Chapter 10: The Man Who Watched His Own Funeral
I stared at the photograph until my eyes burned.
The image was grainy.
Taken from a distance.
But there was no mistaking him.
Damien.
Standing outside the funeral chapel.
Alive.
My fingers went cold around my phone.
The car continued moving, but I barely noticed.
The city outside the window became a blur of gray buildings and passing headlights.
Everything inside me was screaming the same question.
How?
How could the man whose body was lying inside a coffin be standing outside watching me leave?
“Elena?””
Cole’s voice pulled me back.
I looked at him.
“What?””
“You need to show me.””
I handed him the phone.
His face changed the second he saw the image.
Marcus leaned forward from the passenger seat.
“What is it?””
Cole didn’t answer.
That scared me.
“Cole.””
He looked at me.
“This photo was taken moments ago.””
“I know.””
“No.””
His voice lowered.
“You don’t understand.””
He zoomed in.
The image shook slightly as his fingers moved across the screen.
“Look at the background.””
I stared.
The chapel entrance.
The white flowers near the doorway.
The black car parked beside the building.
Everything was exactly as it had been minutes earlier.
Then I noticed something.
A reflection.
In the glass doors behind Damien.
Someone else was standing near him.
My heart tightened.
“Who is that?””
Cole looked closer.
“I don’t know.””
Marcus leaned toward the phone.
“Wait.””
Everyone turned.
Marcus pointed.
“The jacket.””
I frowned.
“What about it?””
“That’s not Damien’s.””
The silence inside the car became unbearable.
I looked again.
Damien was wearing a dark jacket.
The same kind he always wore.
But the person in the reflection…
was wearing something different.
A lighter coat.
Standing closer.
Watching him.
“Someone was with him,” I whispered.
Cole nodded.
“Yes.””
“Then why didn’t they show themselves?””
Nobody answered.
Because we all knew.
Whoever was behind this wanted me to see Damien.
But not the person beside him.
The car stopped.
We had arrived.
I looked outside.
An old warehouse stood at the end of an empty street.
No lights.
No signs.
Nothing welcoming.
My instincts told me to leave.
But my entire life had become a collection of moments where I ignored my instincts.
I opened the door.
Cole stopped me.
“Elena.””
I looked back.
“What?””
“Whatever happens inside…”
He paused.
“Don’t believe everything you hear.””
I stared.
“That advice would have been more useful three weeks ago.””
He looked away.
I stepped out.
The warehouse door was already open.
Waiting.
Inside, the air smelled like dust and old wood.
The only light came from a single hanging bulb.
My footsteps echoed.
Then I heard it.
A voice.
“Elena.””
I froze.
Because I knew that voice.
My body reacted before my mind could.
“Damien?””
The figure stepped forward.
Slowly.
Carefully.
The light touched his face.
And there he was.
My husband.
Alive.
My knees nearly gave out.
For a moment, I forgot every lie.
Every secret.
Every betrayal.
I only saw the man I thought I lost.
Then anger replaced the shock.
“You let me bury you.””
Damien’s face broke.
“Elena…”
“No.””
I stepped back.
“You watched me cry over you.””
“I had no choice.””
“You always had a choice.””
My voice shook.
“You had a choice when you married her.””
Damien looked down.
The pain on his face almost made me forget everything.
Almost.
“You don’t understand.””
“Then explain.””
Silence.
“Explain why there was another woman. Explain why everyone knew something except me. Explain why I stood next to your coffin while you were alive.””
Damien took a step closer.
“I was trying to protect you.””
I laughed.
“Everyone says that.””
He stopped.
Because he knew exactly what I meant.
“Cole told me the same thing.””
Damien’s expression changed.
“Cole is here?””
I stared.
“You’re afraid of him.””
A pause.
Tiny.
But real.
“Why?””
Damien looked toward the door.
Then back at me.
“Because Cole is the reason I disappeared.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
Damien stepped closer.
“I trusted the wrong person.””
I shook my head.
“No.””
“Listen to me.””
“No.””
I pointed at him.
“You don’t get to stand here and decide who the villain is.””
His face tightened.
“Then ask yourself one question.””
“What?””
“Why was Cole the only person who knew my death was fake?””
The warehouse went silent.
My mind raced.
Because it was true.
Cole knew.
Cole had protected secrets.
Cole had guided every discovery.
But was he protecting me?
Or controlling me?
Damien reached into his pocket.
My body tensed.
He pulled out a small envelope.
“This is why I needed you to come.””
I stared.
“What is it?””
“Proof.””
“Proof of what?””
His eyes met mine.
“That the person who destroyed my life has been standing beside you since before I disappeared.””
I reached for the envelope.
But before my fingers touched it…
the warehouse lights suddenly turned on.
All at once.
Damien looked past me.
His face went pale.
“No.””
I turned.
And my heart dropped.
May you like
Because standing in the doorway…
was Attorney Cole.
