CHAPTER 2 — The Man Inside the Coffin

The church exploded into screams.

“Open it!” Margaret cried. “Open my son’s coffin!”

Two men rushed forward and tore at the silver locks. The priest stumbled backward, pale as ash.

Victor didn’t move.

He stared at the coffin like it had just spoken his death sentence.

Then the lid cracked open.

A hand reached out.

Bloodied.

Shaking.

Alive.

The church fell silent.

Daniel Carter gasped for air, his face bruised, his lips cracked, his suit torn at the collar. He looked less like a dead man returning from the grave...

And more like a man who had clawed his way out of hell.

Ethan ran to him.

“Daddy!”

Daniel wrapped one weak arm around his son.

But his eyes weren’t on Ethan.

They were on Victor.

“You should have checked,” Daniel whispered.

Victor stepped back.

“I... I don’t know what’s happening.”

Daniel coughed, struggling to breathe.

“Yes, you do.”

Police sirens wailed outside.

Guests backed away as officers stormed into the church.

Victor turned toward the side door.

But Ethan suddenly shouted—

“He’s running!”

Victor bolted.

Two officers chased him through the church hallway, past shattered flower stands and terrified mourners.

Daniel grabbed Margaret’s wrist.

“Mom,” he rasped, “listen to me.”

She was crying too hard to speak.

Daniel pulled a small black memory card from inside his torn jacket.

“Everything is on this.”

“What is?” Margaret whispered.

Daniel’s voice dropped.

“The reason Victor tried to kill me.”

Outside, tires screeched.

Victor had escaped.

But before anyone could react, Ethan looked down at the coffin.

Something had fallen from Daniel’s pocket.

A photograph.

Old.

Burned at the edges.

Margaret picked it up.

Her face changed instantly.

It showed Daniel standing beside Victor twenty years earlier.

And between them was a woman holding a baby.

On the back, written in faded ink, were five words:

“Ethan must never know.”

Margaret looked at Daniel.

Daniel closed his eyes.

Because the truth Victor tried to bury...

was not just about murder.

It was about Ethan.

And the man the little boy called “Daddy”...

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To be continued...