Chapter 6: The Call She Never Wanted Me To Hear
Diana didn’t answer.
That was the most frightening part.
She didn’t deny it.
She didn’t get angry.
She simply stood there, staring at her phone like it had betrayed her.
“Diana.””
My voice was quiet.
“Why does Emma’s doctor have your number?””
She looked around the room.
At the guests.
At the family members watching her.
Then at me.
“Not here.””
I almost laughed.
“Funny.””
“What?””
“You always say that when the truth gets close.””
Her eyes narrowed.
“You’re humiliating me.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You did that yourself.””
She grabbed her purse.
“I need to leave.””
Mark stepped in front of the door.
“No.””
Diana stared at him.
“Move.””
“No.””
“This is ridiculous.””
“No,” I said.
“What’s ridiculous is that I almost married someone who knew secrets about my wife’s final days.””
Her face softened suddenly.
“Daniel, I never wanted to hurt you.””
“Then tell me the truth.””
She looked at me.
“I can’t.””
Those three words were worse than any confession.
I felt something inside me break.
“You can’t?””
She looked down.
“Not without destroying everything.””
I thought about Oliver.
My son.
His mother’s necklace.
His tears.
His fear that I would be disappointed in him.
Everything connected.
“What did you do?””
Diana whispered:
“I didn’t kill Emma.””
The room gasped.
My heart stopped.
I hadn’t asked that question.
But she answered it anyway.
“Why would you say that?””
She covered her mouth.
A mistake.
A terrible mistake.
Because people only deny things they are afraid someone will accuse them of.
Lorraine stepped forward.
“Daniel.””
Her voice was shaking.
“She knows more than she’s telling us.””
Diana looked at me.
“Please believe me.””
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.””
That hurt her.
For a second, she looked like the woman I used to know.
Then her phone rang again.
Same name.
Emma’s Doctor.
This time, she didn’t reject it.
She answered.
“Hello?””
Everyone watched.
Her face changed as she listened.
“What?””
She walked away.
But the ballroom was too quiet.
We could hear her.
“No, you weren’t supposed to call me.””
A pause.
Then:
“Because he found the necklace.””
My entire body went still.
She looked back at me.
She knew I heard.
“Listen to me,” she whispered into the phone.
“If Daniel opens that box, everything comes out.””
My heart pounded.
The safety deposit box.
Emma’s letter.
The missing necklace.
The doctor.
They were all connected.
Diana ended the call.
I walked toward her.
“Who was that?””
She didn’t answer.
“Who was Emma’s doctor?””
Still nothing.
I took a breath.
“Diana.””
She finally looked at me.
“It wasn’t just Emma’s necklace.””
“What?””
She reached into her purse.
Slowly.
Carefully.
And pulled out a small envelope.
My name was written on it.
Again.
But this handwriting wasn’t Emma’s.
It was Diana’s.
“I was going to give this to you after the wedding.””
I stared at it.
“After the wedding?””
She nodded.
“Because I knew you would leave me if you saw it now.””
My fingers hovered over the envelope.
“What is inside?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“The truth about what happened the night Emma died.””
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
I took the envelope.
May you like
And before I opened it, Diana whispered:
“Daniel… if you read that, you’ll never see Oliver the same way again.””
