Chapter 2: What She Left Behind the Wall
I waited until I heard Mother's heels click back toward the living room.
Then I moved.
The master closet smelled like Emily's perfume.
It hit me so hard I had to stop and breathe through it.
I found the grate low on the back wall, half-hidden behind a row of her dresses.
Four screws.
I used my dog tag to turn them.
The laptop was wrapped in a plastic freezer bag, taped to the inside of the duct.
My hands were steady.
They're trained to be.
But my chest was not.
I opened it on the closet floor.
One file sat on the desktop, labeled with a single word: *Daniel.*
I clicked it.
It was a video.
Emily — pale, exhausted, clearly filmed in secret — staring straight into the camera.
Behind her I could see the bedroom curtains.
The date in the corner was three days ago.
"Daniel, if you're watching this, they didn't let me call you." Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"Your mother told me this morning that the C-section has been cancelled.
She said you called from Fort Bragg and changed the plan.
That you wanted a home birth.
Daniel—" her voice cracked— "I know you didn't call.
I know."
The video cut out.
I sat there on the closet floor, the laptop burning in my hands, and I heard Caleb's voice rise from downstairs.
"Just get the cremation scheduled for tomorrow.
He won't be able to stop it once the paperwork clears."
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What Daniel found on that laptop is only the beginning.
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The full truth — and what he does next — will leave you speechless.
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