CHAPTER 1 — "Daddy… Mommy Didn't Just Fall."
The rain hammered against the windows of the quiet suburban home as Ethan Parker rushed through the front door after receiving a strange missed call from his wife.
The front door was already open.
"Evelyn?" he shouted.
No answer.
His leather briefcase slipped from his hand as he froze.
His wife lay motionless on the living room floor, her pale blue sweater soaked from the rain that had blown in through the open doorway.
For one horrifying second, Ethan forgot how to breathe.
"Evelyn!"
He dropped to his knees, desperately checking for a pulse.
It was faint.
Very faint.
Behind him stood four-year-old Lily, clutching her worn white teddy bear with trembling hands. She wasn't crying.
She just stared.
"Daddy..."
Her tiny voice barely rose above the thunder.
"...Mommy didn't just fall."
Ethan turned sharply.
"What do you mean?"
Lily lowered her eyes.
"I saw someone leave."
His blood ran cold.
"There was a man."
The words hit harder than lightning.
"What man?"
"The man Mommy was scared of."
Ethan frowned.
"Mommy... never told me."
Lily slowly reached into the pocket of her little pink dress.
She pulled out a folded piece of paper.
"He said Mommy couldn't let you see this."
Ethan unfolded it with shaking fingers.
Inside was only one sentence.
IF ETHAN FINDS THIS... IT'S ALREADY TOO LATE.
At that exact moment...
His phone rang.
Unknown Number.
He answered.
A calm male voice whispered,
"You should've come home earlier."
The line went dead.
Outside...
An ambulance screamed down the street.
But another black SUV quietly pulled away before anyone noticed.
Someone had been watching the house all along.
And Ethan suddenly realized...
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His wife's collapse wasn't an accident.
It was only the beginning.
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