Chapter 2
I carried Emily to the car while calling the hospital.
She could barely breathe through the pain.
“Our daughter isn’t due for five weeks,” I said.
“I know.”
“Is this labor?”
“I don’t know, Daniel. Just drive.”
At the emergency entrance, nurses rushed her into maternity triage.
I tried to follow, but a doctor stopped me.
“We need room to examine her.”
The doors closed between us.
I stood in the hallway with blood on my shirt and garbage still stuck to my sleeves.
My wife was in danger.
My unborn daughter was in danger.
And someone knew Emily was hiding something.
I read the message again.
Before tonight ends, your wife will tell you what she has been hiding.
I called the number.
It had already been disconnected.
Twenty minutes later, Dr. Patel came outside.
“The baby’s heartbeat is strong,” she said. “Your wife suffered severe stress and minor bleeding. We’ve stopped the contractions, but she needs observation.”
Relief nearly knocked me down.
“Can I see her?”
“Yes. Keep her calm.”
Emily lay beneath a white blanket with monitors around her.
I kissed her forehead.
“She’s safe,” Emily whispered. “Our baby is safe.”
I held her hand.
Then I placed my phone on the bed.
“Who sent this?”
Her eyes changed when she read the message.
That frightened me more than the blood had.
“Emily?”
She looked toward the door.
“Diane knows.”
“Knows what?”
“Three months ago, I found documents in your mother’s desk.”
I pulled back.
“Why were you in her desk?”
“She asked me to find an insurance policy. Instead, I found statements carrying your name.”
My heart began pounding.
“What kind of statements?”
“A trust account.”
I laughed once because the idea sounded impossible.
“I don’t have a trust.”
“Yes, you do.”
Emily’s voice trembled.
“Your father created it before he died. He left you money from the sale of his company.”
“My father’s company failed.”
“That’s what Diane told you.”
Emily opened her phone and showed me photographs.
There were bank statements.
Legal letters.
My signature appeared on withdrawal forms I had never seen.
The largest transfer was for eighty-five thousand dollars.
“Your mother has been taking money for years,” Emily said.
I stared at the screen.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted proof. I contacted the bank, but they would only speak to you. Yesterday, I moved our emergency savings into a protected account because Diane had somehow obtained our account number.”
“That’s why she wanted the card.”
Emily nodded.
“She said if I gave her access, she would leave us alone. When I refused, she attacked me.”
Anger burned through my shock.
“You should have told me immediately.”
“I was afraid.”
“Of me?”
“Of what this truth would do to you.”
Before I could answer, the door opened.
My younger sister, Claire, rushed inside.
Her face was wet with tears.
“Daniel, I came as soon as I heard.”
I stood.
“How did you hear?”
Claire froze.
Only the police, the hospital, and I knew where Emily was.
Then my sister’s phone lit up in her hand.
A message preview appeared on the screen.
It was from Diane.
Did he learn about the trust?
Claire quickly turned the phone over.
Too late.
I had already seen it.
“You knew,” I said.
Her silence answered me.
“How long?”
Claire began crying harder.
“Daniel, please.”
“How long have you known our mother was stealing from me?”
“Two years.”
Emily stared at her.
“Two years?”
Claire stepped backward.
“She said Dad left the money to all of us. She said the lawyers made a mistake.”
“So you helped her?”
“No! I never touched your money.”
“Then why did you stay silent?”
Claire looked at Emily’s stomach.
“Because Mom said if I told you, she would reveal what really happened the night Dad died.”
The room went still.
My father had supposedly died alone after crashing his car.
I moved closer to Claire.
“What really happened?”
She opened her mouth.
Before she could speak, two police officers appeared in the doorway.
One of them looked directly at me.
“Mr. Carter, your mother posted bail thirty minutes ago.”
My blood turned cold.
May you like
The officer continued.
“And now your house alarm is going off.”
