Chapter 7 - The KeyThe next morning, Daniel announced a business trip.
"Two days."
"Now?"
"I don't want to leave you."
He kissed my forehead.
"Stay home. Don't talk to anyone."
The words sounded gentle.
But they felt like instructions.
After his car disappeared, I found Noah eating cereal in the kitchen.
I knelt beside him.
"When Dad took you to see Vanessa, what did you do?"
Noah frowned.
"He told me not to tell you."
"What else?"
"He gave her something."
"What?"
"A key."
My heart stopped.
"A key to what?"
"The house."
I couldn't breathe.
Noah continued.
"She asked Dad when you were going away."
"What did he say?"
Noah looked at me.
"He said very soon."
I stood slowly.
"Pack your things."
"Where are we going?"
"Aunt Lila's."
Then I went into Daniel's office.
I searched every drawer.
Until I found a folder.
ESTATE PLANNING.
Inside was a life insurance policy.
Two million dollars.
Daniel was the beneficiary.
Behind it was a divorce petition.
Filed three weeks before I discovered Vanessa.
And behind that—
A witness statement.
Signed by Vanessa.
It claimed I was unstable.
That I planned to abandon my family.
That I intended to leave the country.
My hands began shaking.
Daniel wasn't simply planning a divorce.
He was building a story.
May you like
A story in which I disappeared.
And he became the victim.
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