Chapter 3 — The Man in His Wife's Room
Chapter 3 — The Man in His Wife's Room
Richard stood beneath the cold fluorescent light of the garage, staring at Ethan as though he had finally realized there was nowhere left to run.
The mansion behind them was silent.
Too silent.
Ethan could still hear Sophie's frightened breathing upstairs.
He could still see Emily's photograph in his mind.
And he could still hear the words Richard had spoken only minutes earlier.
The woman in the coffin wasn't Emily.
Ethan stepped closer.
“You said you saw my wife at Bradley Airport.”
Richard nodded.
“And you knew about the ticket.”
“Yes.”
“You knew someone wanted Sophie.”
“Yes.”
“And you had a relationship with Celeste.”
Richard closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
The admission hung between them.
Ethan's jaw tightened.
“How long?”
Richard looked down.
“Almost a year.”
Ethan's expression didn't change.
“A year.”
“It wasn't supposed to happen.”
“But it did.”
“Yes.”
“You slept with my wife's replacement while my daughter was living under the same roof.”
Richard flinched.
“I know what it looks like.”
“It looks exactly like what it is.”
“I loved her.”
Ethan gave a bitter laugh.
“No. You loved what she told you.”
Richard looked up.
“That isn't completely true.”
“Then explain.”
Richard hesitated.
“I didn't know she was using me.”
Ethan stared at him.
“Everyone says that.”
“I was.”
“You expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
Richard took a breath.
“But you're going to hear everything anyway.”
A year earlier, Richard had been a different man.
He had met Celeste at a private charity event in Boston.
She had been charming.
Elegant.
Vulnerable.
She had told him she was trapped in a loveless marriage.
She had told him Ethan had become distant after Emily's death.
She had told him Sophie was unhappy.
And most importantly—
she had told him Ethan planned to remove her from the house.
Richard had believed her.
“I thought she needed someone,” he said.
Ethan stared at him.
“She needed someone?”
“She said she was afraid of you.”
“I've never touched her.”
“I know that now.”
Richard's voice cracked.
“But at the time, everything she told me seemed believable.”
“Because she lied convincingly.”
“Yes.”
“Or because you wanted to believe her.”
Richard said nothing.
That silence was answer enough.
Their relationship had started secretly.
Celeste had told Richard that Ethan had stopped loving her.
That Emily's death had made him emotionally unavailable.
That the marriage was only a legal arrangement.
Richard had believed every word.
Then Celeste began asking questions.
About the Brooks trust.
About Sophie's inheritance.
About Emily's belongings.
About the mansion.
At first, Richard hadn't thought anything of it.
Then the questions became specific.
“Where does Ethan keep the original trust documents?”
“Who has access to the security system?”
“Does Sophie have dual citizenship?”
“Has Ethan ever mentioned taking Sophie overseas?”
Richard eventually became uncomfortable.
He confronted Celeste.
She cried.
She told him she was only trying to protect herself.
He apologized.
And that was when she knew she had him.
“You were her spy,” Ethan said.
Richard shook his head.
“I didn't know.”
“You gave her information.”
“Yes.”
“You gave her access to my house.”
“Yes.”
“You told her about the trust.”
“I didn't know why she wanted to know.”
“You told her about Sophie.”
“Yes.”
“You gave her everything.”
Richard looked away.
“I thought I was helping her.”
Ethan's voice became colder.
“You helped destroy my family.”
“I know.”
“No.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“You don't know.”
Richard looked at him.
“You didn't watch your daughter disappear.”
“You didn't spend eighteen months believing your wife was dead.”
“You didn't stand beside a coffin wondering whether you'd missed something.”
Richard swallowed.
“I know I can't understand that.”
“Then don't pretend you can.”
Ethan turned away.
He wanted to hit him.
He wanted to demand every answer immediately.
But something stopped him.
Richard was afraid.
Not of Ethan.
Of someone else.
“Who is controlling you?”
Richard froze.
“No one.”
“Wrong.”
“I told you, I was manipulated.”
“By Celeste?”
Richard shook his head.
