Chapter 8 - A REVELATION ABOUT THE PAST
I spent the next two days digging. I went through every box, every file, every piece of paper I had kept from the time of my wife’s death. I visited old records offices, spoke to former acquaintances, tried to piece together what really happened that night.
According to the official story, Elena had been driving home in a storm. She’d lost control on a wet mountain road. The car had gone over the edge. She’d died instantly.
But the more I looked, the more inconsistencies I found. The police report was signed off very quickly. The investigation was closed in days. And the lawyer who had handled everything—who had arranged the funeral, who had settled the estate, who had told me there was no need to look too closely—had been Marcus.
I remembered that night. I remembered being shattered, barely able to function. I remembered Marcus stepping in, taking care of everything, telling me not to worry, telling me Elena would have wanted me to focus on Sophie. I had trusted him completely. I had signed whatever papers he put in front of me.
Now I wondered what exactly I had signed.
Late that evening, I drove to Marcus’s office. I knew he wouldn’t be there. I also knew where he kept his most sensitive files—locked in a heavy safe behind his desk. He had once told me the combination, casually, saying he trusted me with his life. I had never imagined I would use it like this.
I broke in quietly. The office was dark and smelled of old paper and leather. I walked straight to the safe, spun the dial, and pulled the door open.
There were stacks of files inside. Most were marked with other people’s names. But at the very back, wrapped in plain brown paper, was one file marked simply: ELENA — FINAL.
My hands shook as I pulled it out. I set it on his desk and opened it.
What I found inside turned my blood to ice.
The autopsy report had been altered. The original—hidden beneath the copy Marcus had given me—showed something completely different. Elena hadn’t died from the crash. She had been dead before the car ever left the road. There were traces of something in her blood. Something that suppressed breathing. Something that made it look like she’d fallen asleep at the wheel.
And there was more. A handwritten note. Signed by Marcus.
*“It’s done. She won’t be a problem anymore. The inheritance is safe to transfer once we’re ready. Just be patient.”*
I sank into his chair, the file slipping from my hands onto the desk. Marcus had killed her. My best friend had murdered my wife.
And then I saw it—another note, tucked beneath the first one, written in Vanessa’s handwriting.
*“Once we have Adrian, we’ll marry him, then make it look like he kills himself out of grief. Then Sophie goes. Then everything is ours. Forever.”*
It had been planned from the very beginning. Elena’s death hadn’t been an accident. It had been murder. And they had been waiting for me to grieve, to become vulnerable, so Vanessa could step in and take her place.
Vanessa hadn’t been trying to replace a wife. She had been stealing a life.
I sat there in the darkness, staring at the evidence, feeling a pain so deep it felt like my chest was being torn open. Every moment I had spent grieving. Every moment I had spent trusting Marcus. Every moment I had watched Vanessa pretend to care for Sophie. It had all been a lie. A carefully constructed performance designed to destroy me.
And then my phone rang.
I looked at the screen. It was Marcus.
I answered. I didn’t say a word.
“I know you’re in my office, Adrian,” Marcus said, his voice calm and terrifyingly casual. “I saw the alert on my security system. And I know you’ve found the file.”
I gripped the phone.
“You killed her, Marcus. You killed Elena.”
There was a slight pause. Then he sighed, almost sadly.
“I did what was necessary. She was going to expose us. She found out about the money. About the deals. She was going to tell you. So… I had to handle it.”
“Handled it?” I whispered, my voice cracking. “You murdered the mother of my child.”
“For a good cause,” Marcus said smoothly. “And don’t act so innocent, Adrian. If you had known the truth… you would have ruined everything. We gave you a wonderful life. We took care of you. All you had to do was stay out of the way.”
“Stay out of the way?” I stood up, trembling with rage. “While you killed my daughter’s mother? While you sent Vanessa to destroy Sophie too?”
“Sophie was never supposed to suffer,” Marcus said, though his tone remained cold. “But Vanessa got impatient. And now… everything has become messy. So here is what is going to happen. You leave that file exactly where you found it. You walk out of there. You drop all charges against Vanessa. And you sign over everything to me. If you do all that… I might let you and Sophie live.”
May you like
“And if I don’t?”
“Then Sophie suffers the same fate as Elena,” Marcus said, his voice dropping to a chilling whisper. “Think carefully, Adrian. I have people watching her. Always. One word from me… and she’s gone. Just like your wife.”
