Chapter 4 - THE SECRET
The second bottle changed everything.
Melissa was arrested two days later.
But she refused to speak.
Her attorney told reporters she was innocent.
Her mother said I was exaggerating.
Ryan's aunt called me a liar.
The family divided into two camps.
Those who believed me.
And those who couldn't accept that Melissa was capable of doing something so terrible.
Then the police searched Melissa's apartment.
They found a notebook.
Inside were names.
Dates.
Amounts of money.
And next to my name was a number.
$250,000.
I stared at the photograph of the page.
“What does that mean?”
Detective Hayes shook her head.
“We don't know yet.”
But there was another name underneath mine.
Ryan.
Next to his name was:
$1,000,000.
I looked at my husband.
He looked confused.
“Why would someone pay to hurt me?”
Detective Hayes didn't answer.
Instead, she asked Ryan:
“Does your sister know about your father's trust?”
Ryan froze.
“What trust?”
His father, sitting in the corner, suddenly stood.
“Ryan.”
Everyone turned.
He looked terrified.
“What trust?”
His father sighed.
“There was an inheritance.”
“How much?”
“Eight million dollars.”
Ryan stared at him.
“What?”
“I intended to tell you after the baby was born.”
I felt something cold move through me.
“Why?”
His father looked at me.
“Because the trust has conditions.”
“What conditions?”
He hesitated.
Then said:
“The money goes to Ryan and his wife.”
Melissa wasn't included.
Ryan understood immediately.
“She knew.”
His father nodded.
“She knew about the trust.”
I stared at the notebook.
My name.
Ryan's name.
Money.
Dates.
Suddenly, Melissa's behavior made sense.
She hadn't simply hated me.
She believed I had taken something from her.
An inheritance.
A future.
A place in the family.
And now there was something even worse.
Detective Hayes turned another page of the notebook.
There was a handwritten sentence.
If the baby doesn't survive, the trust changes.
I couldn't breathe.
Ryan grabbed the notebook.
“What does that mean?”
His father went pale.
Detective Hayes took it back.
“We're still investigating.”
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
Nobody spoke.
Then a woman's voice whispered:
“Melissa isn't the one you should be afraid of.”
The call ended.
I looked at Ryan.
“Who was that?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
My phone rang again.
This time, a photograph appeared.
It was a picture of our house.
Taken from across the street.
May you like
And underneath it was a message.
You should have stayed quiet.
