Chapter 2 - THE LETTER SHE WROTE BEFORE SHE DIED
I had trusted Daniel Whitmore with everything.
My company.
My finances.
My reputation.
For seven years, he'd stood beside me in boardrooms and congratulated me on deals worth hundreds of millions.
Now a woman I'd never met was telling me he'd been connected to Claire's death.
I looked at Margaret.
"How did she die?"
Margaret hesitated.
"Claire was killed in a car accident eighteen months ago."
My chest tightened.
"Where?"
"Outside Chicago."
I closed my eyes.
A car accident.
Claire had always hated driving at night.
She used to grip the steering wheel whenever it rained.
I remembered teasing her about being overly cautious.
Now I wanted to take back every careless word.
"Why do you think Daniel was involved?"
Margaret opened the wooden box.
Inside were several photographs.
A child's hospital bracelet.
A faded pink ribbon.
And a thick envelope addressed to me.
My name was written in Claire's handwriting.
Michael.
Just seeing it nearly broke me.
Margaret gently guided Emma toward a small play table near the window.
"Would you like to draw another picture for your daddy?"
Emma nodded eagerly.
While she colored, I opened the letter.
Dear Michael,
If you're reading this, then you finally came.
I covered my mouth.
I don't know whether you came because you missed me, because you found out about Emma, or because fate decided we deserved one more chance to tell the truth.
But I need you to understand something.
Our daughter never stopped asking about you.
Tears fell onto the paper.
I never told her you were a bad man.
I told her you were a frightened man who made a terrible choice.
But Michael, there are things happening around your company that you don't know.
Daniel Whitmore has been using your name to move money through accounts connected to a children's medical charity.
I stopped.
A children's charity?
My company had donated millions to pediatric hospitals.
Daniel personally oversaw those donations.
I continued reading.
I found documents that could destroy him. When I confronted his accountant, someone began following me.
If anything happens to me, don't let Daniel near Emma.
My heart hammered.
Then I reached the final paragraph.
There is one thing I never told you.
Something about the night you left.
I stopped breathing.
You thought I was pregnant with one baby.
But Michael, the ultrasound showed twins.
The room spun.
Twins?
I looked toward Emma.
She was humming quietly while drawing another yellow sun.
My hands began shaking.
I read the next sentence.
One of our babies didn't survive the pregnancy.
Tears blurred everything.
But Claire's final words were worse.
And the records Daniel gave me about our son's death were not real.
I looked up at Margaret.
My voice barely worked.
"Margaret..."
She turned.
"Yes?"
I stared at the letter.
"Where is my son?"
Her face went white.
May you like
And for the first time, I saw genuine fear in her eyes.
"Mr. Rivers," she whispered, "we were hoping you could tell us."
