Chapter 2 - The car door shut behind us.Mia was already talking nonstop in the back seat.
She had found a flower centerpiece at the wedding and was insisting it was a “royal bouquet.”
I smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
Alexander sat beside me in silence.
His expression was darker than it had been all evening.
“What did Marcus mean?” I asked.
He looked at me.
“You know he’s looking for something.”
“I know he’s desperate.”
“That’s not what I said.”
I turned toward him.
Alexander leaned back.
“Three weeks ago, Marcus’s company made an offer for a portfolio of technology patents.”
I frowned.
“So?”
“So the patents came from a shell company.”
My stomach dropped.
“What shell company?”
“The Northbridge Trust.”
My fingers went cold.
Alexander noticed immediately.
“You know that name.”
I looked out the window.
For years, I had buried that name so deeply that seeing it written on paper might have been enough to make me panic.
Northbridge had been connected to Marcus’s father.
And Marcus’s father had been connected to my company.
Five years ago, right before the divorce, I discovered financial documents that made no sense.
Invoices that didn’t match.
Transfers between accounts.
Patent royalties disappearing.
I had confronted Marcus.
He called me paranoid.
Then he filed for divorce.
Two weeks later, my company collapsed.
At least, that was what everyone believed.
In reality, I had saved everything.
Every file.
Every email.
Every transaction.
And one encrypted drive.
Alexander reached over.
“You’re shaking.”
“I’m fine.”
“You always say that when you’re not.”
I gave him a tired smile.
“Five years ago, I thought I understood what happened.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m wondering how much I still don’t know.”
Alexander was silent.
The car slowed as we entered our private driveway.
Mia had already fallen asleep.
Alexander opened his door.
I stayed seated.
“Claire.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“If Northbridge has surfaced again, I need you to tell me everything.”
I hesitated.
“I never told you everything.”
“I know.”
His voice was gentle.
“That’s what worries me.”
We carried Mia inside.
After she was tucked into bed, I went downstairs.
Alexander was waiting in his study.
A file lay on his desk.
He pushed it toward me.
Inside were photographs.
Marcus entering a private office.
Chloe meeting a lawyer.
Marcus’s father meeting two men I didn’t recognize.
Then I saw the final photograph.
My heart stopped.
It showed a younger version of me.
Five years ago.
Standing outside my old apartment.
A man stood beside me.
A man I had forgotten.
Or tried to forget.
My face went pale.
“Who took this?”
Alexander watched me carefully.
“An investigator working for me.”
“Why?”
“Because I started looking into Marcus the moment I saw him tonight.”
I looked closer.
The man beside me was holding a black briefcase.
His face was partially hidden.
But I knew him.
I knew exactly who he was.
“That’s Daniel.”
“Who?”
“My lawyer.”
Alexander’s eyes narrowed.
“He died six months ago.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
“He did.”
“Daniel died three years ago.”
Alexander shook his head.
“No. The records say he died five years ago.”
My breath caught.
“That’s impossible.”
Alexander stood.
“Exactly.”
He opened another file.
Inside were copies of death records, bank transfers, and legal documents.
One page contained Daniel’s signature.
Dated seven months after his supposed death.
I stared at it.
“That means…”
“He was alive.”
“Why fake his death?”
Alexander didn’t answer.
Instead, he pulled a photograph from the file.
Daniel was standing outside a bank.
And behind him was Marcus.
I felt a chill run through me.
“Why were they together?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
I looked down at the documents.
Then I noticed something.
A handwritten number appeared in the corner.
17-04-19.
My eyes widened.
“That date…”
Alexander watched me.
“You recognize it?”
“It was the day I signed the divorce settlement.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“The day before.”
I remembered.
Daniel had called me that night.
He told me not to sign anything.
He told me there was something hidden in the settlement.
Something Marcus desperately wanted me to surrender.
I had assumed he meant money.
I was wrong.
Alexander came closer.
“What was in the settlement?”
I whispered the answer.
“A box.”
“What was inside?”
“I never opened it.”
Alexander stared at me.
“Where is it?”
I looked toward the locked cabinet in the corner of the room.
“It’s still here.”
His eyes followed mine.
The lock on the cabinet had been untouched for five years.
At least I thought it had.
Alexander walked toward it.
He reached for the handle.
Then stopped.
There was a tiny scratch near the lock.
Fresh.
My blood ran cold.
Someone had already tried to open it.
Alexander slowly turned toward me.
“Claire…”
From upstairs came a soft sound.
A floorboard creaked.
Then another.
We both looked toward the hallway.
Mia was asleep.
We knew she was.
So who was walking through our house?
Alexander reached inside his jacket.
I grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
He looked at me.
Then we heard a child’s sleepy voice from upstairs.
“Daddy?”
Alexander’s face changed.
We ran.
And when we reached Mia’s room, the door was wide open.
My daughter was still asleep.
But on her pillow lay a small envelope.
May you like
With my name written across it.
In Daniel’s handwriting.
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