"Now tell what it is."
The words were calm, but the firmness in Anna’s voice made the atmosphere in the room suddenly heavy.
Daniel looked at his wife in disbelief.
For a brief mont, he considered brushing it off. He could simply tell her it was a careless driver or so unfortunate accident. It would save her from worrying.
But Anna continued to stare at him.
Her gaze was steady, unwavering, almost as if she had already figured out the truth and was simply waiting for him to confirm it.
Daniel slowly exhaled.
There was no point pretending.
"I believe the accident was done intentionally," he finally said.
The mont the words left his mouth, Anna’s expression hardened.
Her fingers tightened slightly around his hand.
On her way to the hospital, Anna had already thought about it countless tis. The fear had been overwhelming, but beneath that fear was another feeling—sothing that kept whispering that this wasn’t simply an accident.
Daniel wasn’t soone who drove recklessly.
He was cautious, disciplined, and always aware of his surroundings. The chances of him crashing due to carelessness were almost nonexistent.
That was why, when Henry had told her about the accident, her mind had imdiately begun questioning everything.
And now Daniel’s words confird her doubts.
"So soone tried to hit your car intentionally," Anna said quietly.
Daniel nodded.
"The vehicle ca out of a side street at full speed," he explained. "The driver didn’t even slow down. It was aid straight at my car."
Anna’s jaw tightened.
"Did you see who it was?"
"No," Daniel replied. "Everything happened too fast. The headlights were blinding, and the impact ca before I could react."
He paused for a mont before adding,
"But the way the car approached... it didn’t feel random."
Anna remained silent, processing his words.
Her mind imdiately began running through possibilities.
Business rivals.
Enemies.
People who had sothing to gain from harming Daniel.
The thought alone made her stomach twist.
"Did the police co?" she asked.
"They were inford," Daniel said. "Henry is handling the report."
Anna nodded slowly, though the tension in her face hadn’t faded.
For a few seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Anna suddenly looked back at him, her eyes scanning his face as if making sure he was truly fine.
"You should have told imdiately," she said softly.
Daniel gave a faint smile. "And scare you even more?"
Anna didn’t smile back.
"I was already scared."
Her voice trembled slightly, and that was when Daniel realized just how shaken she had been.
He gently squeezed her hand.
"I’m fine, Anna."
She looked down at his bandaged arm.
"That doesn’t look fine."
Daniel chuckled lightly.
"It’s just a sprain. I’ve had worse injuries playing college basketball."
But Anna’s expression remained serious.
"Daniel," she said quietly, ready to scold him but stopped when another thoughts crossed her mind.
"You think it’s because you reopened the case?"
Anna’s question lingered in the quiet room.
Daniel looked at her for a long mont, carefully studying her face. There was doubt in her eyes, but also a deep sense of concern. She wasn’t just asking out of curiosity—she was trying to understand what kind of danger they might be facing.
And truthfully, the sa thought had already crossed his mind.
Daniel leaned slightly back against the bed, his gaze drifting toward the floor for a brief second as he considered the possibilities.
Reopening the case had already stirred things up more than he had expected.
But there were still too many unanswered questions.
"Maybe," he finally replied.
The uncertainty in his voice made Anna frown slightly.
Daniel exhaled slowly.
The truth was, several things about the situation didn’t quite add up.
Neither Hugo nor Roseline had known who he really was in the beginning. When they had first crossed paths, Daniel had been nothing more than another stranger to them.
But that had changed.
Sohow, sowhere along the way, they had found out.
And that part bothered him.
Because Daniel was extrely careful about his identity. Very few people knew the full extent of who he was or the influence he carried behind the scenes.
So how had they learned?
His mind drifted toward one particular possibility.
Norma.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He still wasn’t certain how much Norma had revealed to Collin. Had she told him everything about then? Or if she hadn’t told him... then how had she managed to approach him with such confidence?
The more Daniel thought about it, the more complicated the situation seed.
Too many moving pieces.
Too many hidden intentions.
And now this accident.
Several possibilities swirled through Daniel’s mind like a tangled web. Each theory raised more questions than answers.
But right now, this wasn’t the place to dive into all of it.
Anna had already been shaken enough tonight.
Daniel looked back at her and gently squeezed her hand.
