Chapter 9 - The Women He Left Behind
Z
Rachel Morgan looked like she hadn’t slept in days.
She stood in the hallway with a rain-soaked coat, smudged mascara, and a manila envelope clutched against her chest. She kept looking over her shoulder as though she expected someone to be watching.
“Can I come in?” she asked.
Every instinct in me said no.
I had learned too quickly that strangers brought danger. Daniel’s attorney came with documents. His mother came with excuses. Every message from an unknown number felt like a trap.
But Rachel said my name in a way that sounded broken, not threatening.
So I let her in.
Lauren sat beside Noah’s bassinet while Rachel took the chair across from me. For several seconds, she stared at the floor.
Then she looked up.
“My husband was Thomas Morgan,” she said.
The name hit me immediately.
The Morgan development.
The deal Daniel claimed had forced him to leave for Miami.
“What happened to him?” I asked.
Rachel swallowed.
“He died two years ago.”
My stomach tightened.
“An accident?”
“That’s what they called it.”
She opened the envelope and removed a newspaper clipping. The headline read:
LOCAL DEVELOPER KILLED IN LATE-NIGHT HIGHWAY COLLISION
Thomas Morgan had been thirty-nine years old.
He had worked with Daniel on several major developments, including Willow Creek. Publicly, he was described as Daniel’s business partner.
Privately, according to Rachel, Thomas had been preparing to expose him.
“Thomas found money missing,” she said. “A lot of money. Funds moved through shell companies, fake consulting contracts, overseas accounts.”
“Celeste?” I asked.
Rachel nodded slowly.
“She handled the paperwork.”
My hands went cold.
“Did Thomas know about Daniel and Celeste?”
“Yes.”
Rachel’s voice cracked.
“At first, he thought it was an affair. Then he realized it was more than that. They were using their relationship to keep control of the business. Daniel trusted her because she knew too much. Celeste stayed because she was getting rich.”
“And Thomas?”
“He wanted out.”
Rachel handed me a printed email exchange.
One message was from Thomas to Daniel.
I will not be part of this anymore. I have copies of everything. If you do not cooperate, I will take it to the authorities.
Daniel’s reply was brief.
Think carefully about what you’re willing to lose.
Two weeks later, Thomas was dead.
Rachel stared at Noah.
“When I saw Daniel’s photos from St. Lucia, I knew he hadn’t changed,” she said. “He always acts like the world belongs to him. Like other people are just obstacles.”
“Why come to me now?”
“Because you’re the first person who might actually be able to stop him.”
The words should have made me feel strong.
Instead, they terrified me.
“What do you need from me?”
“Nothing,” Rachel said. “I came to give you this.”
She placed another USB drive on the table.
“Thomas kept copies of everything. I didn’t understand what it meant until after he died. Then Daniel’s lawyers pressured me. They said Thomas had debts. They said I could lose my house if I caused trouble.”
“And you believed them?”
“I had two children,” Rachel whispered. “I was scared.”
I understood fear.
I understood how it made you quiet.
But I also understood what happened when you stayed quiet too long.
Victoria met with Rachel the following day. By then, the police had agreed to review the evidence from my father’s safety deposit box. They couldn’t promise an investigation, but the recordings, photographs, and financial documents were enough to create questions Daniel could no longer ignore.
Then Celeste made her move.
She appeared on a morning talk show.
I saw the clip online while feeding Noah at three in the morning.
Celeste sat across from a host, wearing a soft beige dress and a carefully wounded expression.
“I never intended to hurt anyone,” she said. “But sometimes relationships are complicated. Daniel and Grace were struggling long before I entered the picture.”
I stared at the screen.
The host nodded sympathetically.
“And you’re expecting a child together?”
Celeste placed her hand over her stomach.
“Yes.”
“Are you concerned about the backlash?”
Celeste’s eyes filled with tears.
“I’m concerned about the children. I don’t want anyone to be hurt.”
I nearly threw my phone across the room.
She was building herself into a victim.
She was turning betrayal into romance.
And millions of strangers were watching.
By morning, Daniel’s legal team had released a statement claiming our marriage had been under strain for years. They said Daniel had been traveling for legitimate business reasons. They said he was “deeply concerned” about my emotional well-being following childbirth.
That sentence was designed to destroy me.
They wanted the world to believe I was unstable.
A grieving daughter.
An exhausted new mother.
A jealous wife.
But Victoria had anticipated it.
She filed the emergency custody petition that same afternoon, attaching Daniel’s St. Lucia posts, his threatening voice messages, the evidence of hidden finances, and the records showing he had abandoned Noah during a medical crisis.
The court date was set for Monday.
Daniel texted me that night.
You are humiliating yourself.
I stared at the message.
Then I typed back.
No, Daniel. I’m introducing people to the real you.
His response came almost immediately.
You have no proof I hurt your father or Thomas.
I read it once.
Then again.
He had not said he was innocent.
He had only said I had no proof.
I sent the message to Victoria.
Her reply came seconds later.
Do not respond. Save everything.
But then another message appeared.
This one from Celeste.
You should be careful. Daniel becomes unpredictable when he feels cornered.
For the first time, I believed she wasn’t trying to intimidate me.
I believed she was warning me.
And I realized something terrifying.
Celeste might not be Daniel’s partner anymore.
May you like
She might be his next victim.
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