Chapter 7: The Voice She Tried to Erase
The silence after my wife’s voice disappeared was worse than any scream.
For a moment, nobody moved.
The laptop screen remained frozen on the same file.
The flash drive was still connected.
The speakers were silent.
But her voice was still everywhere.
I could feel it.
In the air.
In my chest.
In the space between every person standing in that ballroom.
“Darius…”
Ava whispered my name.
I looked down at her.
Her eyes were fixed on the laptop.
“Mommy was talking.””
I swallowed hard.
“Yes.””
“But it stopped.””
I looked at the screen.
“It did.””
Dr. Brooks immediately stepped forward.
“Don’t touch anything.””
The warning came quickly.
Terrence looked at her.
“What happened?””
She leaned toward the laptop.
“The file may have been interrupted.””
“Interrupted?”” I asked.
She nodded.
“Not corrupted. Interrupted.””
I looked across the room.
At Simone.
She was standing perfectly still.
Too still.
Her hands were shaking.
“You knew,” I said.
Her eyes lifted.
“Darius…”
“You knew this would happen.””
“No.””
“You knew there was a recording.””
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
That was enough.
Terrence stepped forward.
“You tried to destroy it.””
Simone looked at him.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.””
“No?””
His voice cracked.
“You think I forgot the night your sister called me crying?””
Simone’s face changed.
“Sister?””
I turned toward him.
“What sister?””
Nobody answered.
The question sat there.
Heavy.
Impossible.
Dr. Brooks closed the laptop.
“We need to listen to the rest of this somewhere secure.””
I looked around the ballroom.
At my guests.
At my family.
At the decorations.
The wedding cake.
The flowers.
Everything that was supposed to represent a new beginning.
Instead, it had become the place where my entire life started falling apart.
“Here,” I said.
Everyone looked at me.
“What?””
“Play it here.””
Dr. Brooks shook her head.
“Darius, this is emotional evidence.””
“I know.””
“You need to prepare yourself.””
I looked at Ava.
Then at the woman I was supposed to marry.
“I’ve been preparing myself for two years.””
Nobody argued.
Dr. Brooks reconnected the file.
This time, she copied it first.
Then she pressed play.
Static.
A breath.
Then my wife’s voice returned.
“Darius, if you are hearing this, please know something first.””
Her voice trembled.
And that nearly broke me.
She sounded afraid.
Not sick.
Not confused.
Afraid.
“I tried to protect you because I thought I could fix this myself.””
I closed my eyes.
That was her.
Always carrying things alone.
Always believing she could save everyone.
“But I was wrong.””
A pause.
Then:
“Simone has been lying to us.””
The ballroom erupted.
Someone gasped.
Someone else whispered.
Simone looked down.
My hands curled into fists.
My wife continued.
“I found out she was taking money from Ava’s account. At first, I believed it was a mistake. I wanted to believe that.””
Ava squeezed my hand.
“But when I confronted her, she told me something that scared me.””
The recording became quieter.
“She said if I told Darius, she would make sure he lost everything.””
My stomach dropped.
Everything.
Not just money.
Not just a relationship.
Everything.
“Darius, I don’t know how far she is willing to go.””
The speakers crackled.
Then her voice returned.
“But I know one thing.””
A long pause.
“She knows about Ava.””
My blood went cold.
The room disappeared.
Only those words remained.
She knows about Ava.
I looked down at my daughter.
She was staring at the floor.
Like she already understood.
“What does that mean?”” I whispered.
No one answered.
The recording continued.
“She knows Ava saw something.””
Simone suddenly stepped forward.
“Stop.””
Everyone turned.
She looked terrified.
“Stop this.””
Dr. Brooks stared at her.
“Why?””
Simone’s voice broke.
“Because you don’t know the whole story.””
My eyes locked on hers.
“Then tell it.””
She looked at me.
“I can explain.””
“Then explain.””
She looked around.
At the guests.
At the people watching her.
Then she shook her head.
“Not like this.””
I laughed once.
A bitter sound.
“Not like this?””
I pointed toward the laptop.
“My dead wife left me a warning on my wedding day.””
I stepped closer.
“And you’re worried about the timing?””
Simone cried.
“I loved her.””
That surprised me.
Because it sounded real.
“She was my friend.””
“Then why would she say this?””
Simone looked at the laptop.
“I don’t know.””
Another lie.
I knew it.
She knew it.
Everyone knew it.
The recording continued.
“Darius, if Simone tries to stop you from hearing this, ask her about the hospital room.””
The words made Simone freeze.
My heart raced.
“The hospital room?””
My wife continued.
“That is where I learned the truth.””
The speakers suddenly cut again.
This time, completely.
The laptop went black.
Dr. Brooks checked the connection.
“The file stopped at the same place.””
Terrence looked furious.
“Someone edited it.””
Dr. Brooks shook her head.
“No.””
She looked at the flash drive.
“Someone didn’t edit it.””
She turned it over.
“They created a second lock.””
I stared at the device.
“A lock?””
“Yes.””
She pointed to a tiny symbol etched into the metal.
“A password.””
Everyone looked at me.
“Can you open it?”” I asked.
Dr. Brooks nodded slowly.
“Probably.””
“Then do it.””
She hesitated.
“There’s one problem.””
“What?””
She looked at Ava.
“The password was created by your wife.””
My daughter’s face changed.
May you like
Because somehow…
she already knew.
