Chapter 4
I watched Laura’s video three times.
Each time, it hurt differently.
The first time, I only saw my wife.
Her face.
Her fear.
The way she kept glancing toward the bedroom door.
The second time, I heard the warning.
Especially from Natalie Vale.
The third time, I started noticing details.
A bruise near Laura’s wrist.
A tremble in her left hand.
A folded hospital bracelet on the table beside her.
Ruth paused the video and zoomed in.
“Do you recognize that bracelet?”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“It has a date.”
She enlarged the image.
Four weeks before Laura died.
I stood so quickly my chair hit the wall.
“She never told me she went to the hospital.”
Caleb’s face darkened.
“Why wouldn’t she?”
Because she was afraid.
Because someone had threatened her.
Because maybe she had tried to tell me and I had been too busy being practical.
The guilt came fast and sharp.
Ruth closed the laptop.
“We need records.”
“I’ll get them.”
“No,” she said. “I’ll subpoena them.”
“But—”
“Ethan, if the Vales are involved, every careless move warns them.”
I hated waiting.
But Ruth was right.
By afternoon, my house felt like a fortress.
Caleb stayed.
Maren took Sophie to the backyard and kept her busy painting rocks.
A private security team Ruth trusted watched the front gate.
I didn’t like frightening Sophie with guards.
But I liked the thought of Natalie near her even less.
At four, Sophie found me in the kitchen.
She wore one of my old sweaters over her dress.
It hung almost to her knees.
“Daddy?”
I crouched.
“Hey, bug.”
“Is Natalie mad?”
I swallowed.
“She is not your worry.”
“She said if I told, you wouldn’t love me anymore.”
My heart cracked open.
I pulled her into my arms.
“That was a lie. There is nothing you could say that would make me stop loving you.”
“She said Mommy was selfish for dying.”
My eyes burned.
I held her tighter.
“Your mommy loved you more than anything in the world.”
Sophie leaned back.
“Then why did she hide the letter in my music box?”
I went still.
She had heard more than I thought.
I brushed hair from her face.
“Because she trusted you to keep it safe without knowing.”
Sophie looked toward the study.
“Can we fix it?”
The music box.
The answer should have been no.
It was shattered.
The ballerina was broken.
But I looked at my daughter’s hopeful, wounded eyes.
“Yes,” I said. “We’ll fix what we can.”
That night, while Sophie slept, the first threat arrived.
A black envelope slipped under the front door.
No stamp.
No name.
Inside was a photograph of Sophie at school.
Taken through the fence.
On the back, someone had written:
LET THE DEAD STAY DEAD.
Caleb cursed under his breath.
Ruth’s voice hardened over the phone.
“Do not touch it further. Bag it. I’m sending someone.”
I stared at the photo until rage swallowed fear.
“They watched my child.”
“Yes,” Ruth said. “Which means we are close to something.”
“I’m not waiting anymore.”
“You are not storming the Vale estate.”
“I know where Natalie is.”
“Ethan.”
“She knows why Laura named her.”
Ruth paused.
“Do not go alone.”
I looked at Caleb.
He was already grabbing his coat.
Natalie was staying at her parents’ townhouse.
A limestone mansion with black gates and cameras tucked beneath every balcony.
I didn’t get past the front steps before security blocked me.
“Natalie,” I shouted. “Come out.”
A curtain moved upstairs.
Then the front door opened.
Richard Vale stepped out.
His face was calm.
Too calm.
“You are trespassing.”
“You threatened my daughter.”
His eyebrows lifted.
“Careful.”
“I have Laura’s video.”
For the first time, his expression cracked.
Only slightly.
But I saw it.
Caleb saw it too.
Then Natalie appeared behind him.
No wedding gown now.
Just a white silk robe and a face stripped of softness.
“You shouldn’t have opened the box,” she said.
Richard turned sharply.
“Natalie.”
But it was too late.
My phone was recording in my coat pocket.
I took one step closer.
“You knew Laura.”
Natalie smiled, but her mouth trembled.
“Everyone knew Laura. She was pathetic.”
I felt Caleb move beside me.
I lifted a hand to stop him.
“Why did she warn me about you?”
Natalie’s eyes shone with hatred.
“Because she stole something that belonged to my family.”
“What?”
“Proof.”
Richard grabbed her arm.
“Enough.”
She yanked free.
“No, Father. He wants truth? Tell him. Tell him his sainted wife was blackmailing us.”
I stared at her.
“Laura was protecting her sister.”
Natalie laughed.
“Her sister should have kept her mouth shut.”
The words hung in the cold air.
Richard’s face turned gray.
Caleb whispered, “She just admitted it.”
Natalie realized too late.
I stepped back.
“Thank you.”
Her eyes widened.
“For what?”
May you like
I pulled out my phone.
“For giving Laura her voice back.”