"Let’s not jump to conclusions yet," he said calmly. "We’ll figure it out."
Anna searched his face for a mont, as if trying to read what he wasn’t saying aloud.
She knew Daniel well enough to understand that he was still thinking about sothing.
But she also knew when he had decided to hold back.
"Alright," she said quietly.
Daniel gave her a small reassuring smile.
"We’ll talk about it when we get ho."
Anna nodded, though the uneasiness in her chest hadn’t completely disappeared.
Whoever had caused the accident had failed tonight.
But if it had truly been intentional, then one thing was certain—
This was far from over.
***
By the ti Anna and Daniel returned ho, the mansion had already fallen into a quiet stillness. The long driveway lights illuminated their path as the car slowly ca to a stop in front of the entrance.
Henry had called earlier with another update.
The investigation at the accident site had confird their suspicions.
The accident had not been random.
The driver who crashed into Daniel’s car had fled the scene, abandoning the vehicle behind. The authorities had already begun tracing the car, but for now, the person responsible had vanished.
Daniel stepped inside the house and removed his coat casually, as if the entire ordeal had been nothing more than an inconvenient delay in his evening.
Anna, however, walked in behind him with a completely different mood.
She had barely spoken since they left the hospital.
Daniel noticed it imdiately.
"You don’t have to stress so much, wifey," he said lightly as he walked toward the living room. "Nothing happened to ."
But the mont Anna looked at him standing there with that careless smile on his face, sothing inside her snapped.
Her expression hardened.
"Nothing happened to you, Daniel," she said sharply. "But what if it had?"
Daniel blinked, slightly taken aback by the sudden anger in her voice.
"Would you still be standing here smiling like this?" she continued.
The frustration she had been holding in since the hospital finally surfaced.
Anna’s chest rose and fell as she tried to steady her breathing.
"You’re acting as if this is nothing," she said, her voice trembling now. "As if your life is sothing that can just be brushed aside."
Daniel’s smile slowly faded.
"You have no idea what I went through during that ti," Anna continued, her voice breaking slightly. "When Henry called and told you had been in an accident..."
She paused, swallowing hard as the mories rushed back.
"I thought I lost you."
Daniel’s heart tightened.
Anna looked down, her fingers clenching slightly.
"For a mont I thought... everything was gone."
Her voice wavered as emotions overwheld her. The fear she had been carrying all night finally spilled out, and tears slowly filled her eyes.
Daniel stood completely still.
The playful expression that had been on his face vanished instantly.
He hadn’t realized how deeply the incident had affected her.
In his mind, he had only seen it as a minor injury and an inconvenience.
But for Anna, those monts of uncertainty had felt like the world collapsing.
"I’m sorry," Daniel said quietly.
He moved closer and gently took her hand.
His touch was careful, almost hesitant.
"I didn’t an to hurt you," he added softly.
Guiding her toward the couch, he made her sit down beside him.
Anna wiped her tears quickly, but Daniel could still see the fear lingering in her eyes.
For the first ti that night, he truly understood what she had felt.
Daniel had been enjoying the attention at the hospital—her worry, her care, the way she had refused to leave his side.
He had even teased Henry about it.
But he hadn’t realized that beneath all of that was a fear so deep that it had shaken her completely.
"I shouldn’t have taken it so lightly," he admitted.
Anna didn’t say anything, but she didn’t pull her hand away either.
Daniel gently lifted her hand and held it between both of his.
"Look at ," he said softly.
Anna hesitated before finally raising her eyes.
"I promise you sothing," Daniel continued. "I’m not going anywhere."
Her lips trembled slightly.
"You can’t promise that," she whispered.
"No," Daniel agreed quietly. "But I can promise that I’ll be more careful."
He reached forward and brushed away the tears from her cheek with his thumb.
"You’re stuck with for a very long ti, Mrs. Clafford."
A faint, reluctant smile finally appeared on Anna’s face.
Daniel pulled her gently into his arms.
This ti the hug was slower, calr.
Anna rested her head against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.
The fear that had been clinging to her all night slowly began to loosen.
Daniel wrapped his arm around her protectively, holding her close.
For the first ti since the accident, the house finally felt peaceful again.
And in that quiet mont, both of them silently realized one thing—
Life was fragile and neither of them ever wanted to imagine a world without the other in it.
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