Chapter 2 - The Man Who Heard Everything
The chapel erupted.
Two guards rushed toward Everett's bed.
Everett lifted one hand.
They stopped.
It was not the gesture of a weak patient.
It was an order.
Everyone obeyed.
Sterling remained frozen beside the pew.
“Everett?”
Everett slowly pushed himself upright.
The movement was controlled.
No confusion.
No weakness.
No sign of the coma everyone had witnessed for three months.
The minister backed away.
Willa remained beside the bed.
She was the only person who did not run.
Everett looked at her.
“You knew.”
Willa shook her head.
“I knew something was wrong.”
“What?”
“That you weren't as unconscious as they wanted everyone to believe.”
Sterling's expression changed.
Everett noticed.
“You're surprised.”
Sterling forced a laugh.
“This is some kind of miracle.”
Everett stared at him.
“No.”
His voice was cold.
“It isn't.”
One of Everett's guards stepped forward.
“Boss, should we call the doctors?”
“No.”
Everett looked at Sterling.
“Call everyone who was involved.”
Sterling's face tightened.
“I don't know what you're talking about.”
Everett reached toward the bedside table.
A small recording device sat beneath the flowers.
Sterling stared at it.
Everett pressed one button.
Sterling's own voice filled the chapel.
“Once the wedding is complete, Everett becomes legally vulnerable. The doctors will certify him unstable, and I will take control.”
Another voice followed.
“Will the girl cooperate?”
Sterling answered:
“She'll do anything for the money.”
Willa closed her eyes.
She had heard the conversation before.
But there was more.
Sterling's voice continued.
“And when Everett finally dies, nobody will question the transfer.”
Silence.
Everett turned off the recording.
“Three months,” he said.
“I listened to you for three months.”
Sterling's face lost its color.
Willa finally understood why Everett had remained silent.
He had not been helpless.
He had been collecting evidence.
But one question remained.
Why had he allowed the wedding?
Everett looked at the ring on his finger.
“Because I needed a witness.”
His eyes returned to Willa.
“And I needed someone Sterling didn't know I could trust.”
Willa stared at him.
“Me?”
May you like
Everett nodded.
“You were the only person in this room who wasn't acting.”
