Chapter 4 - The Traitor Had Been My Husband’s Best Friend—And He Revealed That Evan Was Alive Because He Had Been Helping Him All AlongHis name was Daniel.
He had been Evan's best friend.
He had held my hand at the funeral.
He had helped me after Evan's “death.”
He had brought groceries.
Fixed my car.
Visited Lily.
He had been there.
Always.
Now he stood in the hallway with a gun.
I couldn't breathe.
“Daniel.”
He looked at me.
“Emily.”
Dominic raised his weapon.
Daniel smiled.
“Don't.”
“You've been inside my organization for years,” Dominic said.
“Yes.”
“You worked for Richard.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Because your husband asked me to.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Evan is alive.”
I nearly collapsed.
Daniel lowered his weapon.
“He's been hiding.”
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“I can't tell you.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Tell her.”
Daniel looked at him.
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
“Evan was protecting her.”
“From whom?”
“Everyone.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Richard wanted you because you remembered the wrong night.”
“What night?”
“The clinic.”
My stomach tightened.
Five years earlier, I had brought Lily to St. Catherine's for an asthma attack.
I remembered a child being wheeled into an elevator.
A woman crying.
A man signing papers.
A black van outside.
I had ignored it.
It wasn't my business.
Apparently, it was.
Daniel explained.
The child had been part of Richard's illegal operation.
Evan discovered it.
He copied records.
He planned to expose Richard.
Daniel helped him.
Then someone betrayed them.
The staged accident followed.
Evan escaped.
He went underground.
Daniel remained behind.
He became a double agent.
That was why he had helped me.
Why he had stayed close.
Why he knew everything.
He wasn't the enemy.
He had been trying to protect us.
I looked at Dominic.
He didn't lower his gun.
“Why didn't Evan come home?”
Daniel answered:
“Because Richard had someone inside your own family.”
Dominic froze.
“Who?”
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
“Your mother.”
Silence.
I turned to Dominic.
“Is that true?”
He didn't answer.
Daniel continued.
“Your mother knew about the operation.”
Dominic looked stunned.
“She had no idea.”
“She did.”
“My mother died years ago.”
“Before she died.”
“Then why?”
“She was protecting you.”
Dominic's face changed.
The same sentence again.
Protecting.
Everyone had been using it.
Daniel gave him a file.
Documents showing that Dominic's mother had discovered Richard's network.
She tried to stop it.
Richard threatened Dominic.
She cooperated.
Then she secretly helped Evan escape.
But she couldn't stop the accident.
She died believing her son would eventually find the truth.
Dominic sat down.
For the first time, I saw him broken.
I touched his shoulder.
He didn't move.
Daniel looked at me.
“Evan wants to come home.”
My heart stopped.
“Then why hasn't he?”
“Because Richard still has one person.”
“Who?”
“Lily.”
“How?”
“He knows she has the drive.”
I looked at the stuffed rabbit.
The drive.
All this time.
Richard wanted it.
The evidence.
But he also wanted Lily because he thought she could lead him to Evan.
Daniel said there was only one place safe enough for Evan to return.
The old Moretti warehouse.
We went there.
Evan was waiting.
I saw him through a glass door.
He looked older.
Scarred.
Tired.
But alive.
I couldn't move.
He saw me.
“Emily.”
I ran.
We held each other.
I cried.
He cried.
Lily ran toward him.
“Daddy.”
He dropped to his knees.
She hugged him.
He held her as if he had been waiting six years.
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
I stepped back.
“You let me think you were dead.”
He looked down.
“I thought it was the only way.”
“You were wrong.”
“I know.”
“Do you love me?”
His eyes filled.
“Every day.”
I cried again.
Dominic stood nearby.
Evan looked at him.
“You came.”
Dominic nodded.
“You trusted me.”
“I had no choice.”
Dominic smiled.
“I'll take that.”
Then the warehouse lights flickered.
Daniel looked toward the entrance.
“He found us.”
Richard.
We moved.
The warehouse filled with gunfire.
Evan grabbed Lily.
I followed.
Dominic protected us.
Security arrived.
Richard escaped.
But not before shouting:
“You still don't know who has the ledger!”
I froze.
The ledger.
There was another one.
Evan looked at me.
“I thought you had it.”
“I don't.”
Dominic stared at Daniel.
“Who does?”
Daniel went pale.
“Isabella.”
I froze.
Isabella?
Dominic's former fiancée.
The woman who had disappeared after the wedding scandal.
I had never met her.
Apparently, neither had I.
But she had been the one who possessed the original ledger.
And now Richard wanted her.
Dominic looked at me.
“We have to find her before he does.”
For the first time, Evan smiled.
“You have a family now, Dominic.”
Dominic looked at us.
May you like
Then nodded.
“I know.”
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