
Maria entered.
Emily looked relieved.
“Did you find it?”
Maria closed the door.
“It was stolen.”
Emily’s eyes filled with dread.
“Then they know.”
“Who?”
Emily looked toward the door.
“My mother.”
Maria stared.
“You think Evelyn is behind this?”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“My mother put those papers there.”
“Why?”
“Because she knew somebody would come looking for them.”
Maria sat beside the bed.
“Who?”
Emily swallowed.
Then whispered, “The person who killed my father.”
Maria leaned forward.
“Emily, who killed him?”
May you like
Emily looked at her.
“I think I did.”
