Chapter 8 - What Happened the Night My Father DiedI couldn't move.
The words stared back at me.
HE KILLED YOUR FATHER FOR YOU.
Marian grabbed my arm.
“Don't touch it.”
The room was searched.
No one was inside.
No hidden camera.
No intruder.
But the message had been written recently.
Someone had been watching us.
Thomas called the police.
While we waited, I replayed my father's final recording.
Again.
And again.
Something didn't fit.
My father's voice had said:
“If anything happens to me, release everything.”
He had expected danger.
Then he had asked Marian:
“From whom?”
Her answer:
“I'll protect Claire.”
My father had replied:
“Then from whom?”
And Marian had said nothing.
Maybe Daniel's warning was right.
Maybe Marian had been part of the conspiracy.
When police arrived, they collected the message as evidence.
One detective asked me:
“Did your father have enemies?”
I almost laughed.
“He was a lawyer.”
The detective didn't smile.
“He had enemies.”
“Yes.”
“Anyone who wanted him dead?”
I thought about Richard.
Evan.
Marian.
Then I remembered something.
“Someone named Daniel Mercer.”
The detective frowned.
“Your old partner?”
“Yes.”
“He called the night everything happened.”
The detective looked at me.
“That's important.”
“What happened?”
“He's missing.”
My stomach dropped.
“Since when?”
“Since last night.”
Everyone went quiet.
Thomas's phone rang.
It was the bank.
His face changed.
“They're moving the money.”
“What money?”
“Ash Holdings.”
“Who?”
“The account is being liquidated.”
I stared at him.
“How much?”
“Four point two million.”
Evan was moving four million.
Tonight.
Thomas called the bank.
Too late.
The transfer had already begun.
Then Paige spoke.
“There is one person who can stop it.”
“Who?”
“Vanessa.”
I stared at her.
“She knows where Evan keeps his second phone.”
“Why would she help us?”
“Because Evan betrayed her too.”
We found Vanessa at a hotel across town.
She opened the door holding a suitcase.
She looked exhausted.
“You're too late.”
“For what?”
“Evan already left.”
“Where?”
“Airport.”
Paige stepped forward.
“What about the money?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“He can't access it without the second phone.”
Thomas asked:
“Where is it?”
She looked at me.
“Your house.”
“My house?”
“The kitchen.”
We returned to the mansion.
Every room was dark.
The police had cleared the property.
I walked into the kitchen.
The dining table was still covered with birthday decorations.
Thirty place settings.
Dirty glasses.
A broken wine bottle.
The scene felt frozen in time.
I remembered Evan saying:
Stop limping and make yourself useful.
I walked toward the cabinets.
Nothing.
Vanessa had said:
The kitchen.
Then I saw it.
The industrial refrigerator.
One panel sat slightly loose.
Thomas removed it.
A black phone was taped behind it.
We turned it on.
One password screen.
I looked at Vanessa.
“What's the password?”
She shook her head.
“I don't know.”
Paige frowned.
“You lived with him for two years.”
“I never knew.”
I stared at the screen.
There was one clue.
The phone displayed an image of Evan's hand.
A ring.
His wedding ring.
I entered my birthday.
Wrong.
Our wedding date.
Wrong.
His mother's birthday.
Wrong.
Then I remembered.
Evan had once said his greatest achievement wasn't his company.
It was “the first day he beat me.”
I typed the date of my first promotion.
The phone unlocked.
I felt sick.
Thousands of messages appeared.
To Richard.
To Paige.
To Vanessa.
To a private number.
And one conversation titled:
CLAIRE PROBLEM.
I opened it.
The messages were dated two weeks before my fall.
Richard:
She knows something.
Evan:
She suspects the account.
Richard:
Then make her dependent.
Evan:
Already handled.
My hands shook.
Then another message appeared.
Next step: psychiatric hold.
I stared.
They had planned to have me committed.
Not divorced.
Not abandoned.
Committed.
Then I found something worse.
A message from Marian.
Sent to Evan.
Do not hurt her.
Evan replied:
Then stop protecting her.
Marian had known.
She had tried to stop him.
But there was another message.
One I had not expected.
From Marian to Richard.
If Claire finds out, I'll tell her everything.
Richard:
You won't.
Marian:
Try me.
Richard:
You remember what happened to Gerald.
I froze.
Gerald was my father.
The room tilted.
Marian came into the kitchen.
She saw the phone in my hand.
Her face went pale.
“You found it.”
I stared at her.
“What happened to my father?”
She didn't answer.
“You know.”
“Claire…”
“What happened?”
She closed her eyes.
“I was there.”
May you like
My breath stopped.
“The night he died.”
Related Stories
