Chapter 3 - The Call From The Man Who Died
The phone kept ringing.
Nobody moved.
Nobody even seemed willing to breathe.
Nora stared at the screen in Victoria's hand.
Daniel Whitmore.
Her husband's name.
The name she had seen on hospital papers.
The name she had whispered through tears at his funeral.
The name she had touched on an empty side of the bed every night for three years.
It was impossible.
That was the only thought her mind could form.
Impossible.
Victoria quickly rejected the call.
The room became silent again.
But this time, the silence felt different.
Everyone knew.
Everyone had just seen it.
Nora looked at Victoria.
"You just hung up on my dead husband."
Victoria's face turned pale.
"You don't understand."
Nora laughed quietly.
It wasn't a happy laugh.
It was the sound of someone realizing the world they trusted had been built on lies.
"Then explain it."
Victoria looked away.
Adrian watched her carefully.
"Answer her."
Victoria looked at him.
For the first time, she looked afraid of someone.
"I can't."
Nora felt her chest tighten.
Three years.
Three years of grief.
Three years of questions.
Three years of being told there was nothing more to know.
And now, in one night, everything had changed.
Adrian reached toward the phone.
"Call back."
Victoria immediately stepped away.
"No."
The word came too quickly.
Too emotionally.
Everyone noticed.
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
Victoria didn't answer.
Nora walked closer.
"Why are you scared of a phone call from my husband?"
Victoria looked at her.
And for a moment, Nora saw something unexpected.
Not anger.
Not judgment.
Guilt.
"Nora..."
"Don't."
Nora raised her hand.
"Don't say my name like you care about me."
The words hurt Victoria.
But Nora didn't stop.
"You watched me bury him."
Victoria closed her eyes.
"I know."
"No."
Nora shook her head.
"You don't know."
Her voice became quieter.
"You went home after the funeral. You slept in your bed. You ate dinner with your family. You continued your life."
She looked around the room.
"And I went home to a house where every room still had him in it."
Nobody spoke.
Because nobody could deny it.
Adrian stood beside her.
Quietly.
Letting Nora have the moment.
For the first time in years, she wasn't asking permission to be hurt.
She was allowing herself to feel it.
Richard slowly stood from his chair.
"Nora."
She looked at him.
"What?"
He swallowed.
"There are things about Daniel's last months that you never knew."
Nora turned toward him.
"Apparently, there are a lot of things I never knew."
Richard looked down.
Daniel had always been the person who protected people.
That was what everyone said.
The kind man.
The loyal husband.
The person who would sacrifice himself before hurting anyone else.
But now Nora wondered.
What had he been protecting?
And from whom?
Adrian picked up the photograph from the table.
The one showing Daniel beside the unknown woman.
"Who is she?"
Nobody answered.
Adrian looked around.
"I asked a simple question."
Victoria finally spoke.
"Her name is Claire."
Nora looked at her.
"Who is Claire?"
Victoria hesitated.
"Someone from Daniel's past."
Nora stared.
"His past?"
She almost couldn't believe the words.
"Daniel and I were married for eight years."
Victoria said nothing.
"And you expect me to believe there was an entire person in his past that nobody thought I should know about?"
Adrian looked at the photograph.
"There is more."
Nora looked at him.
"What?"
He turned the photograph over again.
The handwriting on the back.
"She knows everything."
Adrian pointed at the words.
"Your husband wrote this for a reason."
Nora touched the ink.
"He wrote this before he died."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
The certainty in his voice made her look up.
"How do you know?"
"Because the ink is newer than the photograph."
Nora frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"It means he wrote this after the picture was taken."
The room changed.
Because everyone understood what that meant.
Daniel had left a message.
A message meant to be found.
A message meant for someone.
And somehow, it had ended up in Nora's hands.
Adrian looked at Victoria.
"Where did you get this envelope?"
Victoria remained silent.
"Victoria."
She looked exhausted.
"I found it in Daniel's office after he died."
Nora froze.
"You went through his office?"
Victoria looked away.
"The family had to handle his belongings."
"No."
Nora's voice was sharp.
"You handled his secrets."
Victoria looked at her.
And that was when Nora knew.
There was something bigger.
Something everyone had been protecting.
Adrian stepped forward.
"Take us there."
Victoria looked confused.
"Where?"
"Daniel's office."
"No."
Again.
Too fast.
Adrian noticed.
"You keep saying no before you even know what I'm asking."
Victoria's hands tightened.
"Because there is nothing there."
Adrian looked at Nora.
Then back at Victoria.
"People only say that when they are afraid something is."
The sentence stayed in the air.
Nora wanted answers.
But she also felt something else.
Fear.
Not of Adrian.
Not of Victoria.
Fear of what she would discover about the man she loved.
Because there was one question she couldn't escape.
If Daniel was alive...
Why did he let her believe he was dead?
A servant suddenly entered the room.
Everyone turned.
The young man looked nervous.
"Mr. Blackwood."
Adrian looked at him.
"What?"
The servant held out a small envelope.
"This was delivered for Mrs. Whitmore."
Nora stared.
"For me?"
The servant nodded.
"It arrived five minutes ago."
Adrian took it before she could.
He examined the outside.
No return address.
No name.
Only one sentence written in black ink.
Nora saw it.
And her blood ran cold.
Because she recognized the handwriting.
Daniel's handwriting.
Adrian slowly opened it.
Inside was a single piece of paper.
He read the first line.
His expression changed.
Nora noticed.
"What does it say?"
Adrian looked at her.
For the first time all night, he seemed uncertain.
Then he handed her the paper.
Three words were written at the top.
"Don't trust Adrian."
Nora looked up.
But Adrian was already staring at the bottom of the letter.
Because underneath Daniel's warning was a second message.
A message written by someone else.
May you like
And it had only one sentence...
"Your husband is waiting for you in the room where they buried the truth."
