Chapter 4 - The Truth Daniel Tried To Hide
The first thing I did was check every room.
Not because I thought I would find someone.
Because I needed to know.
I needed to know if I was alone.
Michael moved through the apartment with his phone flashlight in his hand.
The kitchen.
The bathroom.
The closet.
The bedroom.
Every place.
Every corner.
Nothing.
No one.
But that almost made it worse.
Because if nobody was there, then someone had been.
Someone had entered my home.
Someone had left a warning.
Someone had taken a picture from inside my bedroom.
And someone knew something about Daniel that I didn't.
I stood in the middle of my living room holding my phone.
The last message from Daniel was still on the screen.
"Claire, if Rachel contacted you, you need to leave your apartment immediately."
I read it again.
Then again.
Because I couldn't understand it.
The same man who abandoned me.
The same man who left with my best friend.
The same man who sent me a goodbye message from an airport.
Was now telling me to run.
Michael walked back into the room.
"Nothing."
I looked at him.
"Nothing?"
He nodded.
"No one is here."
I showed him Daniel's message.
Michael read it carefully.
Then his expression changed.
"That's not a message from someone who is happy with his decision."
"What do you mean?"
"He sounds scared."
I looked away.
I hated that he was right.
Because Daniel being scared made everything more complicated.
It would have been easier if he was just cruel.
If he was just a man who stopped loving me.
But fear meant there was something else.
Something hidden.
Michael sat down on the couch.
"Claire, tell me everything."
I looked at him.
"Everything?"
"Every strange thing Daniel did before he left."
I wanted to say nothing.
I wanted to believe there were no signs.
Because admitting there were signs meant admitting I ignored them.
But the truth was...
There were moments.
Small moments.
Things I pushed away because I trusted him.
Three months earlier, Daniel started receiving late-night calls.
He always walked into another room.
When I asked who it was, he said work.
Two months earlier, he became obsessed with passwords.
He changed everything.
His phone.
His laptop.
His email.
When I asked why, he said he wanted privacy.
And two weeks before he left...
I remembered.
I remembered the night he came home and looked terrified.
Not guilty.
Terrified.
"What happened two weeks ago?" Michael asked.
I looked at him.
"How did you know?"
"Because you just changed your expression."
I was quiet.
Then I told him.
"Daniel came home late."
"And?"
"He thought I was asleep."
Michael leaned forward.
"I wasn't."
I swallowed.
"I heard him talking on the phone."
"What did he say?"
I closed my eyes.
Because I remembered the exact words.
"Someone knows."
Michael's face became serious.
"Someone knows what?"
"I don't know."
"And you never asked?"
"I did."
"What did he say?"
I laughed bitterly.
"He said I was imagining things."
Michael looked down.
For a few seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he said:
"Rachel did the same thing."
I looked at him.
"What?"
"Before she left, she started acting strange."
"How?"
"She kept asking me questions."
"What kind of questions?"
Michael looked uncomfortable.
"About Daniel."
My heart stopped.
"What?"
"She wanted to know if Daniel had ever talked to me about business."
"What business?"
"I don't know."
"Michael."
He looked at me.
"Claire, I thought it was weird. But I never imagined..."
He didn't finish.
Because none of us imagined this.
We thought we were dealing with cheating.
Not secrets.
Not fear.
Not someone hiding inside my apartment.
I picked up the black folder again.
The one someone left on my table.
"We need to open everything."
Michael nodded.
Inside the folder were documents.
Bank statements.
Emails.
Photos.
At first, they looked random.
Then I saw the name.
Daniel Bennett.
My hands froze.
"What is this?"
Michael took the document.
His eyes moved quickly.
Then his face changed.
"Claire..."
"What?"
"This isn't just about Rachel."
I grabbed the paper.
It was a financial record.
A transfer.
A large amount of money.
Sent to an account I didn't recognize.
Three weeks before Daniel left.
"Why would he hide this?"
Michael didn't answer.
Because there was another document underneath.
A contract.
I read the first line.
And my stomach dropped.
Daniel's signature.
Rachel's signature.
And another name.
Someone neither of us recognized.
"What is this?"
Michael took the paper.
He read silently.
Then he whispered:
"They were planning something."
I looked at him.
"Planning what?"
Before he could answer, my phone rang.
Unknown number again.
This time, Michael grabbed my hand.
"Don't answer."
I looked at him.
"But what if it's Rachel?"
"Then she can text."
The phone kept ringing.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Then it stopped.
Immediately, a message appeared.
From the same number.
I opened it.
It was a photo.
A photo of Daniel and Rachel.
But not at the airport.
Not smiling.
Not happy.
They were standing in a parking garage.
And they looked afraid.
Under the photo was a message.
"Ask Daniel who paid for their escape."
I felt my chest tighten.
Michael took a step back.
"Escape?"
I looked at him.
"That's what it says."
Then another message came.
This time from Daniel.
My hands shook as I opened it.
"Claire, please believe me. I didn't leave you because I wanted to."
I stared at the screen.
A strange anger replaced the fear.
Because after everything...
After humiliating me.
After breaking my life apart.
He wanted me to believe him?
Another message appeared.
"I was trying to protect you."
I almost threw the phone.
Protect me?
By leaving with Rachel?
By destroying my marriage?
By making me think I wasn't enough?
Michael saw my face.
"What did he say?"
I showed him.
He read the message.
Then quietly said:
"What if he's telling the truth?"
I looked at him.
"Are you serious?"
"I don't know."
He pointed at the documents.
"Something happened before they left."
I hated that he was making sense.
Because the evidence was right in front of us.
Daniel and Rachel had secrets.
Someone was watching me.
Someone was warning me.
And somehow, the two people who betrayed us were also afraid.
I picked up the contract again.
There was a section I hadn't noticed.
A handwritten note at the bottom.
Not Daniel's handwriting.
Not Rachel's.
Someone else's.
Four words.
"She knows the truth."
I felt a chill.
"Michael..."
He looked at me.
The apartment suddenly felt too quiet.
Then his phone vibrated.
He checked it.
His face went pale.
"What?"
He didn't answer.
"Michael, what is it?"
Slowly, he turned the phone toward me.
It was a message from Rachel.
Only one sentence.
"Claire was never the target."
I stared at the screen.
Then another message appeared.
A name.
May you like
The name of the person who had been behind everything.
And when I saw it, I realized the person standing closest to me was not who I thought...
