Chapter 8: The Woman Behind the Name
The police had been called before midnight.
Daniel didn't remember making the call.
He remembered picking up the phone.
He remembered saying Renata's name.
He remembered hearing his own voice sound strangely distant.
After that, everything blurred.
Officers arrived.
Questions were asked.
Statements were taken.
But Daniel barely heard any of them.
His mind was trapped in one moment.
Elena's voice.
"If anything happens to me, Daniel will find out.""
Those words repeated again and again.
Like a warning.
Like an apology.
Like a goodbye.
Renata sat in the living room under the watch of two officers.
For the first time since she entered the house, she had no control.
No performance.
No carefully chosen words.
She looked smaller.
But Daniel refused to mistake that for innocence.
People could look defeated and still be dangerous.
"You need to tell me the truth," Daniel said.
Renata looked up.
"I already told you.""
"No.""
His voice was quiet.
"You told me stories.""
Her expression hardened.
"You think you know everything because you found a recording?""
"I know enough.""
"No, Daniel.""
She leaned forward.
"You know what Elena wanted you to know.""
The sentence caught him.
Because it sounded exactly like something someone guilty would say.
But there was something else underneath.
Something complicated.
"You expect me to believe Elena was lying?""
"No.""
Renata looked at him.
"I expect you to believe Elena was scared.""
Daniel said nothing.
"Because she was.""
The room became silent.
"She was scared of what she discovered.""
"What did she discover?""
Renata looked away.
And Daniel knew.
There was still more.
"Your father.""
Daniel frowned.
"What about my father?""
Renata hesitated.
"Your father was not the man you think he was.""
Daniel felt anger rise.
"Everyone keeps saying that.""
"Because it's true.""
"You don't get to rewrite my family.""
"I'm not rewriting anything.""
She looked at the necklace.
"I'm explaining why Elena was investigating.""
Daniel stared.
"Investigating what?""
Renata closed her eyes.
"The accident.""
The word landed like a stone.
Daniel stopped.
"What?""
"Elena didn't believe it was an accident.""
The room changed.
Everything became quieter.
Daniel remembered that night.
The phone call.
The hospital.
The doctor telling him they had done everything they could.
He remembered feeling like the world had ended.
But he also remembered something else.
Elena's car had been inspected.
The police had ruled it an accident.
A wet road.
A sharp turn.
A terrible moment.
That's what everyone had told him.
"You're lying.""
Renata shook her head.
"I wish I was.""
Daniel stared at her.
"Then why didn't Elena tell me?""
"Because she didn't trust anyone.""
The words hurt.
Because Daniel knew they might be true.
"She trusted you," he said.
Renata looked at Sofia.
"No.""
A pause.
"She wanted to.""
Daniel followed her eyes.
"What does that mean?""
Renata didn't answer.
The police officer stepped forward.
"We need to take her statement.""
Before Renata stood, she looked directly at Daniel.
"Ask yourself one question.""
"What?""
"Who benefits from Elena being gone?""
Then she was taken away.
Daniel stood there.
Unable to move.
Because the question followed him.
Who benefited?
Not Renata alone.
Not necessarily.
There were bigger things.
Bigger secrets.
Bigger reasons.
Later that night, Daniel returned to Elena's journal.
He read every page.
Not as a grieving husband.
As someone searching for evidence.
And near the end, he found something he hadn't noticed before.
A name.
A name repeated several times.
Someone Elena had been meeting.
Someone she believed could help her.
Daniel stared at the handwriting.
Because he knew the name.
Everyone in town knew the name.
May you like
It belonged to one of the most powerful men in the city.
His own father.
