Chapter 4 - The Darkness Inside
David hesitated, his jaw clenching so tightly the muscles ticked under his skin. But he couldn't physically stop the billionaire matriarch in front of five hundred high-society guests. He slowly stepped aside, his breathing becoming shallow and erratic.
Eleanor approached the white coffin. Her silver jewelry clinked softly as she leaned over the jagged, splintered hole Lily had created with the axe.
The camera angle focused tightly on the ruined wood. Through the hole, it was completely pitch dark inside. The heavy silk lining blocked most of the ambient light from the funeral home.
The room was so quiet that the collective breathing of the guests sounded like a rushing wind. Lily remained on her knees, held by the guards, praying to God that she wasn't actually losing her mind.
Eleanor stared into the absolute darkness of the casket. Her heart hammered violently against her ribs. She placed her trembling, wrinkled hand against the cool white wood.
"Emma?" Eleanor whispered, her voice cracking with a terrifying mixture of shock and desperate hope.
For two agonizingly long seconds, there was absolutely nothing. Just the deafening silence of the dead.
David let out a loud, theatrical sigh of relief. "See? This is madness. She is gone, Eleanor. We need to seal the casket and take it to the crematorium right now. Before the smell—"
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David didn't get to finish his sentence.
👉 David was preparing to burn the evidence, but a sound from the shadows was about to stop his heart completely.
