Chapter 3: Ryan Had Been Investigating My Wife For Months
Chapter 3: Ryan Had Been Investigating My Wife For Months
Emily stood in the doorway, staring at me.
“If it was the person I think it was…”
She swallowed.
“…then we have a much bigger problem than Ryan.”
I kept my face expressionless.
“Who do you think sent it?”
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she looked at my desk.
Then at the drawer.
Then back at me.
“You opened it.”
“What?”
“The bottom drawer.”
I said nothing.
Her eyes narrowed.
“You opened it.”
“Why does that matter?”
She took a slow breath.
“Because there was something in there that wasn’t supposed to be found.”
My heart started pounding.
“What?”
Emily looked toward the hallway.
“Not here.”
I almost laughed.
“Where, then?”
She walked past me and closed the office door.
Then she locked it.
That was when I realized how serious this had become.
She turned toward me.
“Daniel, you need to listen to me.”
“I’ve been listening all morning.”
“No. You haven’t.”
She stepped closer.
“You’ve been trying to catch me.”
I didn’t respond.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Last night wasn’t what you think.”
I almost told her I’d heard everything.
Instead, I asked,
“Then what was it?”
She looked down.
“Ryan came here because I asked him to.”
“I know.”
Her head snapped up.
“What?”
“I know you asked him.”
She stared at me.
“Then you heard us.”
I nodded.
Her face collapsed.
“How much?”
“Enough.”
She covered her mouth.
I waited.
Finally, she whispered,
“You heard me say I didn’t kill him.”
“Yes.”
She closed her eyes.
“And you heard the rest?”
“Yes.”
She sank into the chair beside my desk.
For the first time since I’d known her, she looked completely lost.
“Who did you kill?” I asked.
She looked up.
“I didn’t kill anyone.”
“Then why did you say it?”
“Because Ryan kept accusing me.”
“He mentioned a watch.”
She stared at me.
“You heard that too.”
“Yes.”
Emily looked at the floor.
“The watch belonged to my brother.”
I froze.
“You have a brother?”
She nodded.
“Had.”
I sat down across from her.
“What happened?”
“He died seven years ago.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
I stared at her.
“Then why did Ryan think you killed him?”
“He didn’t.”
She rubbed her hands together.
“He thought I knew who caused the accident.”
That changed everything.
“Who caused it?”
Emily looked at me.
“I don’t know.”
“Then why hide it from me?”
“Because I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
She hesitated.
“Of what you’d do if you found out what my brother was involved in.”
I frowned.
“What was he involved in?”
She didn’t answer.
I stood.
“Emily.”
She finally looked at me.
“He worked for a private investigation company.”
I waited.
“He wasn’t just an investigator. He specialized in corporate fraud.”
My stomach tightened.
“Was he investigating someone?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“You.”
The room went silent.
I stared at her.
“Me?”
She nodded.
“Your company.”
I shook my head.
“My company didn’t even exist seven years ago.”
“Not that company.”
She looked at me.
“The company you worked for before we met.”
I couldn’t speak.
My previous employer had been a financial consulting firm in Cincinnati.
I’d left after two years.
As far as I knew, nothing unusual had happened there.
But suddenly I remembered something.
A report.
A missing report.
The same folder Emily had mentioned.
“Why was your brother investigating my old company?”
“Because money was disappearing.”
“How much?”
“Millions.”
I sat down again.
“And he found something?”
“Yes.”
“What?”
Emily looked terrified.
“He found evidence that someone inside the company had been creating fake accounts.”
I shook my head.
“That’s not possible.”
“It was.”
“Who?”
She stared at me.
“You.”
I felt as if she’d slapped me.
“What?”
“Your name was on some of the documents.”
“That doesn’t mean anything.”
“I know.”
She looked down.
“My brother knew that.”
“Then why investigate me?”
“Because someone was using your identity.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“He believed someone had created a financial identity using your personal information.”
I suddenly remembered the anonymous message.
Your wife isn’t the only one keeping secrets from you.
I looked at Emily.
“Did you know this before we got married?”
She didn’t answer.
That was enough.
“You did.”
“I found out later.”
“How much later?”
“Three months after our wedding.”
My chest tightened.
“And you never told me?”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
I stared at her.
“Seven years ago?”
She nodded.
“That’s when Ryan came into the picture.”
I finally understood why she had been so tense whenever Ryan’s name came up.
“He helped your brother?”
“Yes.”
“Then why does he hate you?”
“He doesn’t hate me.”
She paused.
“He thinks I betrayed him.”
“How?”
Emily’s eyes filled with tears.
“My brother gave Ryan a copy of the investigation.”
“Before he died?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“I destroyed it.”
My jaw tightened.
“You destroyed evidence?”
“I was scared.”
“Of what?”
She whispered,
“Because the report said you were innocent.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“Your identity had been stolen.”
“By who?”
She shook her head.
“We never found out.”
I stood and walked toward the window.
“So my name was used in a fraud scheme, your brother discovered it, then he died in a car accident, and you destroyed his report.”
“Yes.”
“And Ryan knows.”
“Yes.”
I turned around.
“Then why would he stay here last night?”
Emily didn’t answer.
“Emily.”
She looked at me.
“Because he thinks the person who stole your identity is back.”
My phone buzzed.
Another unknown number.
I pulled it out.
This time, there was no photograph.
Just a message.
ASK EMILY ABOUT THE SECOND ACCOUNT.
I looked at her.
“What second account?”
She went pale.
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
“No.”
She stood abruptly.
“I swear I don’t know.”
“Then why are you scared?”
She stared at the phone.
“Because only three people knew about that account.”
“Who?”
“My brother.”
“Ryan?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
She hesitated.
Then whispered,
“You.”
I frowned.
“I never knew about it.”
“You should have.”
“Why?”
“Because the account was opened using your name.”
I felt a chill run through me.
“Where?”
“Switzerland.”
I stared at her.
“How much money?”
She closed her eyes.
“Eight million dollars.”
I couldn’t breathe.
Eight million.
In my name.
An account I had never known existed.
Then my phone buzzed again.
Another message.
THE MONEY WAS MOVED LAST NIGHT.
I looked at the timestamp.
2:17 a.m.
Exactly when I had been standing outside the guest room.
I looked at Emily.
“Who moved it?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
I played the recording from last night.
The audio filled the room.
Ryan’s voice.
Emily’s voice.
Then the sound of a drawer opening.
I turned up the volume.
This time, I heard something neither of us had noticed.
A third voice.
Very faint.
A man whispering in the background.
“It’s done.”
Emily’s face went white.
I stopped the recording.
“Who was that?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
But I knew she was lying.
I could see it in her eyes.
I stepped closer.
“Emily.”
She started crying.
“I didn’t want you to know.”
“Know what?”
She wiped her face.
“The man who opened that Swiss account…”
She looked at me.
“…wasn’t a stranger.”
My heart pounded.
“Who was it?”
She whispered the name.
And I felt every piece of the last seven years suddenly fall into place.
“It was your father.”
