Chapter 2 – The Envelope That Shouldn't Exist
Daniel barely slept.
After Rebecca left, he checked every lock in the house twice before sitting alone in his office. The family photos on his desk suddenly felt like evidence from another lifetime. Isabella smiled in every picture, her warmth untouched by the lies that had invaded their home.
His phone buzzed.
An email.
Unknown Sender.
Attached was a single scanned document.
Property Transfer Agreement.
His eyes narrowed.
The document claimed that, six months before Isabella died, Daniel had agreed to transfer ownership of the family estate into a trust controlled jointly by Rebecca and Isabella "for future family management."
His signature appeared at the bottom.
Daniel's stomach tightened.
It looked real.
Too real.
But he had never signed it.
Someone had copied his signature perfectly.
Upstairs, Mateo couldn't sleep either.
Sofia had finally drifted off after crying herself to exhaustion.
He quietly tucked the blanket around her.
"You don't have to be scared anymore," he whispered.
Although he wasn't sure he believed it himself.
As he turned off the bedroom light, something caught his attention.
A small blinking light outside the window.
A camera.
It was pointed directly toward their room.
Mateo's pulse raced.
He pulled the curtains shut immediately.
Someone had been watching them.
The next morning, Daniel called Detective Laura Bennett, the investigator who had handled Isabella's fatal car accident two years earlier.
She arrived before noon.
After listening carefully, she studied the forged property agreement.
"I've seen documents like this before," Laura said.
"Professional forgeries."
Daniel frowned.
"You think Rebecca hired someone?"
"I think someone with experience helped her."
Laura slid the document into an evidence folder.
"I'll have our forensic team examine the ink, paper, and digital metadata."
Daniel nodded.
"I want everything uncovered."
"Even if it hurts."
Laura looked him straight in the eye.
"The truth usually does."
Outside the house, an unmarked black SUV remained parked across the street.
Inside, Rebecca lowered her binoculars.
She watched Daniel speaking with the detective.
Her smile faded.
"So..."
"You called the police."
She reached for the second phone again.
A message appeared from an unknown contact.
Everything is ready.
Phase Two begins tonight.
Rebecca replied with only three words.
Leave no witnesses.
That afternoon, Daniel hired a cybersecurity specialist to inspect every computer in the house.
Within an hour, the expert looked up from Daniel's desktop.
"You've been hacked."
Daniel froze.
"What?"
"There was remote access three nights ago."
"Someone copied files..."
"...deleted logs..."
"...and installed spyware."
"Can you tell who?"
The technician hesitated.
"The traces were cleaned professionally."
"But..."
He enlarged a security log.
"The remote session started..."
"...from inside your own Wi-Fi network."
Daniel's blood ran cold.
Rebecca hadn't simply lied.
She had planned everything while living under his roof.
That evening, Mateo stepped into the backyard to clear his mind.
The garden felt unusually quiet.
Too quiet.
As he bent down to pick up Sofia's forgotten toy rabbit, he noticed something hidden beneath the hedge.
A brown envelope.
No stamp.
No address.
Only one sentence written in black marker.
FOR MATEO ONLY.
His hands began to shake.
He slowly opened it.
Inside...
was an old photograph.
One he had never seen before.
It showed Isabella.
Rebecca.
And a third man whose face had been deliberately scratched away.
Tucked behind the photo was a handwritten note.
"Your mother didn't die by accident. Ask about Black Ridge Road."
Mateo stared at the words.
Behind him...
May you like
a branch snapped.
Someone was standing just beyond the trees.
