Chapter 3: My Brother's Warning
"Tell me what you found," I said.
Michael didn't answer immediately.
Behind me, Vanessa began pacing between the dressing table and the window. One of the security officers asked her to remain where she was.
She ignored him and picked up her phone.
"Ma'am," he said, "please put that down.""
Vanessa dropped it into her bag.
Michael finally spoke.
"Your return flight was canceled three weeks ago.""
I stared at the phone.
"What?""
"I went to double-check the honeymoon arrangements this morning. The travel agent couldn't find your original return reservation. I assumed it was a computer error, so I pulled up the confirmation emails.""
"Who canceled it?""
"Someone using your account.""
My mouth went dry.
"Did they book another flight?""
"No.""
I looked at Sophie. She was watching me with wide eyes, holding the hem of my jacket in both hands.
"Keep talking," I told Michael.
He exhaled shakily.
"I also found a life insurance policy in your name. Five million dollars. Vanessa is the sole beneficiary.""
For several seconds, I couldn't hear anything except the pounding of my own heartbeat.
A life insurance policy wasn't necessarily suspicious by itself. I'd carried coverage for years because Sophie depended on me.
But five million dollars?
Vanessa as the sole beneficiary?
I had never agreed to that.
"Michael, did you see the policy yourself?""
"Yes. I found a digital copy in the travel folder she sent me when we were coordinating the trip. There's a signature attached to the application.""
I glanced at the forged signature in the guardianship folder.
"Does it look like mine?""
"That's what I'm afraid of.""
Vanessa moved toward the door.
The security officer stepped in front of her.
"Ma'am, I need you to wait.""
"Get out of my way!"" she snapped.
"I'm leaving.""
"Not until Mr. Carter has finished arranging things.""
She turned toward me.
"Daniel, your brother is making this sound insane. He doesn't understand the paperwork.""
I covered the phone's microphone.
"Then explain it.""
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Michael's voice crackled through the speaker.
"Daniel? Are you still there?""
"I'm here.""
"There's something else.""
I closed my eyes briefly.
Of course there was.
Michael continued.
"The policy lists a medical examination I don't remember you taking. And the application was submitted through a broker whose office closed last year.""
I looked down at the documents.
The room suddenly seemed smaller, the white walls too bright, the perfume in the air almost suffocating.
"Can you send me everything you found?""
"Already doing it.""
My phone chimed.
A message appeared with several attachments.
Before I could open them, Sophie tugged at my sleeve.
"Daddy?""
I knelt beside her.
"What is it, sweetheart?""
She pointed at the photograph tucked into the back of the folder.
"That's the man who came to our house.""
I pulled it out.
It was a printed photograph of Vanessa standing outside our home with a man in a dark jacket. They were near the side entrance, away from the street.
The picture had been taken at night.
I turned it over.
A handwritten note was scrawled across the back.
Everything is ready. Daniel must not return from the honeymoon.
My blood ran cold.
I recognized the handwriting.
Not Vanessa's.
Michael's.
I looked at the photograph again, then at the phone in my hand.
"Michael," I said slowly, "I have a picture here.""
"What kind of picture?""
"You're standing outside my house with Vanessa.""
Silence.
I could hear him breathing.
Then I added, "And there's a note on the back saying I must not return from the honeymoon.""
Michael didn't respond.
"Tell me that's not your handwriting.""
More silence.
Vanessa stopped pacing.
She was watching me with an expression I couldn't read.
"Michael?""
Finally, my brother spoke.
"Daniel, you need to listen to me. Whatever you think that photograph means, you cannot trust—"
The call abruptly disconnected.
I stared at the screen.
For a moment, I was a child again, standing in our parents' kitchen while Michael promised he'd never let anything bad happen to me. He was seven years older than I was. When our father died, Michael had helped me through college, lent me money for my first apartment, and stood beside me at Emily's funeral.
He had carried Sophie out of the church when she fell asleep against my shoulder.
He was the person I called when I didn't know what to do.
And now his handwriting was on a note suggesting someone intended for me to die.
My phone rang again.
Michael.
I answered, but he spoke before I could.
"Daniel, don't call the police yet.""
I looked toward the security officers.
"Why the hell not?""
"Because I need to explain what happened at your house.""
"What happened?""
His voice broke.
"Vanessa told me you knew about the policy. She said you wanted to make some changes before the wedding.""
"I never knew about any policy!""
"I know that now.""
"Then why is your handwriting on this photograph?""
"I didn't write that note.""
I looked at the words again.
The letters were unmistakably his.
"Then who did?""
"I don't know. But I know why Vanessa was at your house that night, and I should have told you sooner.""
Vanessa suddenly moved.
She snatched her bag from the table and rushed toward the door, knocking over a vase of white roses.
One security officer caught her arm.
"Ma'am, stop!""
"Let go of me!""
She struck his hand away, then pointed at Sophie.
"That child is the reason all of this is happening!""
I stepped between them.
"Say one more word about my daughter.""
Vanessa's face twisted.
"You think you're protecting her? You have no idea what you've dragged her into!""
The security officer restrained her as she struggled.
Sophie buried her face against my side.
"Please don't let her take me," she whispered.
"I won't," I promised.
But as I held her, I realized I couldn't make that promise mean anything unless I understood what Vanessa had been planning.
I opened Michael's latest message.
It contained a scanned insurance application, a copy of my supposed signature, and a second photograph taken outside my house.
This time, Vanessa wasn't standing beside Michael.
She was standing beside a man I had never seen before.
The image had been captured through a window.
On the table inside my house sat a glass of water, a half-eaten sandwich, and Sophie's pink ceramic jewelry box—the one Emily had left her.
Beneath the photograph was a short message from Michael.
Daniel, I finally understand what Vanessa wanted. But the man in this picture isn't the person you need to be afraid of.
A second message appeared.
Look at the date on the photograph.
I zoomed in.
Three weeks earlier.
The night I'd been in Chicago.
The night Vanessa had been alone with my daughter.
Then another message arrived.
The man in that picture is the attorney who prepared Sophie's guardianship papers.
I looked at the folder in my hands.
The attorney's name was printed clearly on the email.
And below it, in the space reserved for the client's signature, was my name.
Only this time, I noticed something I'd missed before.
The signature wasn't merely similar to mine.
It was dated three weeks before my wedding.
And the document authorized Vanessa to assume full custody of Sophie if I became incapacitated, disappeared, or died.
I slowly raised my eyes toward my fiancée.
She had stopped struggling.
She was staring at the paper, her face drained of color.
May you like
Then she whispered something that made the room go silent.
"You weren't supposed to find that until after the honeymoon.""
