"So you an to say your mother is looking for soone... and you suspect that person is dangerous?" Daniel asked, brow raised in amused disbelief—almost as if he had been expecting exactly that.
Anna bobbed her head up and down like a guilty child as she finally disclosed everything. Her conversation with Mariam. Her mother visiting the old neighborhood. Shawn research and the hidden tension Roseline had been carrying.
"And who might that person be?" Daniel asked, leaning back.
Anna shrugged dramatically. "How would I know?"
"..."
Daniel stared at his wife, utterly dumbfounded.
This woman.
This woman who had been weaving conspiracies in her head like a detective—
didn’t even know the suspect?
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
No wonder she was so desperate to pull Shawn to our side...
Daniel thought, side-eyeing her.
Shawn was brilliant—sharp-eyed, analytical—but he lacked resources. And Anna had clearly realized bringing him into Daniel’s company ant access to far more information.
’Impressive, wifey,’ he mused internally, both amused and irritated.
Anna, oblivious to his internal comntary, continued, "But now that I think about it... maybe Kira was working for him. Maybe she even knew sothing about him."
"’Him?’" Daniel asked. "You’re sure it’s a man?"
Anna nodded confidently. "Hmp."
Daniel’s lips twitched.
Anna could be sharp... and utterly silly in the sa breath. Yet, her instincts? Always on point.
And what she was saying that Kira might have been working under soone, soone who used her and then disposed of her—matched perfectly with the puzzle forming in Daniel’s mind.
A na slipped into his thoughts again. Collin Fort.
It hit him like a needle piercing straight through his chest.
A man with a suspicious history.
Daniel’s jaw tightened slightly.
If Roseline was looking for soone. If Kira had been working for soone. If soone wanted to silence both won...then all their trails were turning toward the sa shadow.
Collin Fort.
And Daniel wasn’t going to ignore it anymore.
"Are you sure your family has no secret enemies? Anyone who might hold a grudge?" Daniel asked, trying to coax a lead out of her. But instead of an answer, Anna looked at him with conflicted eyes—eyes that revealed far more than her words ever could.
How was she supposed to say it, that Kathrine, her own sister had once called him their enemy. That Daniel’s na had been whispered with fear and caution.
But her heart refused to believe it. Daniel might hide things... he might be ruthless and unreadable at tis... but accusing him felt wrong.
Cruel, even. So she pushed the thought away and shook her head.
"No... I don’t rember anything," she lied softly.
Daniel watched her for a mont, hoping for a hint, a clue—anything. But when she offered nothing more, he leaned back in his seat, exhaling through his nose.
He didn’t push her. He understood sothing she didn’t say out loud.
When Collin Fort was detained... when the old Bennett case exploded... Anna had been just a child—a fragile little girl who could barely grasp the reality around her.
Of course she didn’t rember the enemies her family had made. Of course she couldn’t put the pieces together yet.
Daniel looked ahead, jaw tightening subtly. He didn’t bla her. But now that he was connecting the dots, now that the sa na—Collin Fort—kept creeping into the shadows of their conversations...
He knew one thing for sure: The Bennett family had more enemies than Anna realized. And this ti, those enemies were resurfacing—one dead girl at a ti.
***
Daniel drove Anna halfway before Kevin and Betty intercepted them along the route. Anna switched cars, while Daniel continued toward the company, giving her one last lingering look of concern before pulling away.
The atmosphere inside Kevin’s car was normal—until Anna finally gathered the strength to speak.
"Kira... she’s gone."
Betty twisted around in her seat, confusion crossing her face. "Gone? What do you a—"
"She committed suicide," Anna whispered.
Betty gasped so loudly the sound ricocheted around the car, startling both Anna and Kevin.
"What do you an she committed suicide?!" Betty exclaid, her face draining of all color.
"That’s what it looks like," Anna said carefully. "The police found her... hanging from the ceiling of an abandoned warehouse."
But her voice shook. Even saying it aloud felt wrong. Because she didn’t believe it.
Kevin frowned deeply. Even though he had never t Kira personally, he had heard enough of her misdeeds to form an opinion.
"But why would she do that after running away?" Kevin asked, disbelief etched on his face. "If she was scared—or guilty—why not surrender? Killing herself in a warehouse makes no sense."
It didn’t make sense to Anna either. None of it did.
"She attacked your mom," Kevin continued bluntly. "Then fled. And now she decides to die? It’s... pathetic."
Anna flinched. Betty shot Kevin a warning glare.
" Sir Kevin! Be sensitive!"
"What? I’m just being practical," he muttered, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.
Anna inhaled shakily. "The police haven’t ruled anything out yet. In fact... they said they doubt it’s suicide."
Betty’s eyes widened again, voice trembling. "Does that an... she was killed?"
The car fell completely silent.
Anna stared at her hands, fingers twisting anxiously. "Maybe. They found marks on her wrists and ankles... the kind that co from being tied up."
Betty covered her mouth with both hands, horrified while Kevin stiffened, shooting Anna a quick look in the rear-view mirror.
Anna’s voice dropped to a whisper.
"So yes... it might not have been suicide."
Betty’s breath hitched. "Oh God... then whoever did this to her—"
"—is still out there," Anna finished quietly.
The thought sent a cold shiver through all three of them.
And for the first ti since the call, Anna truly felt it:
Kira didn’t just die. She was silenced, erased and eliminated like a disposable pawn.
And the person responsible...hadn’t finished their ga yet.
Silence settled thickly in the car after that—heavy, suffocating, leaving all three of them lost in their own thoughts. No one dared break it. Not after the possibility that Kira hadn’t died by choice... but by soone else’s hands.
By the ti they reached the shooting set, Anna had barely pieced her emotions together and then the sight awaiting them made her freeze.
Dozens of reporters crowded near the entrance, microphones raised, caras flashing, security struggling to hold them back.
Betty’s eyes widened. "dia? What are they doing here?"
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