Chapter 8 - The Music BoxWe returned to the house only after sunrise.

The fire had destroyed half the lower floor.

The police called it an electrical accident.

I knew better.

Daniel knew better.

Eleanor knew better.

Mara simply laughed when she heard the official explanation.

"Of course."

Inside my bedroom, everything had been overturned.

Drawers emptied.

Closets searched.

My jewelry scattered across the floor.

But one thing was missing.

The music box.

I felt numb.

"They found it."

Daniel shook his head.

"Then we have a serious problem."

"What was inside?"

"I don't know."

"You said my father left something."

"I didn't know it was the music box."

Eleanor was standing in the doorway.

"You need to go."

"Where?"

"Somewhere they can't find you."

"Who are they?"

She hesitated.

Then she said:

"The people who killed your father."

We fled to a small house by the coast that Eleanor owned under another name.

Mara stayed behind to search the city archives.

Daniel barely spoke.

I sat in the kitchen staring at the old wedding ring on my finger.

Finally I asked:

"Did you know who I was before you met me?"

"Yes."

My heart sank.

"How long?"

"Six months."

"So our first date wasn't accidental."

"No."

"The coffee shop?"

"Chosen."

"The bookstore?"

"Chosen."

"The restaurant?"

"Chosen."

I laughed.

It sounded broken.

"Was anything real?"

"Yes."

"What?"

"How I felt about you."

I looked away.

"You don't get to decide whether that's enough."

He nodded.

"I know."

That night, someone knocked on the back door.

Daniel reached for a gun.

But Eleanor entered.

She was holding a package.

"It came for Claire."

Inside was the music box.

My hands trembled.

It played the melody my father used to hum.

I turned it over.

There was a hidden compartment.

Inside was a small cassette tape.

And a note.

I unfolded it.

The handwriting was my father's.

Only one sentence.

Claire, if you're hearing this, your mother was right about Daniel.

I stopped breathing.

Daniel looked at the tape.

"Don't play it."

I stared at him.

"Why?"

"Because I don't know what your father discovered."

The tape clicked into the old recorder.

Static filled the room.

Then my father's voice came through.

"Claire..."

I covered my mouth.

"I don't have much time."

A pause.

Then:

"If Daniel ever marries you, do not trust him."

Daniel closed his eyes.

The recording continued.

"He may believe he is protecting you, but he is not the only Daniel."

I frowned.

"What does that mean?"

Then my father's final words played.

"There are two sons."

The tape stopped.

No one moved.

Mara whispered:

"That's impossible."

Eleanor went pale.

"No."

I looked at Daniel.

"Do you have a brother?"

He shook his head.

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