Chapter 5: The Envelope
Chapter 5: The Envelope
The police cars disappeared into the night.
The mansion finally felt peaceful.
For the first time in five months, Bella and Sophie slept without crying.
Most of the staff had gone to bed.
But Lucia couldn't stop thinking about the envelope she had found beneath Bella's mattress.
She stood outside Gabriel's office, clutching it tightly.
"I found this in the nursery," she said softly.
Gabriel frowned.
"Beneath Bella's mattress."
His expression changed instantly.
"Under her mattress?"
Lucia nodded.
"I thought you should see it."
The envelope looked old.
Very old.
The paper was yellowed at the edges.
Someone had hidden it there months ago.
Maybe years.
On the front, written in black ink:
FOR GABRIEL ONLY
Gabriel slowly opened it.
Inside was a folded letter.
And a photograph.
The moment he saw the photograph, the color drained from his face.
Lucia had never seen him look frightened before.
Not even when Bella almost died.
But now his hands were shaking.
"Gabriel?"
He didn't answer.
His eyes remained fixed on the picture.
Lucia carefully stepped closer.
The photograph showed a young woman smiling while holding two newborn babies.
Twins.
Bella and Sophie.
But the woman wasn't Victoria.
And she wasn't Lucia.
She was someone else.
Someone beautiful.
Someone Gabriel clearly recognized.
His lips trembled.
"Emily..."
Lucia looked up.
"Who is Emily?"
For several seconds, Gabriel couldn't speak.
Then he whispered:
"My wife."
Lucia froze.
Everyone knew Gabriel's wife had died shortly after giving birth.
The story had appeared in newspapers across California.
A tragic medical complication.
A terrible loss.
End of story.
At least that's what everyone believed.
Gabriel unfolded the letter.
The handwriting was unmistakably feminine.
The first line made his heart stop.
Gabriel, if you're reading this, then I was right to be afraid.
His hands trembled harder.
He continued reading.
Someone close to us wants our daughters.
I don't know who yet.
But I've seen things. Heard things.
If anything happens to me, don't believe what the doctors tell you.
The room suddenly felt colder.
Lucia's stomach tightened.
Gabriel kept reading.
And never trust Dr. Victoria Hayes.
The silence was deafening.
Lucia felt her pulse racing.
The letter continued:
Three weeks before Bella and Sophie were born, I discovered Victoria entering my medical records without permission.
When I confronted her, she denied everything.
But I saw fear in her eyes.
Gabriel, if I die unexpectedly, investigate.
Promise me.
The letter ended there.
No explanation.
No proof.
Just a warning.
A warning from a woman who had died five months earlier.
Gabriel slowly lowered the paper.
His face had gone pale.
"Emily knew."
Lucia whispered.
Gabriel nodded.
"She knew Victoria was dangerous."
"But nobody listened."
Then another realization struck him.
A terrifying one.
If Emily had written this before she died...
Then perhaps her death hadn't been an accident.
The next morning, Gabriel ordered a private investigation.
No media.
No police.
No leaks.
Only answers.
And within forty-eight hours, those answers began arriving.
The first report came from an investigator named Marcus Reed.
A former homicide detective.
He entered Gabriel's office carrying a thick file.
"You were right to reopen the case."
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
"What did you find?"
Marcus placed several documents on the desk.
"Your wife's autopsy was incomplete."
The room fell silent.
"What?"
"The toxicology report was never fully processed."
Lucia stared.
"How is that possible?"
Marcus looked grim.
"Because someone canceled the second phase of testing."
Gabriel felt anger boiling inside him.
"Who?"
Marcus slid another document across the desk.
One signature appeared at the bottom.
Dr. Victoria Hayes.
Nobody spoke.
Because suddenly everything was beginning to connect.
Emily's death.
The twins' suffering.
Victoria's obsession.
And now...
A missing toxicology report.
Marcus took a deep breath.
"There's more."
The investigator pulled out a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a small silver necklace.
Lucia frowned.
"What is that?"
Marcus answered quietly.
"It was found hidden inside Victoria's apartment after her arrest."
Gabriel stared.
His heart nearly stopped.
Because he recognized it immediately.
It belonged to Emily.
The necklace she was wearing on the day she died.
The necklace that supposedly disappeared forever.
Victoria had kept it.
Like a trophy.
Like a souvenir.
Like proof of a crime.
And for the first time, Gabriel realized something horrifying.
May you like
Victoria had not simply targeted his daughters.
She had been destroying his family from the very beginning.
