CHAPTER 10: THE MAN WHO PRETENDED TO BE DEAD
The sound of the alarm filled the entire Kane Estate.
Sharp.
Loud.
Terrifying.
Doctors rushed into Everett’s room.
Nurses shouted instructions.
Machines were checked.
Numbers appeared and disappeared on the monitors.
To everyone watching...
Everett Kane was dying.
Again.
But only one person knew the truth.
Willa.
She stood beside the bed, frozen.
Because she understood what had happened.
The flatline was not a failure.
It was a message.
Everett was warning her.
Someone was watching.
Someone had discovered he was awake.
“Everyone step back!”
Dr. Whitfield pushed through the crowd.
The moment Willa saw him, her stomach tightened.
Of all people...
He was the last person she wanted near Everett.
Whitfield immediately examined the monitors.
His expression was perfect.
Professional.
Concerned.
Almost convincing.
But Willa noticed something.
His hands were shaking.
Only slightly.
But they were shaking.
Because Alan Whitfield knew.
Something had changed.
“His condition is unstable,” Whitfield announced.
The nurses looked at him.
“We need to increase sedation.”
Willa’s eyes snapped toward him.
“No.”
The room went quiet.
Everyone looked at her.
Whitfield slowly turned.
“Excuse me?”
Willa stepped forward.
“You are not giving him anything until I see the medical records.”
A few nurses exchanged confused looks.
Because nobody spoke to Whitfield that way.
Especially not in the Kane household.
His expression hardened.
“Mrs. Kane, this is not the time.”
“This is exactly the time.”
She looked at Everett.
“Every time his condition improves, you increase his medication.”
Silence.
“You keep saying you are saving him.”
Her voice became colder.
“But why does saving him always look like keeping him asleep?”
The room froze.
Whitfield stared at her.
For a second...
He looked less like a doctor.
And more like a man whose secret had been exposed.
Sterling stood near the doorway.
Watching.
Always watching.
He did not interrupt.
That was what scared Willa.
Because Sterling never reacted without a reason.
He was calculating.
Measuring.
Waiting.
Finally, he stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Willa, you are emotional.”
She laughed softly.
“Emotional?”
“Yes.”
He looked at the doctors.
“You married a man you barely knew. You entered a family you don’t understand.”
Then he looked at Everett.
“You are afraid.”
Willa stared at him.
“No.”
A pause.
“I’m angry.”
That answer surprised him.
Because fear could be controlled.
Anger was different.
The doctors eventually left after stabilizing Everett.
But the tension remained.
Willa stayed beside the bed.
Sterling remained near the door.
Waiting.
“You should be careful,” he said.
Willa did not turn.
“Is that another threat?”
“No.”
A pause.
“A warning.”
She looked at him.
“What’s the difference?”
Sterling smiled slightly.
“A threat means I want something.”
He stepped closer.
“A warning means I already know what will happen.”
Willa’s expression remained calm.
“What will happen?”
Sterling looked at Everett.
“Your husband will never wake up.”
The words were quiet.
Certain.
Willa felt anger rising.
But she controlled it.
Because she had learned something.
People like Sterling wanted emotional reactions.
They wanted mistakes.
She would give him nothing.
“Then why are you so afraid?”
The question hit him.
His face changed.
Only for a moment.
But enough.
Willa saw it.
Sterling Kane was afraid.
That night, after everyone left...
Willa locked the door.
She sat beside Everett.
“I know you’re awake.”
Nothing.
“I know you’re pretending.”
Still nothing.
She smiled sadly.
“You’re probably very annoyed right now.”
Inside the darkness, Everett almost reacted.
Because she was right.
He was annoyed.
Very annoyed.
Not because she knew.
Because she was risking herself.
“You spent your whole life controlling everything.”
Her voice softened.
“But now you’re trapped.”
She touched his hand.
“And you hate it.”
A tiny movement.
Willa smiled.
“There you are.”
Everett focused.
One finger.
That was all he could manage.
But she understood.
“You need to tell me what happened.”
Everett tried.
His finger moved.
Yes.
“Before the accident?”
Yes.
“Was it Sterling?”
A pause.
Then his finger moved.
No.
Willa froze.
“No?”
Everett tried again.
No.
Her mind raced.
If not Sterling...
Then who?
“Was it Whitfield?”
No.
Again.
Willa stared.
“Neither?”
A pause.
Then...
Yes.
Her blood ran cold.
“Someone else?”
Yes.
The room suddenly felt smaller.
Because the person behind everything was still hidden.
Someone closer.
Someone more dangerous.
Willa looked at the security cameras.
Then at Everett.
“We need a way to communicate.”
She thought for a moment.
“Blinking?”
Nothing.
“Finger movements?”
Yes.
“Once for yes.”
Yes.
“Twice for no.”
Yes.
It was slow.
Exhausting.
But it was something.
For the first time in eight months...
Everett Kane had a voice.
And that voice was Willa.
The next morning, Willa secretly reviewed the security footage from the night of the accident.
Harold had helped her access it.
The footage was damaged.
Almost useless.
But then she saw something.
A vehicle.
A black sedan.
Following Everett’s car.
She zoomed in.
The license plate was partially visible.
Then...
A face appeared through the window.
Willa stopped breathing.
Because she knew that person.
Everyone knew that person.
A person who had been standing beside the Kane family for years.
A person who had comforted everyone after Everett’s accident.
A person who had cried at the hospital.
A person nobody suspected.
She looked at Everett.
Her voice barely escaped.
“Everett…”
The monitor changed.
“What is it?”
She looked back at the screen.
The person in the footage was clear now.
And the truth was impossible.
“The person who caused your accident…”
She swallowed.
“Was someone who came to visit you every single day while you were unconscious.”
Before Willa could reveal the name...
The door opened.
A woman entered.
Elegant.
Calm.
Smiling.
The same woman from the footage.
She looked at Willa.
Then at Everett.
And said:
“I hope I’m not interrupting.”
Willa froze.
Because standing in front of her...
Was the person Everett had just warned her about.
The person closest to the truth.
The person closest to the Kane family.
May you like
His mother.
END OF CHAPTER 10