“Not anymore.”
“Then who?”
Richard looked toward the dark road beyond the garage.
“The man who gave Celeste the instructions.”
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
“You know him.”
“I've met him.”
“Who is he?”
“I don't know his real name.”
“Then what do you call him?”
Richard hesitated.
“The Director.”
Ethan frowned.
“The Director?”
“He never gives anyone his real identity.”
“What does he want?”
Richard looked at him.
“Sophie.”
“Why?”
“Because of Emily.”
Ethan's heart pounded.
“What did Emily have?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why is everyone so obsessed with her?”
Richard whispered:
“Because Emily found the original trust.”
Ethan went still.
“What original trust?”
“The one that existed before your father changed it.”
Richard explained.
Years earlier, Ethan's father had established a private family trust.
It contained assets worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
But there was one unusual clause.
The trust couldn't be controlled by Ethan.
It couldn't be controlled by Celeste.
It couldn't even be controlled by Sophie while she was a minor.
It was designed to protect the family's wealth from manipulation.
And the person who held the final authority over it was—
Emily.
Ethan stared.
“Why didn't I know this?”
“Because your father never told you.”
“Emily knew?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“She found the documents.”
“When?”
“Months before she died.”
Ethan felt the room tilt.
“So her death…”
Richard nodded.
“Was connected to the trust.”
Ethan remembered Emily's final weeks.
The late-night phone calls.
The locked study.
The way she had begun looking over her shoulder.
The sudden arguments.
The day she had asked him:
“If something happened to me, would you believe what you see?”
At the time, Ethan had thought she was frightened because of her health.
Now every memory felt different.
He turned toward Richard.
“Why didn't Emily tell me?”
“She tried.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
“She called me.”
“When?”
“Two nights before she died.”
“What did she say?”
Richard's face became pale.
“She told me Celeste was dangerous.”
Ethan stared.
“And you still continued sleeping with her?”
Richard closed his eyes.
“I didn't believe her.”
Ethan's voice became almost inaudible.
“You didn't believe my wife.”
“No.”
“And she died two days later.”
Richard nodded.
“I've regretted it every day since.”
The garage door suddenly rattled.
Everyone froze.
Richard looked toward it.
Ethan reached for the nearest weapon.
A heavy metal flashlight.
The rattling stopped.
Then came three knocks.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Richard whispered:
“He found us.”
Ethan looked at him.
“Who?”
“The Director.”
The garage lights flickered.
Then went out.
A car engine roared outside.
Ethan moved toward the door.
Richard grabbed him.
“Don't.”
“Let go.”
“He wants you outside.”
“Why?”
“Because that's where he can control you.”
Ethan pulled free.
The garage door suddenly began opening.
Cold night air rushed inside.
A black SUV sat in the driveway.
Its headlights were off.
Nobody was inside.
Ethan stared.
On the windshield was a white envelope.
He walked toward it.
Richard shouted:
“Ethan!”
Ethan stopped.
A tiny red light blinked beneath the SUV.
Richard's face turned white.
“Get down!”
He tackled Ethan to the ground.
A deafening explosion tore through the driveway.
Glass shattered.
The garage door shook.
Smoke filled the air.
Ethan hit the concrete hard.
For several seconds he couldn't hear.
Then he heard Richard shouting.
“Ethan!”
Ethan pushed himself up.
“Where's Sophie?”
Richard looked horrified.
“The house.”
Ethan ran.
He raced through the mansion.
“Sophie!”
No answer.
He reached the staircase.
Celeste stood at the top.
She was holding Sophie.
The child was crying.
“Daddy!”
Ethan stopped.
“Put her down.”
Celeste's eyes were wild.
“I didn't do this.”
“Put her down.”
“They're coming.”
“Who?”
“I don't know!”
“You expect me to believe you?”
Celeste shook her head.
“You shouldn't.”
She suddenly looked at Sophie.
Then at Ethan.
“Because I lied to you.”
Ethan's heart sank.
“What now?”
Celeste slowly lowered Sophie to the floor.
