CHAPTER 3 — The Man Who Came Back From the Dead
The black SUV didn’t move.
Margaret stood frozen on the rooftop, her hands still shaking from nearly being thrown to her death by the son she had raised.
But the elderly man inside that car scared her more than Ethan ever had.
Because he was holding a photograph no stranger should have possessed.
A photo of her late husband, Richard Caldwell…
Taken on the night he died.
Margaret rushed downstairs, ignoring the paramedics begging her to sit down.
By the time she reached the street, the SUV door opened.
The old man stepped out slowly.
Silver hair.
Black coat.
A scar across his left cheek.
Margaret’s breath caught in her throat.
“Who are you?” she whispered.
The man looked at her with tired eyes.
“My name is Samuel Cross.”
Then he placed the faded photo in her hand.
“And thirty-five years ago… your husband asked me to protect the truth.”
Margaret’s heart pounded.
“What truth?”
Samuel looked toward the police lights fading in the distance.
“The truth about Ethan.”
Margaret’s blood ran cold.
Samuel continued.
“Ethan was never Richard’s son.”
The words hit her like a knife.
Margaret stepped back, shaking her head.
“No. That’s impossible.”
Samuel reached into his coat and pulled out a yellowed hospital document.
“Richard found out two weeks before he died.”
Margaret could barely breathe.
The document showed Ethan’s birth record.
Father: Unknown.
Mother: Vanessa Hart’s father had hidden everything.
Margaret stared at the paper, confused.
Then the worst part came.
Samuel’s voice lowered.
“Ethan wasn’t just switched into your family by accident.”
“He was planted there.”
Margaret looked up.
“What are you saying?”
Samuel’s eyes darkened.
“I’m saying your husband didn’t die in an accident.”
“He was murdered…”
“And the family behind it has been waiting for Ethan to inherit your company.”
At that exact moment, Margaret’s phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number appeared on the screen.
You should have let him push you.
Then another message came.
Now we’ll finish what your husband started.
Margaret slowly looked across the street.
On the top floor of a dark building…
A woman in a red dress was watching her through the window.
Vanessa.
Ethan’s wife.
May you like
But she wasn’t crying.
She was smiling.
