A large photograph stood beside the chapel entrance.
It showed me laughing in the garden on my wedding day.
Beneath it, a ribbon read:
FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS
I stared at my own face.
The woman in that photograph had believed she was beginning the happiest chapter of her life.
She had no idea what waited for her.
I touched my stomach.
Lily moved.
Then I opened the car door.
“Let’s go.”
We didn’t enter immediately.
From a side passage, I could hear the service beginning inside the chapel.
The organ played softly.
People murmured.
A door opened, and the scent of lilies and roses drifted into the hallway.
I stood with Nora and Detective Ortiz, listening.
Then I heard Daniel’s voice.
It came through a speaker near the entrance.
“My wife was the kindest woman I’ve ever known.”
My whole body went cold.
He paused.
I knew that pause.
Daniel used it when he wanted people to pay attention.
“She was gentle,” he continued.
“She was beautiful.
And she trusted me with everything.”
My fingers tightened around the edge of my mother’s scarf.
“Not everything,” I whispered.
Inside the chapel, someone began crying.
Daniel’s voice trembled.
“I keep replaying that afternoon.
I keep asking myself what I could have done differently.”
I closed my eyes.
He could have chosen not to push me.
That would have been a beginning.
“I tried to reach her,” he said.
“But it happened so fast.”
Nora made a strangled sound beside me.
Detective Ortiz placed a steadying hand on my uninjured arm.
Daniel continued.
“Before we lost her, Claire and I talked often about our future.
About the life we wanted for our daughter.”
My stomach tightened.
He was talking about Lily.
Our daughter.
The child he’d tried to drown.
I took a slow breath.
He said, “I made her a promise.
I told her that no matter what happened, I would take care of everything.”
I opened my eyes.
There it was.
The same language.
The same idea.
The same disgusting attempt to turn his greed into devotion.
Then he added, “And even though she’s gone, I intend to keep that promise.”
Applause began softly inside the chapel.
People were applauding him.
The man who had thrown me into a raging river was standing at my funeral, being praised for his loyalty.
I looked at Detective Ortiz.
She said quietly, “You can still leave.”
I shook my head.
My fear hadn’t disappeared.
My heart was beating so fast that I could feel it in my throat.
But beneath the fear was something stronger.
I wasn’t going to let Daniel finish telling my story.
Not this time.
I walked toward the chapel doors.
Placed my hand on the handle.
And pushed.
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