CHAPTER 6 — THE SECRET FROM EMILY'S PAST
CHAPTER 6 — THE SECRET FROM EMILY'S PAST
Sunlight crept through the broken cabin windows.
Emily hadn't slept.
She kept staring at the flash drive.
Her name.
Written in Dominic's handwriting.
It made no sense.
When Dominic finally woke, she held it in front of him.
"You knew me before yesterday."
His face remained unreadable.
"I knew of you."
"How?"
"You were never supposed to find out."
"Tell me."
He looked toward Aurora before answering.
"Five years ago, your husband worked for one of my companies."
Emily felt her stomach tighten.
"No."
"He wasn't part of my organization."
"He was an accountant."
"He discovered something."
Her heartbeat accelerated.
"What?"
Dominic closed his eyes.
"He uncovered a financial network used by every major crime family in the country."
Emily's voice shook.
"He never told me."
"He intended to."
Dominic looked directly into her eyes.
"He died the day before he could."
Emily stepped backward.
"The car accident..."
"It wasn't an accident."
The room fell silent.
"No..."
"They cut his brakes."
Emily could barely breathe.
"No..."
"They murdered him."
Everything she'd believed for three years shattered.
Her husband hadn't died because of bad luck.
He had been executed.
Tears streamed down her face.
"You knew?"
Dominic nodded.
"I tried to protect him."
"You failed."
"Yes."
Emily slapped him across the face.
The crack echoed through the cabin.
None of the guards moved.
"You let my children grow up without a father!"
Dominic accepted the blow.
"I deserve that."
"You deserve worse."
She turned away, shaking uncontrollably.
Then Dominic spoke again.
"There is something else."
Emily laughed bitterly.
"What could possibly be worse?"
He looked toward Aurora.
"The night your twins died..."
Emily stopped breathing.
"No..."
"They weren't the targets."
Her knees weakened.
"They wanted you."
Silence.
"The hospital mixed up the rooms after an emergency."
Emily slowly turned back.
"What are you saying?"
"The killers entered the wrong nursery."
Emily's legs gave out.
She collapsed onto the floor.
Every painful memory came flooding back.
The doctors.
The apologies.
The unexplained power outage.
The missing security footage.
It hadn't been fate.
It had been murder.
And she...
Had never been the intended victim.
Before anyone could speak again, Mason burst through the door.
His face had turned ghost white.
"They found us."
"How many?"
"At least thirty."
He looked toward the tree line.
"And..."
He swallowed hard.
"They brought someone with them."
Emily looked outside.
A black SUV rolled to a stop.
The rear door opened.
A woman stepped out in elegant white clothing.
She wasn't carrying a weapon.
She was carrying a little boy.
About four years old.
The woman smiled toward the cabin and spoke through a loudspeaker.
"Emily Carter!"
Emily frowned.
"I know who killed your husband."
She paused just long enough for everyone to hear the next words.
"And the boy standing beside me..."
She pushed the child gently forward.
"...isn't mine."
May you like
She smiled coldly.
"He's yours."
