Chapter 4 - The Death My Father Never Explained
For three years, I believed my father's death was the one tragedy in my life that made sense.
A heart attack.
A simple medical explanation.
A terrible goodbye.
Painful.
Unfair.
But understandable.
Now Daniel was standing in front of me, telling me the one thing I had never allowed myself to question.
My father might have been murdered.
I stared at him.
Waiting for him to say he was wrong.
Waiting for him to take it back.
He didn't.
"Say something," Daniel whispered.
I laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because I didn't know what else my body was supposed to do.
"You waited three years to tell me this?"
His face tightened.
"I was trying to protect you."
The sentence hit me like a slap.
I stepped closer.
"No."
Daniel looked at me.
"No?"
"No, Daniel."
My voice shook.
"You don't get to use those words anymore."
His expression changed.
"You don't get to hurt me and then call it protection."
Silence.
Maria stood behind me.
She didn't interrupt.
She knew this was something I had to say.
"You watched me marry you while knowing my father suspected your family."
Daniel lowered his eyes.
"Yes."
"You watched me move into that house."
"Yes."
"You watched me sleep beside you."
His face broke slightly.
"Claire..."
"And every night you knew?"
He couldn't answer.
Because the answer was obvious.
---
Daniel came inside.
I almost told him to leave.
Almost.
But I needed answers.
Not because I trusted him.
Because I needed to know how deep the lie went.
"Start talking."
He sat down slowly.
Not like a powerful businessman.
Not like the man who used to control every room he entered.
Like someone who knew he had no power anymore.
"My mother approached me six months before our wedding."
I folded my arms.
"What did she say?"
Daniel stared at the floor.
"She said marrying you would protect the family."
I felt sick.
"Protect?"
"Your company had a merger coming. Your father's shares were going to transfer to you."
I looked away.
"So I was an investment."
"No."
The answer came too quickly.
I looked back.
Daniel's eyes were wet.
"At first... maybe."
That honesty hurt more than another lie.
"At first?"
He nodded.
"I was supposed to get close to you. Find out where your father kept certain documents."
My throat tightened.
"And then?"
Daniel looked at me.
"Then I fell in love with you."
I said nothing.
Because some part of me hated that I believed him.
He continued.
"I didn't expect you."
"Didn't expect me?"
He gave a weak smile.
"You were supposed to be arrogant."
I frowned.
"What?"
"My mother described you as spoiled. A rich girl who never had to fight for anything."
A bitter smile touched my face.
"She was wrong."
"Yes."
Daniel looked at my stomach.
"You were the first person who made me feel like I wasn't just my mother's son."
For a moment...
Only for a moment...
I remembered us.
The small apartment before the mansion.
The cheap pizza nights.
The way he danced badly in the kitchen just to make me laugh.
The man I loved was still somewhere inside this person.
That was the problem.
If he had always been cruel, leaving would have been easier.
---
"But you still chose her."
Daniel closed his eyes.
The words hurt him.
Good.
They should.
"Yes."
"Why?"
He was quiet for a long time.
Then:
"Because when I tried to tell you the truth, my mother threatened you."
I stared.
"What?"
"She knew I wanted to confess."
"When?"
"Two months before the wedding."
My heart stopped.
"Daniel..."
His voice cracked.
"She showed me photos of you leaving work. She knew your schedule. She knew where you went."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"She was watching me."
"Yes."
"And you still married me."
Daniel looked destroyed.
"Yes."
There it was.
The truth.
Not a misunderstanding.
Not an accident.
A choice.
A terrible one.
---
Maria suddenly stood.
"Enough."
We both looked at her.
She walked toward Daniel.
"I spent thirty years watching Eleanor destroy people."
Daniel looked away.
Maria's voice hardened.
"And you became one of her weapons."
Daniel whispered:
"I know."
"No."
Maria shook her head.
"You know now."
She pointed toward the door.
"Knowing after someone almost dies is easy."
The words landed.
Even Daniel had no defense.
---
That night, I couldn't sleep.
I sat in my father's office surrounded by memories.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown number.
I almost ignored it.
Then a message appeared.
A photo.
It was a picture of me entering my father's house.
Taken from outside.
Below it were six words.
**YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE BOX CLOSED.**
My hands went cold.
Someone knew.
Someone was watching.
Then another message arrived.
This time, no photo.
Just a sentence.
**ASK DANIEL WHO REALLY OPENED YOUR FATHER'S CAR BRAKES.**
I stopped breathing.
Because suddenly the question wasn't only whether Daniel betrayed me.
It was whether he had helped kill my father.
I looked toward the doorway.
Daniel was standing there.
May you like
And judging by his face...
He had seen the message too.
