Chapter 3 - THE PHOTOGRAPH FROM BEFORE ME
Detective Bell stepped toward the door.
The elderly man lowered the photograph.
Daniel immediately said something to him.
The older man shook his head.
Then he turned and walked away.
Bell followed.
I watched through the glass until both men disappeared around the corner.
“Who was that?” Emily asked.
“Daniel's father.”
“You've never met him?”
“No.”
“Then why did he have a photograph of your house?”
I didn't answer.
Because I was asking myself the same question.
Detective Bell returned ten minutes later.
He looked different.
More serious.
“His name is Samuel Cole.”
“I know.”
“He says he has never met you.”
I frowned.
“That doesn't explain the photograph.”
“No.”
Bell placed the photograph on the table.
It showed my house.
The same white porch.
The same oak tree.
But the house looked newer.
The picture had clearly been taken years earlier.
“How old is it?” I asked.
“Approximately eleven years.”
I stared.
I had bought the house eight years ago.
Daniel had moved in with me seven years ago.
“So someone was watching the house before I lived there?”
Bell nodded.
“That's what it appears.”
Emily leaned forward.
“Who lived there before Rachel?”
Bell looked at me.
“Do you know?”
I shook my head.
The house had belonged to an elderly couple.
That was all I remembered from the paperwork.
Bell turned the photograph over.
There was writing on the back.
Keep the house. Never sell it.
No signature.
No explanation.
Just those six words.
I felt cold.
Daniel entered the corridor.
Two officers immediately blocked his path.
“Mr. Cole, you need to remain in the waiting area.”
He looked at me.
“Rachel, we need to talk.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
His father was standing farther down the hallway.
Daniel looked at him.
“Dad.”
Samuel ignored him.
He looked at me.
Then at the photograph.
Finally, he said something that made Daniel's face change.
“She doesn't know.”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“Stop.”
Samuel looked at me again.
“She deserves to know.”
Daniel stepped forward.
The officers stopped him.
“What are you doing here?” Daniel demanded.
Samuel answered calmly.
“Cleaning up what you couldn't.”
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“You don't get to do this.”
“I've been doing it for years.”
“Go home.”
Samuel looked at him.
“I should have gone to the police years ago.”
Daniel's face became pale.
Emily whispered,
“What is he talking about?”
Samuel turned toward us.
Then he said,
“Your husband didn't choose that house because it was affordable.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
Samuel looked at Daniel.
“Tell her.”
Daniel said nothing.
Samuel continued.
“He chose it because someone wanted you there.”
The room seemed to tilt.
I looked at Daniel.
“Who?”
Daniel stared at the floor.
“Rachel…”
“Who?”
He finally looked at me.
“My father.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Why?”
Samuel answered.
“Because your house was connected to my family's past.”
Detective Bell stepped closer.
“Explain.”
Samuel sighed.
“Eleven years ago, a woman lived there.”
“Who?”
“Her name was Laura Bennett.”
The name meant nothing to me.
“What happened to her?”
Samuel looked at Daniel.
“She disappeared.”
Daniel said quietly,
“She didn't disappear.”
Everyone turned.
“What happened?” I asked.
Daniel's voice was barely audible.
“She died.”
Samuel closed his eyes.
“Your husband knew her.”
I stared at Daniel.
“You knew this woman?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She worked for my father.”
“What did she do?”
Daniel hesitated.
“She kept records.”
“What records?”
Samuel answered.
“Financial records.”
Detective Bell's expression sharpened.
“Of what?”
Samuel looked at me.
“Payments made to people who were never supposed to know where the money came from.”
Daniel interrupted.
“That's enough.”
“No,” Samuel said.
“It isn't.”
He looked at me.
“Laura discovered that someone in my family had been paying doctors.”
My heart tightened.
“Doctors?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Samuel swallowed.
“To falsify medical records.”
The room went silent.
I thought of Dr. Patel.
The scans.
The injuries.
My baby.
“Why would your family need fake medical records?”
Samuel looked at Daniel.
“Because years ago, my son was involved in another incident.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
I whispered,
“What incident?”
Samuel did not answer.
Daniel did.
“A woman got pregnant.”
My blood ran cold.
“She lost the baby.”
I stared at him.
“Was that woman Laura?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Daniel looked away.
“I don't know.”
Samuel's voice hardened.
“You know exactly who.”
Daniel's shoulders dropped.
Samuel looked at me.
“My son has always wanted control.”
Daniel turned toward him.
“You don't know what you're talking about.”
“I know what I taught you.”
“And I know what you did.”
Samuel went silent.
That sentence changed everything.
I looked at Daniel.
“What did your father do?”
Daniel didn't answer.
Samuel did.
“He taught Daniel that women were responsibilities.”
I felt sick.
“Responsibilities?”
“Women who became pregnant were expected to produce sons.”
Emily stepped closer to me.
“Rachel, we should stop.”
“No.”
I couldn't look away from Daniel.
“I need to know.”
Daniel finally spoke.
“My father believed the family would collapse without a male heir.”
“And you believed him?”
“When I was young.”
“How young?”
“Seventeen.”
I stared at him.
“And you carried that belief into our marriage?”
He looked ashamed.
“I thought I could do it differently.”
“You tied me to a beam.”
His face crumpled.
“I know.”
“No.”
My voice was quiet.
“You don't know.”
Samuel looked at his son.
“You're repeating what you were taught.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I never wanted to become you.”
Samuel's expression changed.
“Then why did you?”
Nobody spoke.
The answer was obvious.
But Daniel didn't say it.
Detective Bell took the photograph.
“Samuel, why did you bring this today?”
Samuel looked at him.
“Because I found something.”
He reached inside his coat.
He removed an old key.
Then he handed it to Bell.
“It opens a safety deposit box.”
Bell frowned.
“Whose?”
“Laura Bennett's.”
My heart started pounding.
“Where is it?”
Samuel looked at me.
“At the bank where Daniel keeps his private account.”
Daniel's face went white.
“That box doesn't exist.”
Samuel looked at him.
“Yes, it does.”
Then he looked at me.
“And inside it is the reason your husband wanted you pregnant with a son.”
The room went silent.
I looked at Daniel.
“Why?”
He didn't answer.
Samuel did.
“Because the last woman who discovered what was inside that box had a daughter.”
I stared at him.
“What happened to her?”
Samuel's eyes dropped.
“She died.”
May you like
Then he looked at Daniel.
“And Daniel has spent seven years making sure you never discovered why.”
