Chapter 2 - The Secret Behind My AccidentThe ballroom exploded with whispers.
People who had spent the entire evening praising Daniel were now staring at him as if they had never met him before.
He kept reading the documents.
Again.
And again.
As if the numbers might somehow change.
They didn't.
My name was on the controlling shares.
My signature was on the original financing agreement.
My trust had provided the capital.
The company Daniel had proudly described as his greatest achievement…
Had been built with my money.
He finally looked up.
“Emily.”
I hated the way he said my name.
Like he was suddenly remembering who I was.
Like I had become valuable again.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
I almost smiled.
“You never asked.”
His face tightened.
“That isn't fair.”
I stared at him.
“Fair?”
I pointed at my wine-soaked dress.
“You poured wine over me because you thought I was weak.”
He looked away.
Nobody defended him.
Not even his mother.
Arthur stepped forward.
“Everyone needs to leave.”
Daniel's mother stood.
“Arthur, this is a family matter.”
My father looked at her.
“No.”
His voice was quiet.
“It stopped being a family matter when your son publicly humiliated my daughter.”
Evelyn's face reddened.
“She provoked him.”
I looked at her.
“By sitting there?”
She said nothing.
Arthur turned toward the guests.
“The celebration is over.”
One by one, people began leaving.
Investors.
Executives.
Friends.
Nobody wanted to be associated with the scene anymore.
Within fifteen minutes, the ballroom was almost empty.
Only Daniel, Evelyn, my father, and I remained.
And that was when I finally said the words I had been carrying for three months.
“Daniel.”
He looked at me.
“My accident wasn't an accident.”
His face went completely still.
Three months earlier…
I had been driving home.
It was raining.
I remember the road.
The traffic.
The headlights.
Then another car came out of nowhere.
It struck the side of my vehicle.
My car spun.
I remember the sound of glass.
Then darkness.
When I woke up…
I was in the hospital.
Daniel was beside me.
He was crying.
At least, I thought he was.
He held my hand.
“You're alive.”
I whispered:
“What happened?”
“You lost control.”
I believed him.
Because why wouldn't I?
He was my husband.
But something never felt right.
The police report said the other vehicle had crossed into my lane.
Yet Daniel insisted I had been distracted.
I didn't remember being distracted.
I remembered seeing headlights coming directly toward me.
Then, after the accident, someone anonymously sent me a photograph.
The photograph showed my car ten minutes before the crash.
There was another vehicle following me.
A black SUV.
I recognized it.
It belonged to Daniel's company.
But Daniel said nobody from his company had been near me.
That was my first doubt.
Then came the second.
The insurance investigator found that the SUV had been reported stolen.
Conveniently…
The day before the accident.
I hired a private investigator.
I didn't tell Daniel.
The investigator discovered that the SUV wasn't stolen.
It had been moved to a private garage owned by one of Daniel's business partners.
The security footage from that garage had been deleted.
But one employee had saved a backup.
And that backup showed someone entering the vehicle.
Someone wearing a dark hood.
The face wasn't visible.
But the person was carrying a distinctive watch.
A silver watch with a black face.
Daniel owned one.
I still wasn't convinced.
Then my investigator found the payment.
Someone had transferred $25,000 to the driver of the SUV.
The money came from an account connected to Daniel's company.
And the transfer had been approved…
Two days before my accident.
I looked at Daniel.
“You knew.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
“You knew something.”
“No.”
“Then why was your company paying the driver?”
He looked at his mother.
Evelyn looked away.
That was when I understood.
She knew.
Daniel stepped toward me.
“Emily, listen to me.”
I raised my hand.
“Don't.”
He stopped.
“You have lied to me for three months.”
“I was scared.”
“You watched me struggle to walk.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I didn't know how to tell you.”
“Tell me what?”
Silence.
I looked at my father.
Arthur's expression remained cold.
Then he opened another folder.
Inside was the private investigator's report.
Daniel stared at it.
His face went pale.
Arthur said:
“The driver confessed.”
Daniel whispered:
“What?”
“He said he was paid to force Emily's car off the road.”
Daniel looked at me.
“I didn't order that.”
I believed him.
Or at least…
Part of me did.
Because the evidence pointed somewhere else.
Arthur placed one final photograph on the table.
The person meeting the driver wasn't Daniel.
It was Evelyn.
Daniel's mother.
His mouth fell open.
“Mom?”
Evelyn immediately began crying.
“This isn't what you think.”
I stared at her.
“Then explain.”
She couldn't.
Arthur stepped closer.
“Your mother paid the driver.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Why?”
Evelyn looked at me.
Then finally said:
“Because I needed you to leave her.”
Silence.
Daniel stared at her.
“You wanted my wife dead?”
“No!”
She covered her face.
“I wanted her out of your life.”
“But why?”
Evelyn's expression changed.
And that was when she said the words that changed everything.
“Because Emily was going to discover what we did.”
I felt cold.
“What did you do?”
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
Then at me.
“The company wasn't built with Emily's money by accident.”
Daniel frowned.
“What are you talking about?”
May you like
Evelyn whispered:
“We took it.”
