Chapter 3: The Secret Inside The Coffin Room
The sound of the doors opening made all three of us turn.
But nobody walked in.
Just a gust of cold air moving through the chapel.
For a moment, I thought I was imagining things.
Maybe grief had finally pushed me too far.
Maybe my mind was creating another nightmare because the truth was already unbearable.
Then Cole moved toward the entrance.
He looked outside.
Empty hallway.
No one.
He slowly closed the door.
“That’s strange,” he said.
I looked at him.
“What is?””
He hesitated.
“Nothing.””
I almost laughed.
Everyone kept saying that.
Nothing.
Everything was always nothing until suddenly my whole life collapsed.
I walked back toward Damien’s coffin.
My shoes clicked against the marble floor.
Each step felt heavier.
Mara watched me.
“I’m sorry.””
I stopped.
I didn’t turn around.
“Are you?””
“Yes.””
“Then tell me something.””
She waited.
“Did you love him?””
The question surprised even me.
Mara looked down.
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt.
If she had lied, I could have hated her easier.
But she didn’t.
She looked like someone grieving too.
Someone who had lost the same man.
Just not in the same way.
“I loved him,” she whispered.
“And I believed everything he told me.””
I finally turned around.
“So did I.””
Our eyes met.
For a strange second, we weren’t enemies.
We were two women standing in the wreckage of the same lie.
Then Cole’s phone rang.
The sound cut through the chapel.
He looked at the screen.
His face changed.
“Who is it?”” I asked.
He didn’t answer.
“Cole?””
He silenced the call.
“That was a wrong number.””
I stared at him.
“No, it wasn’t.””
His jaw tightened.
“You don’t know that.””
“I know you’re lying.””
The accusation surprised him.
But he didn’t deny it.
Mara looked between us.
“You know something.””
Cole rubbed his forehead.
“I know Damien was hiding things.””
“How many?”” I asked.
He looked at the coffin.
“That depends on what you mean.””
“Don’t do that.””
My voice was shaking now.
“Stop protecting him.””
Cole was quiet.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
“I’m not protecting Damien.””
I stared at him.
“Then who are you protecting?””
Before he could answer, Mara suddenly stepped closer to the coffin.
“Elena.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
She pointed toward Damien.
“When was the last time you saw him alive?””
The question felt cruel.
But something about her face stopped me from getting angry.
“Three weeks ago.””
“Are you sure?””
I frowned.
“What kind of question is that?””
Mara swallowed.
“Because Damien told me he was going somewhere three weeks ago.””
My heart started pounding.
“Where?””
She looked away.
“I don’t know.””
“Then why say it?””
“Because he was scared.””
The chapel went silent.
Cole slowly looked at Mara.
“What did he tell you?””
Mara’s hands trembled.
“He said if anything happened to him, I needed to find the woman named Elena.””
My breath caught.
“What?””
Mara looked directly at me.
“He said you were the only person who could uncover what happened.””
I felt the room spin.
Damien knew.
He knew something would happen.
He knew I would find out.
And somehow, before he died, he left a message that led me to the woman I was supposed to hate.
I looked at the coffin.
“Why would he do that?””
Nobody answered.
Then Cole walked closer.
His face was pale.
“Elena…”
“What?””
He stared at the marriage certificate.
Then he looked at Damien.
“There’s something wrong.””
My stomach tightened.
“What?””
Cole’s fingers moved over the paper.
“The date proves Damien was alive after his reported death.””
He paused.
Then he whispered:
“But that means the death certificate was wrong.””
I stopped breathing.
Mara looked terrified.
Cole continued.
“And if the death certificate was wrong…”
He looked toward Damien’s coffin.
“…then someone wanted everyone to believe Damien was dead.””
The lights above us flickered.
Only once.
But enough.
I stared at the man I had buried in my heart.
The man lying inches away.
The man who had two wives.
Two lives.
And a secret nobody wanted me to uncover.
Then Mara looked at me and said the words that changed everything.
“Elena… Damien wasn’t the one who disappeared.””
I froze.
“Then who was?””
Mara opened her mouth.
But before she could answer, the chapel doors opened again.
May you like
And this time…
someone was standing there.
