Emily's Last Secret
Chapter 02 - Emily's Last Secret
Michael's expression changed instantly.
"What recording?"
Lily looked frightened by her own words.
Jonathan placed himself between Michael and the children.
"You don't speak to her."
Michael laughed bitterly.
"She's my daughter."
"Today," Jonathan replied, "that's exactly what the court is going to decide."
One of the officers stepped forward and asked Michael to remain calm.
Michael pointed toward the legal document.
"This is fake."
Jonathan handed it to him.
It wasn't.
The county seal was visible at the top.
A judge's signature appeared at the bottom.
Three days before Emily's death, the court had granted Jonathan temporary emergency guardianship while reviewing allegations concerning Michael's behavior.
But there was something Michael didn't know.
Emily had filed for permanent custody protection before she died.
The final hearing was scheduled for Monday.
Michael crushed the edge of the document in his hand.
"You used your connections."
Jonathan's jaw tightened.
"I retired from the bench nine years ago."
"You still know everyone."
"I know enough to understand evidence."
Michael looked toward Lily.
"What did your mother tell him?"
Lily began trembling.
Jonathan immediately guided both children toward the waiting car.
"We're leaving."
Michael stepped forward.
An officer blocked him.
Michael shouted after them.
"You can't take my children!"
Jonathan stopped.
He turned.
For years he had forced himself to remain civil with Michael because Emily begged him to.
Even when she arrived at his house crying.
Even when she admitted Michael controlled every dollar she earned.
Even when Jonathan noticed bruises she insisted came from bumping into furniture.
He had believed his daughter when she said she could handle it.
Now she was buried twenty feet behind him.
Jonathan looked at Michael.
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"You're right."
"I can't take them."
He glanced toward Emily's grave.
"But your wife gave them a way out before you could stop her."
That night, after the children finally fell asleep in Jonathan's house, Lily came downstairs carrying her mother's old phone.
She placed it on the kitchen table.
"Mom told me to give this to you only if Dad came looking for us."
Jonathan stared at it.
The battery was nearly dead.
Lily entered the password.
A folder appeared.
Its name was simple.
FOR DAD.
Jonathan pressed play.
Emily's voice filled the room.
"If you're hearing this, I didn't get the chance to tell you everything."
Jonathan closed his eyes.
May you like
Then Emily said the sentence that changed the entire case.
"Michael knows why I died."
