Part 3
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
The officer’s words hung in the hospital room like a threat.
“The person who attacked your husband is now looking for you.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
My voice barely came out.
The officer stepped closer.
“Mrs. Bennett, we need you to come with us. Right now.”
I looked at Ethan.
His face had gone completely pale.
Not because he was afraid for himself.
Because he knew something.
“Ethan…”
He looked at me.
And for the first time since I met him, I saw real terror in his eyes.
“Laura, go with them.”
The answer shocked me.
Not stay.
Not I’ll protect you.
Just…
Go.
“Why are you saying that?”
He swallowed.
“Because if they found me…”
He looked at Sophie.
“And they know she’s here…”
Then his eyes returned to mine.
“They know about you.”
The room suddenly felt freezing.
The officer reached for the door.
“We have a vehicle waiting downstairs.”
I didn’t move.
Not yet.
Because there was one thing I needed to know.
“Ethan.”
He looked at me.
“Was any of it real?”
His expression broke.
The question hurt him.
Good.
Because I was hurting too.
“Our marriage,” I whispered.
“Was it real?”
A tear slipped down his face.
“Yes.”
His answer came immediately.
“No matter what happens, Laura, that part was real.”
I wanted to believe him.
I hated that I still wanted to.
But before I could respond, the monitor beside him started beeping faster.
The nurse rushed in.
“Everyone needs to step back.”
I was forced away from him.
And as the doctors surrounded him, Ethan grabbed my hand.
“Don’t trust anyone.”
His fingers tightened around mine.
“Not even the people who say they’re helping you.”
Then the nurse pulled him away.
The police car ride felt unreal.
The streets outside were empty.
Rain tapped against the window.
I sat in the back seat, holding the letter from Ethan’s father.
The same letter that had destroyed everything I thought I knew.
The officer driving finally spoke.
“My name is Detective Miller.”
I looked up.
“Why am I in danger?”
He didn’t answer immediately.
That worried me more.
Finally, he said:
“Because twenty years ago, your father uncovered something.”
I stared out the window.
“You knew my father?”
“No.”
“Then how do you know about him?”
His jaw tightened.
“Because I was assigned to the case.”
My heart skipped.
“What case?”
He looked at me through the mirror.
“The disappearance of evidence connected to a financial crime network.”
I frowned.
“My father was an accountant.”
“Yes.”
“And Ethan’s father?”
“A businessman.”
I waited.
The detective continued.
“But your father discovered his company wasn’t only moving money.”
A chill ran through me.
“What else?”
He took a breath.
“People.”
My blood ran cold.
“What?”
“He discovered they were using fake identities, illegal transfers, and people who disappeared after asking too many questions.”
I covered my mouth.
“No…”
“Yes.”
He slowed the car.
“Your father tried to expose them.”
I remembered my childhood.
My father staying late at work.
Whispering on phone calls.
The night he died.
Everyone told me it was an accident.
A car crash.
A tragic mistake.
But suddenly…
I wasn’t sure anymore.
“Are you saying my father was murdered?”
The detective didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
We arrived at a safe location outside the city.
A small government building.
No signs.
No windows.
Just locked doors and cameras.
Inside, Detective Miller placed a file on the table.
“Your father left this.”
I stared.
“For me?”
He nodded.
“He wanted you to have it when you were old enough.”
My hands trembled as I opened it.
Inside were photographs.
Documents.
Names.
Dates.
And one photo that made me freeze.
A young version of my father.
Standing beside another man.
A man I recognized immediately.
Ethan’s father.
But they weren’t fighting.
They were smiling.
Friends.
Partners.
My head spun.
“I don’t understand.”
Detective Miller sighed.
“They started together.”
“Then what happened?”
“Your father found out what Ethan’s father was doing.”
I looked down at the papers.
There were bank records.
Secret accounts.
Hidden companies.
Then I saw a name.
Anderson Holdings.
Ethan’s family company.
My hands went cold.
“No…”
The detective nodded.
“Yes.”
I looked up.
“Ethan knew?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
My heart sank.
Because suddenly every secret had another secret underneath.
Maybe Ethan wasn’t the victim.
Maybe he was part of it.
A phone rang.
Everyone froze.
It wasn’t mine.
It was the detective’s.
He answered.
“Detective Miller.”
A pause.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He stood immediately.
“Say that again.”
The room became silent.
Then he looked at me.
And I knew.
Something had happened.
“What is it?”
He slowly lowered the phone.
“St. Andrew’s Medical Center called.”
My heart started racing.
“Ethan?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
A pause.
“They found Sophie.”
I exhaled.
“She’s okay?”
His face remained serious.
“No.”
My stomach dropped.
“What happened?”
He looked at the file in front of me.
Then at me.
“She was attacked.”
I covered my mouth.
“When?”
“Minutes ago.”
The room spun.
Because that meant one thing.
The attacker wasn’t running away.
They were still nearby.
Still watching.
Still moving.
Detective Miller opened the file again.
And pulled out one final photograph.
A picture of the person who had access to all the information.
The person who knew about Ethan.
Sophie.
My father.
And me.
I looked at the face.
And my blood turned to ice.
Because I knew that person.
I had seen them hundreds of times.
They had sat at my dinner table.
They had hugged me.
They had called me family.
Detective Miller whispered:
“Laura…”
“Your husband’s mother isn’t who she says she is.”
I stared at the photo.
Ethan’s mother.
The woman who welcomed me into the family.
The woman who cried at my wedding.
The woman who called me her daughter.
And underneath her picture was a different name.
A name from the old case.
A name my father had written in red ink.
The woman who destroyed everything.
I couldn’t breathe.
May you like
Because the person hunting us…
was someone I had trusted.
