Part 2
The black drive unlocked with Daniel’s birthday and mine.
Inside were recordings, contracts, bank transfers, private messages, and a video file labeled: IF I DIE.
I almost couldn’t press play.
Daniel appeared on screen in our kitchen, hair unkempt, tie loose, eyes exhausted.
“Mara,” he said, “if you’re watching this, they finally moved against me.”
I covered my mouth.
He laid it all out. Voss Meridian, his family’s construction empire, laundering money through falsified safety contracts. Victor managing the accounts. Evelyn pressuring witnesses. Daniel gathering evidence for federal prosecutors.
“I wanted to tell you after the wedding,” he said. “Not before. I wanted one perfect day with you.”
Tears blurred his face.
Then his tone sharpened. “They think you’re soft. Let them. They think you’re just my bride. They don’t know you were the best forensic litigation analyst Mason & Vale ever had.”
That was the first time I laughed after he died.
It sounded broken.
But it was real.
