Chapter 7 - THE TRUTH ABOUT DANIEL
Daniel requested an attorney.
But before the lawyer arrived, Detective Harris confronted him with the evidence.
The photographs.
The recordings.
The financial transfers.
The medical records.
The custody documents.
Daniel finally broke.
“I didn't want Lily to die.”
“Then why give her the substance?”
“I thought it would make her sleepy.”
“Why?”
“So my wife would panic.”
Detective Harris stared at him.
“You intentionally made your daughter sick to make your wife look unstable.”
Daniel lowered his head.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel finally looked up.
“Because Richard Vale threatened my family.”
“Your family?”
“My mother.”
“That's not your family anymore?”
Daniel said nothing.
Then he confessed.
Richard had controlled his mother for years.
Debts.
Blackmail.
Threats.
Daniel had become trapped.
But instead of asking for help, he made a deal.
He would marry me.
He would gain access to my family's financial records.
He would locate my father's hidden assets.
And he would make me appear mentally unstable.
I felt numb when Detective Harris told me.
“Why Lily?”
Daniel's answer was simple.
“Because she was the easiest way to make you panic.”
I closed my eyes.
He had weaponized my love for my daughter.
Then he said something unexpected.
“Richard wanted something else.”
“What?”
“Your father's evidence.”
My father had kept copies of everything he had given authorities.
If Richard found them, he could destroy the investigation.
“Where are they?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Your father gave them to you.”
I frowned.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“On your wedding day.”
I remembered.
My father had supposedly been dead.
So how could he have given me anything?
Daniel smiled bitterly.
“You don't remember the old man who spoke to you outside the church?”
I froze.
There had been an elderly man.
He had hugged me.
He said:
“Your father would be proud.”
I had assumed he was an old family friend.
Daniel continued.
“That was him.”
My knees weakened.
My father had been there.
At my wedding.
He had watched me marry the man he warned me about.
And I hadn't known.
“Where is he now?”
Daniel shook his head.
“I don't know.”
Then the door opened.
An officer entered.
“We found Richard Vale.”
Detective Harris stood.
“Where?”
“At the airport.”
My heart stopped.
“He's leaving?”
“No.”
The officer looked at me.
“He's waiting for someone.”
“Who?”
The officer hesitated.
Then:
“Your mother-in-law.”
My blood went cold.
Detective Harris grabbed his coat.
We rushed to the airport.
The terminal was crowded.
People moved in every direction.
Then I saw her.
My mother-in-law stood beside a luggage cart.
Richard Vale was beside her.
She handed him an envelope.
Detective Harris shouted:
“Police!”
Richard ran.
My mother-in-law froze.
Officers surrounded her.
I walked toward her.
She looked at me.
For once, she didn't smile.
“You don't understand.”
I stopped.
“You poisoned my daughter.”
“No.”
“You replaced her medicine.”
“I was helping Daniel.”
“Helping?”
She started crying.
“I was trying to protect him.”
“From Richard?”
She nodded.
I stared at her.
“You destroyed my family.”
“No.”
She looked at me.
“Richard did.”
I shook my head.
“You chose to help him.”
She whispered:
“I had no choice.”
“There is always a choice.”
She looked at my son.
Then Lily's empty stroller.
And finally she said:
“Your father was never the only person Richard was afraid of.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
She looked toward Detective Harris.
“Ask him about the missing witness.”
Detective Harris stiffened.
“Who?”
She smiled through her tears.
“Your father wasn't the one who disappeared.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
She turned toward me.
“Your father was the one who came back.”
Then she whispered:
May you like
“The missing witness is your mother.”
:::
