CHAPTER 2 — THE PERSON WHO HELPED MY WIFE
I watched the video again.
And again.
I wanted my eyes to be wrong.
But they weren’t.
The person standing beside Vanessa in my kitchen…
Was my younger brother.
Michael.
My own brother.
The man who hugged me at the airport before I left.
The man who promised:
“Don’t worry about Mom. I’ll check on her.”
I felt sick.
The video showed Vanessa walking into my mother’s room.
Michael followed.
They were talking.
Laughing.
Like my mother wasn’t even there.
I increased the volume.
Vanessa whispered:
“She won’t remember anything.”
Michael smiled.
“Daniel won’t believe an old woman over his wife.”
My hands clenched.
I kept watching.
Then I heard the sentence that broke something inside me.
Vanessa said:
“Once she signs the papers, everything will belong to us.”
I stopped breathing.
Papers?
What papers?
I rushed to my mother’s hospital room.
She looked smaller than I remembered.
Older.
Broken.
“Mom…”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I knew you would find out.”
I sat beside her.
“What papers?”
She looked afraid.
“Your wife wanted the house.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She said I was too old to live alone.”
My hands shook.
“She tried to make me sign documents giving her control over everything.”
My mother reached for my hand.
“When I refused…”
She looked away.
“She changed.”
I felt anger rising.
“What else?”
My mother whispered:
“She wasn’t alone.”
I already knew the answer.
“Michael?”
She nodded.
My own brother.
My own family.
Betrayed me.
Then Elena walked into the room.
She carried a small bag.
“I found something.”
She placed it on the bed.
A photo.
And my heart stopped.
Because the photo showed Vanessa…
Meeting someone else.
Someone she had been seeing.
Someone I never expected.
My mother looked at me.
“Daniel…”
Her voice trembled.
“There is more.”
I stared at the picture.
“More?”
She nodded.
“The blue sewing box.”
I stood.
“What is inside?”
My mother looked terrified.
“Proof.”
I grabbed my jacket.
“Then we’re going home.”
But when we arrived…
The blue sewing box was gone.
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And Vanessa was waiting inside.
Smiling.
