Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN ACROSS THE STREET
The police increased security around the house.
Ryan moved me temporarily to his father's home.
But I couldn't sleep.
Every noise woke me.
Every shadow outside the window made my heart race.
Then, one night, I saw someone across the street.
A woman.
Standing beneath a streetlamp.
She was holding an umbrella.
She looked directly at my window.
I called Detective Hayes.
By the time officers arrived, the woman was gone.
But she left something behind.
A white envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Ryan.
And Melissa.
Standing together six months earlier.
Behind them was a man I'd never seen before.
Detective Hayes stared at the picture.
“Do you recognize him?”
“No.”
Ryan did.
His face went white.
“That's Daniel.”
“Who is Daniel?”
Ryan swallowed.
“My father's former business partner.”
“What happened to him?”
“He disappeared.”
Detective Hayes looked at the photograph again.
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
I stared at Ryan.
“You never told me about him.”
“I thought he left the country.”
Detective Hayes asked, “Why?”
Ryan hesitated.
“Because my father said he was dangerous.”
The next morning, Detective Hayes discovered Daniel wasn't missing.
He had been living under another name in another state.
And he'd recently returned to Boston.
Then they discovered something else.
Daniel had transferred $250,000 into Melissa's account.
The exact amount written beside my name.
Melissa wasn't working alone.
Someone had paid her.
Someone who wanted the inheritance.
But there was a problem.
The trust wasn't worth eight million anymore.
Ryan's father had quietly increased it.
It was now worth nearly eighteen million.
And the beneficiary list had recently changed.
My name was first.
My unborn daughter was second.
Ryan was third.
Melissa?
Nothing.
That afternoon, Ryan's father called the entire family together.
Everyone came.
Except Melissa.
Her mother sat silently.
Her aunt refused to look at me.
Then Ryan's father placed a folder on the table.
“I made a mistake,” he said.
Everyone looked at him.
“I thought keeping the trust secret would protect my family.”
His voice shook.
“Instead, it made you vulnerable.”
He opened the folder.
“There was another beneficiary.”
Ryan frowned.
“Who?”
His father looked at me.
“The baby.”
My hand moved to my stomach.
“She was supposed to receive half the estate.”
Silence.
Then Melissa's mother whispered:
“That isn't possible.”
His father looked at her.
“It is.”
Her expression changed.
“Then Melissa…”
He nodded.
“Would receive nothing.”
The room became ice-cold.
Then someone knocked on the front door.
Three slow knocks.
Detective Hayes immediately reached for her weapon.
Ryan opened the door.
Nobody was there.
Only a package.
Inside was a baby blanket.
Pink.
And a note.
May you like
Congratulations, Emma.
Your daughter is worth eighteen million dollars.
