Chapter 5 - Evelyn spent the next six hours inside an empty diner with Daniel.Olivia was gone.

But she had left one final sentence behind.

“You're looking at the wrong enemy.”

Evelyn couldn't stop hearing it.

Daniel placed the photograph of Michael on the table.

“He's alive.”

“I can see that.”

“He's been hiding for three years.”

“Why?”

Daniel slid another document toward her.

A surveillance report.

Michael had been spotted in four states.

Nevada.

Arizona.

Colorado.

Florida.

Always under different names.

Evelyn studied the dates.

“What was he doing?”

“Moving money.”

“How much?”

Daniel hesitated.

“Over twenty million dollars.”

Evelyn looked up.

“That was my father's money?”

“Some of it.”

“And the rest?”

Daniel leaned closer.

“Your company.”

Evelyn closed her eyes.

Everything was becoming too large.

Too complicated.

Three years in prison had taught her how to survive loneliness.

It had not taught her how to survive the possibility that her entire marriage had been built on a lie.

Daniel opened another file.

“Your lawyer was paid twice.”

“By whom?”

“Olivia.”

Evelyn stared at the number.

$400,000.

Paid six days before trial.

“And Michael?”

“He transferred another $250,000.”

Evelyn felt sick.

“He was supposed to defend me.”

“He wasn't.”

“Then who was?”

Daniel looked at her.

“You.”

“What?”

“You've been fighting this alone for three years.”

Evelyn stared at the table.

Her anger slowly returned.

But this time it was different.

It wasn't blind.

It was focused.

She pulled the surveillance report toward herself.

“I want to find Michael.”

Daniel nodded.

“I know.”

“How?”

“I know where he is.”

Evelyn looked up.

Daniel reached into his coat.

He placed a plane ticket on the table.

“Miami.”

A strange silence followed.

“Why would Michael be in Miami?”

“Because he bought a house there.”

“When?”

“Two years ago.”

“With whose money?”

Daniel stared at her.

“Yours.”

Evelyn's blood chilled.

They flew that night.

The house stood behind a private gate in Coral Gables.

Daniel had obtained the address through a contact in law enforcement.

The place was beautiful.

Large.

Quiet.

Expensive.

Evelyn stood outside.

“This is where he lived?”

“Apparently.”

They entered through the back.

The house was empty.

Almost.

A child's toy sat on the stairs.

Evelyn stopped.

“Daniel.”

He turned.

“There was a child in this house.”

A bedroom was upstairs.

Pink walls.

A stuffed rabbit.

A framed photograph sat beside the bed.

Evelyn picked it up.

A little girl.

Maybe five years old.

Michael was standing behind her.

Evelyn's heart collapsed.

“Who is she?”

Daniel didn't answer.

She looked at the photograph again.

The girl's eyes were familiar.

Too familiar.

Daniel finally spoke.

“Her name is Sophie.”

“Who is her mother?”

He looked at Evelyn.

“Olivia.”

Evelyn dropped the photograph.

“No.”

Daniel nodded.

“Michael and Olivia have a daughter.”

The room seemed to tilt.

“How long?”

“Five years.”

Five years.

The affair had started before the marriage.

Maybe before the wedding.

Evelyn remembered Michael telling her he had been away on business.

Olivia had told her the same thing.

Five years.

A child.

Secrets buried beneath secrets.

Then Evelyn noticed a desk drawer.

Inside was a passport.

The child's name:

Sophie Bennett-Mercer.

And beside it was another document.

A birth certificate.

Mother:

Olivia Bennett.

Father:

Michael Mercer.

Evelyn's fingers went cold.

Then she saw another document underneath.

A DNA test.

The father's name had been crossed out.

Under it was another name.

Daniel Mercer.

She looked at him.

“What is this?”

Daniel didn't move.

“That's why I never testified against you.”

Evelyn stared.

“You?”

Daniel nodded.

“The child is mine.”

Silence.

The world stopped.

Evelyn whispered:

“You're Sophie's father?”

“I thought I was.”

“Thought?”

Daniel's eyes filled with pain.

“Michael changed the DNA records.”

Evelyn stepped back.

“What?”

“He stole my identity.”

Daniel took a breath.

“Michael wasn't just sleeping with Olivia.”

“He was replacing me.”

Then footsteps sounded upstairs.

Both froze.

Daniel reached for the gun hidden beneath his jacket.

Evelyn looked toward the hallway.

A little girl's voice called from above.

“Daddy?”

Daniel's face went white.

Because the voice belonged to Sophie.

And someone else answered her.

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Michael.

“You shouldn't have come.”