“She wasn't the only child Emily was protecting.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
Celeste pointed toward the library.
“There is another room.”
“What room?”
“The room where Emily hid the other child.”
Ethan felt cold.
“Another child?”
Celeste nodded.
“A boy.”
“Whose boy?”
She whispered:
“Yours.”
Ethan couldn't move.
“My what?”
Celeste's voice trembled.
“Emily was pregnant when she died.”
The world stopped.
Ethan stared at her.
“That isn't possible.”
“She was.”
“No.”
“You didn't know because she never told you.”
“Stop.”
“She was going to tell you.”
“Stop!”
Sophie began crying again.
Ethan looked at his daughter.
Then at Celeste.
“What are you saying?”
Celeste's eyes filled with tears.
“Emily had another child.”
Richard appeared behind Ethan.
He looked devastated.
“Celeste…”
She turned toward him.
“You knew.”
Richard shook his head.
“I knew there was a baby.”
Ethan slowly looked at him.
“You knew?”
“I didn't know if it survived.”
Ethan's hands began shaking.
“Where is my son?”
Neither answered.
Then a sound came from the library.
A child's cry.
Ethan turned.
He ran.
The hidden bookshelf opened.
Behind it was another chamber.
Much deeper than the first.
A small crib stood beneath a dim lamp.
And inside—
a sleeping infant.
Ethan stopped at the doorway.
His entire body went numb.
A tiny boy.
Dark hair.
Emily's eyes.
A small silver bracelet around his wrist.
Ethan stepped forward.
“No…”
Richard stood behind him.
“He's been here.”
“How long?”
“Since before Emily died.”
Ethan looked back.
“Who has been taking care of him?”
Richard's face fell.
“Celeste.”
Ethan turned.
Celeste stood in the doorway.
Tears streamed down her face.
“I was trying to protect him.”
“You hid my son from me.”
“I was afraid.”
“You hid my own child.”
“Because they would have taken him.”
“Who?”
Celeste whispered:
“The Director.”
Ethan looked at the baby.
Then at Celeste.
Then at Richard.
Everything suddenly connected.
The ticket.
The trust.
Emily's death.
Sophie.
The hidden rooms.
The mysterious Director.
And the child Emily had supposedly never told him about.
Ethan carefully lifted his son from the crib.
The baby opened his eyes.
For one brief second, Ethan saw Emily.
His knees nearly gave way.
He pressed his lips against the child's forehead.
“I found you.”
Behind him, Celeste began sobbing.
Richard looked away.
Then Ethan noticed something on the baby's bracelet.
A tiny engraving.
Three words.
TRUST NO ONE.
Ethan turned the bracelet over.
On the inside was another inscription.
A date.
The date Emily had supposedly died.
And beneath it—
a name.
Not Ethan.
Not Celeste.
Not Richard.
A name Ethan had not heard in years.
His father's.
Ethan stared at it.
Richard whispered:
“What is it?”
Ethan looked up.
“My father.”
Richard's face changed.
“But your father is dead.”
“I know.”
Ethan looked at the sleeping child.
“Then why is his name on my son's bracelet?”
A phone began ringing somewhere in the hidden room.
Everyone froze.
Ethan found it beneath the crib.
It was an old phone.
The screen showed one incoming call.
DAD.
Ethan's blood turned cold.
The phone kept ringing.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Then Ethan answered.
For several seconds, there was only static.
Then a man's voice spoke.
A voice Ethan hadn't heard since childhood.
Calm.
Deep.
Unmistakable.
“Son.”
Ethan couldn't breathe.
The voice continued:
“You finally found the boy.”
The call ended.
Ethan stared at the phone.
Richard whispered:
“That wasn't possible.”
Ethan looked toward Celeste.
She was shaking.
“Who was that?”
Celeste whispered:
“Your father.”
Ethan looked down at his son.
Then toward the darkness beyond the hidden room.
His father had been dead for twelve years.
Emily had supposedly died eighteen months ago.
And yet both of them were somehow connected to the same secret.
A secret that had already swallowed his wife.
May you like
And now—
was coming for his children.
