Chapter 3 - Nathan grabbed Victoria and pulled her behind the bed.Another shot tore through the bedroom wall.
The children were at school.
That thought cut through everything else.
Nathan reached for his phone.
No signal.
The intruder was blocking the stairs.
Victoria whispered:
“He found us.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Who?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Another gunshot.
A piece of wood splintered above them.
Nathan saw the bathroom window.
He pointed.
“Go.”
Victoria hesitated.
“You first.”
“No. Get out.”
She climbed through the window.
Nathan followed.
They dropped onto the roof of the garage.
Rain began pouring.
They ran.
Behind them, the bedroom window shattered.
The man leaned out.
But instead of firing, he shouted:
“Ask Victoria what happened to the second car.”
Nathan stopped.
Victoria grabbed his arm.
“Don't listen.”
They ran until they reached the neighbor's yard.
Nathan called the police.
Within minutes, sirens filled the street.
The intruder was gone.
No blood.
No fingerprints.
No weapon.
Only one thing remained.
The photograph.
The same photograph Nathan had received anonymously.
Only now, someone had written across the back.
SECOND CAR.
At the station, Nathan demanded answers.
Police found no evidence that the shooter had entered through the front door.
No forced entry.
No security alarm.
Nothing.
That meant someone had either bypassed the system...
or had the code.
Nathan thought of Victoria.
She was sitting across the room.
Silent.
Nathan watched her.
She looked exhausted.
Then an officer entered.
“We found something.”
He placed a folder on the table.
“The house security logs were erased.”
Nathan frowned.
“Can they be recovered?”
“Maybe.”
“Do it.”
The officer hesitated.
“There is something else.”
He slid another page forward.
“The system was accessed remotely.”
“When?”
The officer checked the timestamp.
“Today.”
Nathan stared.
“From where?”
The officer looked at Victoria.
“From your wife's phone.”
Victoria immediately stood.
“That isn't possible.”
Nathan looked at her.
“Give me your phone.”
“No.”
“Victoria.”
“I said no.”
The room went silent.
Nathan slowly stood.
“You were in the house when the system was disabled.”
“I was home.”
“Then why did you say you weren't?”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“I have been trying to protect you.”
“From whom?”
She didn't answer.
Nathan slammed his hand onto the table.
“Who killed Emma?”
Victoria whispered:
“I don't know.”
Nathan froze.
The officer frowned.
“You didn't say Emma was killed.”
Victoria stared at him.
She had trapped herself again.
Nathan stepped backward.
“You knew.”
She closed her eyes.
For the next hour, Victoria finally told him part of the truth.
Emma had discovered Nathan's company was being used to move illegal money.
She had confronted one of the executives.
That executive threatened her.
Victoria claimed she only learned about the fraud afterward.
“But you met Emma that night.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To convince her to leave.”
“Leave where?”
“Out of the country.”
Nathan stared.
“Why would she need to run?”
“Because she was afraid.”
“Of the executive?”
Victoria didn't answer.
“Of who?”
Silence.
Finally she said:
“Your father.”
Nathan felt something cold move through his body.
“My father died fifteen years ago.”
“I know.”
“So why are you saying his name?”
“Because he wasn't the man you thought he was.”
Nathan laughed bitterly.
“You're insane.”
Victoria looked at him.
“Then explain the money.”
Nathan's laughter disappeared.
She leaned forward.
“Your father created a private financial network before he died.”
Nathan stared.
“He left debt.”
“He left something else.”
“What?”
“A list.”
“What list?”
“The names of people who were paying him.”
Nathan's hands went cold.
“Politicians?”
“Some.”
“Businessmen?”
“Yes.”
“Criminals?”
Victoria nodded.
Nathan looked at the folder.
“And Emma found it?”
“Yes.”
“What happened next?”
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
“She wanted to expose everyone.”
“And you stopped her?”
“No.”
Victoria shook her head.
“I tried to help.”
Nathan stared at her.
“Then why was her account closed before she died?”
Victoria didn't answer.
Nathan pushed toward the door.
“I know enough.”
Victoria grabbed his sleeve.
“You don't.”
He looked down.
She whispered:
“Your daughter remembers more than she told you.”
Nathan turned.
“What does she remember?”
Victoria's voice trembled.
“She saw Emma after the crash.”
Nathan's blood froze.
“That’s impossible.”
“She was there.”
“Lily was six.”
“She was three.”
Nathan stared at her.
Victoria whispered:
“She was in the car.”
Nathan couldn't breathe.
“You're lying.”
Victoria shook her head.
“The police never found her because Emma hid her before the crash.”
Nathan backed away.
Then his phone rang.
It was the school.
He answered.
A teacher was crying.
“Mr. Carter, you need to come immediately.”
“Why?”
There was a long pause.
“Lily says she knows where her mother's body was moved.”
Nathan's entire world tilted.
Because Emma had been buried four years ago.
May you like
And Lily had just told someone...
her mother wasn't in that grave.
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