Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCHDaniel didn't sleep.
He spent the night reviewing every document connected to Eleanor's death.
The accident report.
The funeral records.
The medical identification.
The insurance claim.
The trust.
Everything.
One detail kept appearing.
A private forensic examiner had signed the identification.
Dr. Samuel Reed.
Daniel searched the name.
Dead.
Two years earlier.
Car accident.
Another coincidence.
Daniel stopped believing in coincidences.
He contacted an old investigative journalist named Sarah Bennett.
She had once written about corruption involving Whitmore Industries.
Daniel had nearly destroyed her career.
Now he needed her.
She arrived at sunrise.
She looked at Lucas.
Then Daniel.
“You finally figured it out.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
Sarah placed a file on the table.
“I investigated Eleanor's death five years ago.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I tried.”
Daniel remembered.
A letter.
An anonymous report.
He had thrown it away.
Marcus had told him Sarah wanted money.
Sarah shook her head.
“Your brother made sure you never saw the evidence.”
Daniel opened the file.
Inside were photographs.
Eleanor's car.
The boat.
The body recovery.
Then one photograph made Daniel stop.
The corpse's left wrist.
A faint scar.
Eleanor had no scar there.
Sarah pointed.
“That woman wasn't your wife.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Five years.
Five years believing his wife was dead.
Five years mourning a stranger.
Sarah continued.
“Eleanor disappeared voluntarily after discovering financial fraud inside Whitmore Industries.”
Daniel looked up.
“Fraud?”
“Millions.”
“By Marcus?”
“Yes.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“What kind?”
“Shell companies. Fake construction invoices. Land acquisitions.”
Daniel stared at the papers.
Marcus had been stealing from the company.
But there was more.
Sarah placed another document down.
“The money wasn't the real motive.”
“What was?”
“Control.”
Daniel looked confused.
“Your wife discovered Marcus planned to force you out.”
“Why?”
“Because Eleanor had evidence.”
Daniel understood.
The company.
The shares.
The voting rights.
Marcus needed Eleanor and their daughter legally dead.
Then he could control enough stock to force Daniel out.
But why had Eleanor disappeared instead of exposing him?
Sarah answered.
“Because Marcus had your daughter.”
Daniel froze.
“What?”
“Your daughter wasn't on the boat.”
Daniel's hands shook.
“Where was she?”
“Hidden.”
“By Eleanor?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked at Lucas.
Sarah nodded.
“Lucas is your son.”
Daniel stared.
“No.”
Lucas looked at him.
Daniel remembered Eleanor's pregnancy.
The doctor's appointment.
The ultrasound.
The secret smile.
Eleanor had told him:
“You're going to have another child.”
Then the miscarriage report.
Daniel had never questioned it.
Now the truth was becoming unbearable.
“Lucas was born after the funeral?”
Sarah nodded.
“Eleanor was pregnant when she disappeared.”
Daniel looked at Lucas.
The boy's eyes filled with tears.
“My mom said you didn't know.”
Daniel walked toward him.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Because she believed Marcus had people watching you.”
Lucas whispered:
“She said if you knew I existed, they would find us.”
Daniel crouched.
“I would have protected you.”
Lucas shook his head.
“You didn't know.”
Daniel had no answer.
Then Sarah opened another file.
“There's something else.”
She placed a surveillance photograph on the table.
Marcus.
Standing outside a small house.
A woman beside him.
Eleanor.
Alive.
The photograph was dated three months earlier.
Daniel stopped breathing.
“She’s alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Sarah shook her head.
“We don't know.”
Lucas stared at the photograph.
“That isn't where she lives.”
Daniel looked at him.
“How do you know?”
“My mother moved every few months.”
Sarah frowned.
“Why?”
Lucas answered:
“She said Marcus was getting closer.”
Daniel stood.
“We need to find her.”
Sarah nodded.
But before they could move, the hotel fire alarm began screaming.
Lucas jumped.
Daniel grabbed his shoulder.
“Stay with me.”
People flooded into the hallway.
Smoke filled the stairwell.
Sarah shouted:
“Someone started a fire!”
Daniel looked at Lucas.
The boy's face had gone white.
“He found us.”
Daniel understood.
Marcus knew.
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And this time, he wasn't trying to hide the truth.
He was trying to erase it.
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