Chapter 2 - THE FALSE BOTTOM
Daniel's hands shook as he picked up the jewelry box.
Claire took one step toward him.
“Put it down.”
He ignored her.
He ran his thumb across the carved rose inside the lid. A tiny click sounded beneath the velvet. A hidden panel lifted.
Inside were a folded note and a silver key.
My hands stopped working for a second.
I knew Emily's handwriting before I even unfolded the paper.
IF ETHAN FINDS THIS, TELL HIM EVERYTHING.
Seven words.
Seven words from a dead woman that turned my entire past into a question.
I unfolded the note further.
The safety deposit box is still active. The key is for Box 317. Trust no one who tells you I was unstable. I was investigating the money before I died.
There was a date beneath it.
Three days before Emily's death.
I looked at Daniel.
“What money?”
Claire answered for him.
“Grief has made you paranoid.”
I turned to her.
“That's my wife's handwriting.”
“She wrote a lot of things.”
Daniel's voice broke.
“She was scared.”
Claire slapped him.
The sound echoed down the hall.
“You promised,” she whispered.
Daniel touched his cheek.
“I promised Emily.”
That sentence changed everything.
I stepped closer.
“What did Emily tell you?”
Daniel looked at Sophie, then at me.
“She thought someone was trying to kill her.”
The hallway seemed to tilt.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of whom?”
He stared at Claire.
She pulled out her phone.
“Fine,” she said. “Let's see who the police believe.”
She called emergency services and claimed I had assaulted her and taken Sophie without permission.
I almost laughed.
Claire had always been good at choosing the first version of a story.
So I called Detective Harris.
“Tell him I found Emily's jewelry box.”
Claire's face changed.
Twenty minutes later, the wedding had stopped.
Detective Harris entered the hall with two officers. Guests whispered downstairs, sensing scandal even if they couldn't yet see it.
Claire showed the red mark on her arm.
“He attacked me,” she said.
Harris looked at Sophie.
“Sweetheart, did Claire hurt you?”
Sophie nodded.
“She grabbed me.”
Claire immediately protested.
“She fell.”
Sophie shook her head.
“She took Mommy's box.”
Harris's eyes moved to Claire.
“Why was your niece in this room?”
Claire said nothing.
Then the wedding photographer stepped forward.
“There are hallway cameras.”
The footage showed everything.
Sophie finding the box.
Claire grabbing her wrist.
Claire dragging her into the room.
Claire kicking the box under the chair.
For once, Claire had no explanation fast enough.
Daniel stared at her as if he had never seen her before.
“She lied to me,” he whispered.
I looked at him.
“How long?”
He lowered his eyes.
“Three years.”
Then he handed me a flash drive.
“I copied Emily's financial records before she died.”
On the first screen, I saw hundreds of transfers from Emily's company.
And every authorization carried one signature.
May you like
Mine.
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