Chapter 2
I did not try to stand.
That was the hardest thing I had ever done.
My body wanted movement.
My mind wanted survival.
But survival was not always running.
Sometimes it was lying still long enough for liars to finish talking.
I reached one shaking hand toward the trophy.
My fingers brushed the cold base.
The transmitter light blinked again.
Marcus had told me what that meant.
Live packet sent.
Audio uploaded.
Emergency contact triggered.
If the device detected violent impact, it transmitted the last five minutes of audio and continued recording until disabled.
It sent everything to Marcus.
To my attorney, Priya Shah.
And to a secure company archive Daniel could not touch.
My breathing hitched.
Daniel had used my thumb to unlock my phone.
He had my phone now.
But he did not have my mind.
Not yet.
I heard voices down the hallway.
Vanessa crying on command.
“No, no, Daniel, she came at me.”
Daniel corrected her.
“Less dramatic. Say you were afraid. Say you didn’t know she was that drunk.”
“She barely drinks.”
“Then say she mixed pills.”
“She doesn’t take pills.”
“She does tonight.”
A cabinet opened.
Glass clinked.
My stomach twisted.
They were planting evidence.
I forced myself to breathe slowly.
In.
Out.
The way I learned in the hospital after my daughter died.
Her name was Lily.
She had been five.
A fever became pneumonia.
Pneumonia became machines.
Machines became silence.
Daniel cried at the funeral.
Vanessa slept on my couch for two weeks.
Now I wondered if either tear had been real.
The front door opened.
Daniel’s voice changed instantly.
“Help! She’s in here!”
Paramedics rushed into the room.
I closed my eyes again.
Hands touched my shoulder.
A woman’s voice.
“She’s breathing. Head injury. Pulse rapid.”
Daniel choked out a sob.
“She fell. I tried to catch her.”
Vanessa cried behind him.
“She attacked me. I was so scared.”
I wanted to spit blood in her face.
Instead, I let my eyelids flutter.
Not fully open.
Just enough.
The paramedic leaned close.
“Ma’am? Can you hear me?”
I moved my lips.
“Recording.”
Her eyes sharpened.
“What?”
I barely whispered.
“Trophy.”
Then darkness pulled at me.
At the hospital, I woke to bright lights and Marcus Hale standing at the foot of my bed.
His jaw was locked.
Priya sat beside me.
Her hand closed over mine.
“Don’t try to speak yet,” she said.
I tried anyway.
“Daniel?”
Marcus stepped closer.
“In the waiting room. Playing devoted husband.”
“Vanessa?”
“With him. Playing victim.”
My throat burned.
“The file?”
Marcus’s eyes went cold.
“We got everything.”
Tears filled my eyes.
Not weak tears.
Relief.
Priya leaned in.
“Listen carefully. Daniel has already called his attorney. They are preparing an emergency incapacity petition.”
I tried to sit up.
Pain ripped through my head.
Priya held me down gently.
“No. Let them file.”
I stared at her.
She nodded.
“Yes. Let them walk into court with their lie.”
Marcus took out his phone.
“The board has been notified. Accounts frozen. Tokens revoked. Offshore transfer pathways blocked.”
I closed my eyes.
My company was safe.
For now.
Priya’s voice lowered.
“There’s something else.”
I opened my eyes.
“The attempted login from Daniel’s laptop was not the first.”
My heart sank.
“How many?”
Marcus answered.
“Fourteen.”
I turned my head toward him.
His face was grim.
“And Vanessa’s name appears in the metadata of one of the forged authorization packets.”
My chest tightened.
“She was inside my company.”
“Yes,” Marcus said. “Or someone gave her access.”
Priya opened a folder.
“We also found a draft beneficiary change for your life insurance policy.”
The room blurred.
Daniel.
Vanessa.
My money.
My company.
My life.
All of it had been scheduled.
Priya squeezed my hand.
“You are not alone in this room anymore.”
A knock sounded.
Daniel’s voice came through the door.
“Brianna? Baby? Can I come in?”
I looked at Marcus.
May you like
He smiled without warmth.
“Let him.”
