Chapter 5 – The Woman I Thought Was My Enemy
The funeral lasted less than thirty minutes.
There were no television cameras.
No flowers from the hospital.
No heartfelt speeches from former coworkers.
Only a closed casket, a handful of relatives, and a quiet cemetery on the edge of Chicago.
The official report stated that Emily Dawson, the young nurse who had anonymously warned Shelby, had taken her own life.
Shelby stood beneath a black umbrella, unable to believe it.
She had spoken to Emily only once.
Yet that frightened voice still echoed in her memory.
"The real evidence isn't the video."
Daniel stood beside her.
"You don't believe the police report."
It wasn't a question.
Shelby slowly shook her head.
"No."
"Neither do I."
He watched as two detectives spoke briefly with Emily's parents before leaving.
"If Emily truly wanted to disappear, why contact you first? Why risk everything to send you evidence?"
Shelby stared at the casket.
"Because she wanted someone to know the truth."
Daniel nodded.
"And people don't usually choose suicide immediately after deciding to become a whistleblower."
A cold wind swept across the cemetery.
Someone had wanted Emily silenced.
The only question left was who.
That evening Daniel received the coroner's preliminary findings.
He read the report twice before calling Shelby.
"You need to see this."
Twenty minutes later, Shelby sat across from him in his office.
Daniel turned the report toward her.
"The official cause of death is drug intoxication."
Shelby frowned.
"So?"
"So Emily had never been prescribed those medications."
He pointed to another line.
"There are also bruises on both wrists."
Shelby's heart sank.
"She fought back."
Daniel didn't answer.
He didn't have to.
For the first time, Shelby realized she wasn't just fighting a cheating husband.
She was fighting people willing to destroy anyone who threatened them.
The next morning, Jared surprised her with breakfast on the terrace.
Fresh fruit.
Coffee.
Her favorite blueberry pancakes.
He smiled as though nothing in the world had changed.
"I've been thinking."
Shelby kept her expression calm.
"About what?"
"We've both been through so much."
He reached across the table.
"Maybe we should leave Chicago for a while."
"Where?"
"Italy."
Shelby nearly laughed.
He wasn't planning a vacation.
He was trying to get her away from Daniel.
Away from the investigation.
Away from the evidence.
She lowered her eyes.
"That sounds nice."
His shoulders relaxed.
Good.
Let him believe she was still under his control.
Later that afternoon, Daniel called with unexpected news.
"I found Courtney."
Shelby's grip tightened around her phone.
"Where?"
"She isn't at Jared's condo."
"Then where is she?"
"She's been admitted to a private prenatal clinic under a false name."
Shelby frowned.
"False name?"
Daniel nodded.
"Someone is hiding her."
Shelby hadn't expected to meet the woman who had destroyed her marriage.
Not like this.
The clinic occupied the top floor of a quiet medical building overlooking Lake Michigan.
Daniel had legally arranged a meeting through Courtney's attorney.
When Shelby entered the room, Courtney was sitting alone beside the window.
She looked nothing like the glamorous influencer who smiled across magazine covers.
No makeup.
Loose sweater.
Dark circles beneath her eyes.
She looked...
Exhausted.
Courtney slowly stood.
"I wasn't sure you'd come."
Shelby remained near the door.
"You wanted to talk."
Courtney nodded.
"I owe you that."
Silence filled the room.
Finally Shelby asked the question she had carried for weeks.
"Were you in love with my husband?"
Courtney looked down.
"No."
The answer surprised her.
"No?"
Courtney's eyes filled with tears.
"I was stupid."
She laughed bitterly.
"I thought I was special."
"What happened?"
"He told me your marriage was over."
Shelby said nothing.
"He said you only stayed together because of business."
Another lie.
Courtney wiped away a tear.
"I believed him."
Shelby wanted to hate her.
She truly did.
But sitting across from her now...
She saw fear.
Not victory.
Courtney slowly placed a hand over her stomach.
"Then I got pregnant."
Shelby instinctively looked away.
"I wanted to keep the baby."
Courtney nodded.
"So did I."
Her voice broke.
"But everything changed."
"How?"
"Jared became... different."
She hesitated.
"He hired security."
"He monitored my phone."
"He chose my doctors."
"He even decided what I was allowed to eat."
Shelby felt a chill.
"He controlled you."
Courtney nodded.
"I wasn't his girlfriend anymore."
"What were you?"
Courtney whispered,
"An investment."
Neither woman spoke for several seconds.
Finally Shelby asked,
"Does Jared love your baby?"
Courtney looked directly into her eyes.
"No."
The answer came instantly.
"He loves what he thinks the baby will give him."
Daniel quietly entered the room carrying a folder.
"I need to ask you something."
Courtney nodded.
"The DNA test."
Her expression changed.
"What about it?"
Daniel opened the file.
"You've told everyone Jared is the father."
"Because that's what the report says."
Daniel slid another document across the table.
"We had the laboratory audited."
Courtney stared at the paper.
Slowly...
Her face lost all color.
"No..."
Daniel nodded.
"The report was altered."
Courtney's hands began shaking.
"No..."
Shelby leaned forward.
"What does that mean?"
Courtney whispered,
"It can't be..."
Daniel spoke gently.
"The DNA sample labeled as Jared's was switched before testing."
Courtney burst into tears.
"No..."
Shelby could barely breathe.
"If Jared isn't the father..."
Courtney covered her mouth.
"I don't know who is."
The room fell silent.
Every assumption Shelby had made suddenly collapsed.
Jared had built an entire conspiracy around a child that might not even be his.
Daniel closed the folder.
"There are only two possibilities."
Courtney looked up.
"Either someone manipulated the test to deceive Jared..."
He paused.
"...or Jared already knew."
Neither possibility made sense.
If Jared knew the baby wasn't his...
Why would he destroy Shelby's future?
Why risk prison?
Why murder—if Emily had indeed been murdered?
As Shelby stood to leave, Courtney suddenly reached for her arm.
"Wait."
Shelby turned.
"There is something I never told anyone."
"What?"
"The night before your surgery..."
Courtney swallowed hard.
"I heard Jared arguing with someone."
Shelby froze.
"The same man from the recording?"
"I don't know."
"What did they say?"
Courtney closed her eyes, trying to remember.
"The man kept repeating one sentence."
She opened her eyes.
"The bloodline matters more than the father."
Shelby's heart pounded.
"What does that mean?"
Courtney slowly shook her head.
"I don't know."
"But Jared looked terrified."
That night Shelby returned home just before sunset.
The mansion was unusually quiet.
Maria met her at the front door.
"Mrs. Harlan..."
"What is it?"
Maria hesitated.
"Someone was in your room."
Shelby's pulse quickened.
"Jared?"
"No."
"Then who?"
"I don't know."
Maria handed her a small velvet jewelry box.
"It was sitting on your bed."
Shelby opened it.
Inside lay the wedding ring she had left in Daniel's office days earlier.
Beneath it was a folded note.
Only six handwritten words appeared.
Stop digging... or you're next.
Shelby looked up in shock.
Daniel still had the ring.
Or at least...
He was supposed to.
Someone had entered his office.
Someone had stolen it.
And somehow...
May you like
They had reached Shelby's bedroom before she got home.
End of Chapter 5
