Chapter 14: The Last Secret Marcus Left Behind
Nobody looked at Daniel the same way.
Not after the message.
Not after the word.
Knife.
Nia stared at him.
Her voice was barely a whisper.
“Who was holding the knife?””
Daniel looked like he wanted to disappear.
The room waited.
Even Calvin stopped smiling.
Daniel’s eyes filled with tears.
“I didn’t want you to remember this.””
Nia felt something break inside.
“You don’t get to choose that anymore.””
He nodded.
“You’re right.””
A long silence.
Then he spoke.
“It wasn’t Marcus.””
Everyone froze.
Nia’s heart pounded.
“Who was it?””
Daniel looked at Calvin.
Then Evelyn.
Then finally—
Himself.
“I don’t know.””
The answer exploded through the room.
“You don’t know?””
Daniel shook his head.
“I saw the knife.””
“Then you know.””
“No.””
His voice cracked.
“I saw someone holding it.””
“Who?””
Daniel looked terrified.
“Someone standing behind Marcus.””
Nia felt dizzy.
Behind Marcus.
The same words.
The same warning.
The person beside his coffin.
The person in the room.
“Who?””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“I only saw a hand.””
Nobody breathed.
“A hand?””
“Yes.””
“What did it look like?””
Daniel swallowed.
“An expensive watch.””
The room changed.
Because several people looked down.
Evelyn.
Terrence.
Calvin.
Detective Brooks.
Everyone checked everyone else.
Then Nia noticed.
Daniel wasn’t looking at them.
He was looking at the coffin.
At Marcus.
Like he was apologizing.
“Daniel.””
He looked at her.
“There’s something else.””
Of course there was.
Another secret.
Another hidden truth.
“I found Marcus after it happened.””
Nia listened.
“But before he died…”
The room went silent.
“He said one thing.””
Her breath caught.
“What?””
Daniel looked at the phone.
“He said, ‘Don’t let her remember.’”
Nia froze.
“Me?””
Daniel nodded.
“He wasn’t protecting himself.””
A tear slipped down his face.
“He was protecting you.””
For the first time since entering the chapel, Nia felt something other than anger.
She felt grief.
Pure grief.
Because Marcus had known.
He had known something terrible would happen.
And even at the end…
He had been thinking about her.
Detective Brooks stepped forward.
“Daniel, you need to tell us everything.””
He nodded.
“I will.””
Then he looked at Nia.
“But you need to hear the truth about Marcus.””
She frowned.
“What truth?””
Daniel looked toward Calvin.
“Marcus wasn’t investigating him because he hated him.””
Calvin’s expression changed.
“He was investigating because he discovered something.””
“What?””
Daniel looked at Evelyn.
“He discovered Calvin wasn’t the person stealing from him.””
Everyone froze.
Nia felt the world shift again.
“What?””
Calvin looked genuinely shocked.
Daniel continued.
“Marcus found the real person.””
Detective Brooks stepped closer.
“Who?””
Daniel looked at the people around him.
Then at Nia.
“He didn’t know at first.””
A pause.
“But the night he died, he found out.””
The phone vibrated.
Everyone looked.
A new video appeared.
Not from Marcus.
From Daniel.
The timestamp:
11:58 P.M.
The final recording.
Nia looked at him.
“You recorded this?””
Daniel nodded.
“Marcus told me to.””
“Why?””
“Because he knew I might not survive telling the truth.””
The words chilled everyone.
Nia pressed play.
The video showed Marcus.
Alive.
Standing somewhere inside the chapel.
Daniel’s voice could be heard behind the camera.
“Are you sure about this?””
Marcus answered:
“If something happens to me, Nia needs to know.””
Marcus looked directly at the camera.
His eyes were tired.
But determined.
“The person who betrayed me is someone I trusted with my entire life.””
A pause.
Then Marcus said:
“And the reason I couldn’t tell Nia…”
The video glitched.
The screen shook.
A sound.
Someone entering.
Marcus turned.
His face changed.
Fear.
Then the recording ended.
Nia stared at the black screen.
“Who came in?””
Nobody answered.
Then the chapel doors slowly closed.
Again.
But this time…
Everyone heard the lock.
A voice came from behind them.
“You really should have left the past buried.””
Everyone turned.
Nia stopped breathing.
Because the person standing at the door…
May you like
Was the last person she expected.
Her own mother.
