Chapter 11 - No More Pretending
Emily closed her eyes.
She had known.
The evidence had proven it.
Yet hearing Daniel admit it made the truth more painful.
Mara stood beside her.
“Don’t answer.”
Daniel hit the door again.
“I know you can hear me.”
Emily watched him through the security monitor.
His polished appearance had disappeared.
His hair was disheveled.
His shirt collar hung open.
His face twisted with hatred.
“What happened to us?” Emily whispered.
Daniel heard her through the intercom.
He laughed.
“Us?”
Emily activated the microphone.
“You married me.”
“I married your name.”
The words struck harder than she expected.
Daniel continued.
“Do you know what it’s like being introduced as Emily Whitmore’s husband?”
She said nothing.
“Every room.”
“Every meeting.”
“Every deal.”
“You walked in and people forgot I existed.”
Emily stared at him.
“So you tried to kill me?”
“I tried to fix my life.”
“Our daughter?”
Daniel looked toward the camera.
For the first time, he appeared uncomfortable.
“She complicated things.”
Emily’s face changed.
Mara placed a hand over hers.
Daniel continued.
“The trust changes after she’s born.”
Emily understood.
Once Lily was born, Daniel would no longer gain immediate control of the entire estate.
Much of it would belong to the child.
That was why the attempts had accelerated.
He needed Emily dead before delivery.
Daniel hit the door.
“You can still make this easier.”
Emily laughed through her tears.
“By dying?”
“By opening the door.”
Police were coming.
Emily only needed to keep him talking.
“You poisoned me.”
Daniel smiled.
“The mushrooms were disappointing.”
“My brakes?”
“That should have worked.”
“The stairs?”
“You’re surprisingly difficult to kill.”
Emily felt Lily move inside her.
She placed both hands over her belly.
Daniel suddenly understood what she was doing.
His eyes narrowed.
“Who did you call?”
Emily did not answer.
“Who did you call?”
He struck the keypad.
Mara backed away.
“Police are coming.”
Daniel heard her.
Panic flashed across his face.
Then rage replaced it.
“You think police will save you?”
He disappeared from the monitor.
Emily checked another camera.
Daniel ran down the hallway.
“Where is he going?”
Mara watched.
Daniel entered a storage room.
Seconds later, he returned carrying a heavy bronze statue.
He raised it over his shoulder.
“Move back.”
Mara grabbed the iron fire poker stored inside the panic room.
Daniel smashed the statue into the exterior keypad.
Sparks exploded.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Emily stared at the timer on the security screen.
Six minutes since the emergency call.
Daniel stopped.
The keypad hung destroyed.
He stared into the camera.
Then an unnatural calm crossed his face.
“I don’t need to open the door.”
Mara frowned.
Daniel disappeared again.
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When he returned, he carried a red gasoline can.
Emily’s blood went cold.
