Chapter 6 - THE SHADOW RETURNS
The golden retriever puppy barked once more before tumbling into a bed of white roses.
Ethan laughed and chased after him across the sunlit terrace.
Emma watched from the open French doors.
She held a cup of strong black coffee.
The steam rose in the cool morning air.
Six months of peace had softened the hard lines around her eyes.
Yet something still sat cold in her chest.
William stepped onto the terrace behind her.
He carried the morning newspaper under one arm.
His voice was quiet.
“Miller called.”
Emma turned.
“What did he say?”
William unfolded the paper and pointed to a small column on page four.
“Isabella filed a new appeal yesterday.”
Emma’s fingers tightened on the cup.
“They denied the last three.”
“This one is different.”
William’s jaw worked.
“She’s claiming new evidence. Something about a second will. And a claim that Ethan was never in real danger.”
Emma set the cup down hard.
“She tried to kill him.”
“I know.”
William’s eyes stayed on the garden where Ethan rolled on the grass with the puppy.
“Miller says the judge is reviewing it this afternoon. He wants us at the courthouse.”
Emma looked at the boy.
His laughter floated across the lawn like clean water.
She had promised Eleanor.
She would not break that promise now.
“I’ll get ready,” she said.
Inside the mansion the phone in the study rang once.
Then twice.
No one answered.
In a small rented room across the East River a woman with short black hair and a scar along her jaw listened to the recorded message on a cheap burner phone.
She smiled without warmth.
May you like
She wrote one word on a yellow pad.
Tonight.
