CHAPTER 4: THE WOMAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
The photograph stayed on my desk for almost an hour.
I couldn't look away.
Not because I didn't recognize the people in it.
Because I did.
Anna.
Michael.
And the third person standing between them.
A woman who was supposed to be gone.
A woman whose name had disappeared from every conversation after Anna's funeral.
Rachel Moore.
Anna's best friend.
The woman who had held my wife's hand through every difficult moment.
The woman who had cried harder than anyone when Anna died.
The woman who vanished immediately afterward.
I had spent two years believing Rachel left because grief was too painful.
Now I wondered if she disappeared because she knew the truth.
"Daniel."
Detective Collins placed a cup of coffee beside me.
I didn't touch it.
"When was this picture taken?"
I flipped it over.
Nothing.
No date.
No location.
Only the message written on the back.
Ask your brother why Anna was afraid of him.
"I don't know."
Detective Collins studied the photo.
"But you recognize everyone?"
I nodded.
"Anna. Michael. Rachel."
"Tell me about Rachel."
I leaned back.
For a moment, I was transported back to a different life.
A life before hospital rooms.
Before police investigations.
Before I looked at every person around me wondering if they were hiding a knife behind their smile.
"Rachel was Anna's closest friend."
"How close?"
"Like family."
Detective Collins raised an eyebrow.
"More than Evelyn?"
I hesitated.
"Yes."
That answer surprised even me.
Because Evelyn had always claimed she was Anna's second mother.
But Rachel was different.
Rachel knew the real Anna.
Not the daughter.
Not the wife.
Not the mother.
The person underneath.
"Rachel helped Anna after Lily was born," I continued.
"She was there when Anna struggled after becoming a mother. She was there when Anna and I had arguments. She knew everything."
"Everything?"
I looked down.
"Almost."
Detective Collins noticed my hesitation.
"What aren't you telling me?"
I sighed.
"There was a period before Anna died when things changed."
"What changed?"
"Anna became suspicious."
"Of who?"
I looked at the photograph.
"Everyone."
Three months before the accident, Anna started acting differently.
At first, I thought it was stress.
She had always been someone who carried too much responsibility.
She worried about Lily.
She worried about our finances.
She worried about everyone except herself.
But then small things started happening.
She changed the passwords on her accounts.
She stopped leaving important documents at home.
She started taking phone calls outside.
One night, I asked her what was wrong.
She smiled and said:
"Nothing."
But I knew Anna.
That wasn't her real smile.
That was the smile someone gives when they are trying to protect you from something.
I should have pushed harder.
I should have demanded answers.
Instead, I trusted her.
And now I hated myself for that.
"Daniel."
Detective Collins brought me back.
"We need to find Rachel."
I nodded.
"But she disappeared."
"People don't disappear."
She looked at the photograph.
"They hide."
We searched through old records.
Old addresses.
Old contacts.
Everything connected to Rachel.
Then we found something strange.
A bank account.
Opened six months after Anna's death.
The owner:
Rachel Moore.
My heart sank.
"She's alive."
Detective Collins nodded.
"But that's not the strange part."
She showed me the transaction history.
Every month, money was transferred into the account.
Not a small amount.
Thousands of dollars.
From an unknown source.
I stared at the screen.
"Who sent it?"
"We're tracing it."
Then Detective Collins stopped.
Her expression changed.
"What?"
She turned the screen toward me.
The latest transfer.
The sender information.
A name.
Michael Hart.
My brother.
Again.
Everything led back to him.
That afternoon, I received a message.
Unknown number.
Again.
But this time, there was no threat.
Only an address.
And three words.
Come alone, Daniel.
I showed Detective Collins.
"No."
"I need answers."
"It's a trap."
"Maybe."
She looked at me.
"And you're still thinking about going."
I didn't deny it.
Because she was right.
Someone had spent years taking pieces of my life away.
My wife.
My trust.
My family.
I needed to know why.
"You're not going alone."
"I thought you said—"
"I said you shouldn't go alone."
She grabbed her coat.
"We follow from a distance."
The address led me to an abandoned warehouse on the edge of the city.
The place looked forgotten.
Broken windows.
Rusting metal doors.
A building that felt like it was holding secrets in its walls.
I stepped inside.
"Hello?"
Nothing.
Then a voice answered.
"Daniel."
I froze.
Because I knew that voice.
Rachel.
She stepped out from the shadows.
Older.
Tired.
Different.
But alive.
For two years, I thought she abandoned us.
Now she was standing in front of me.
Looking like someone who had spent two years running from a nightmare.
"Rachel."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm sorry."
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to ask where she had been.
Why she disappeared.
Why she let me believe she didn't care.
Instead, I asked the only question that mattered.
"Did you know?"
Rachel looked away.
"Know what?"
"That Anna was in danger."
Her silence answered before her words did.
My heart dropped.
"You knew."
Rachel closed her eyes.
"Yes."
The answer hurt.
More than I expected.
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Anna made me promise."
"Promise what?"
Rachel looked directly at me.
"Promise that I would protect Lily if something happened to her."
I shook my head.
"You weren't protecting her."
"I was."
"No. You disappeared."
"I disappeared because Michael was watching me."
The room went silent.
"What?"
Rachel stepped closer.
"You think Michael started this after Anna died?"
She shook her head.
"Daniel... Michael was planning this before Anna died."
I felt the air leave my lungs.
"How long?"
Rachel's voice became quiet.
"Years."
She reached into her bag.
She pulled out a notebook.
Anna's handwriting.
My hands trembled.
"Where did you get that?"
"Anna gave it to me."
"Why?"
"Because she knew someone would come looking for it."
I opened the notebook.
The first page contained a date.
Five years ago.
Before Lily was born.
Before everything.
And underneath the date, Anna had written:
The first time Michael tried to take my child.
I looked up.
"My child?"
Rachel nodded.
"Daniel..."
Her voice cracked.
"There's something Anna never told you."
"What?"
Rachel took a deep breath.
"Michael wasn't obsessed with Lily because of the inheritance."
I stared at her.
"Then why?"
Rachel looked at the notebook.
"Because Michael believed Lily belonged to him."
My blood ran cold.
"What does that mean?"
Rachel didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she whispered:
"Daniel... before Lily was born, Anna discovered something about Michael."
"What?"
Rachel looked terrified.
"Michael wasn't just your brother."
The warehouse suddenly felt colder.
"He was the reason Anna was afraid."
I waited.
For the truth.
For the answer that would explain everything.
Then Rachel said the words that changed my entire understanding of my family.
"Michael was Lily's biological father."
I couldn't move.
I couldn't breathe.
The world stopped.
Because if Rachel was telling the truth...
Then the daughter I had raised for eight years...
The daughter I loved more than my own life...
May you like
Was connected to the man trying to destroy me.
End of Chapter 4
