Chapter 1 - The Grave Side Strike
The sharp, sudden crack of a hand striking across a face echoed through the silent cemetery, freezing fifty black-clad mourners beside the flower-covered coffin.
Claire Morgan stood shaking in her black mourning dress, her dark hair pinned in a tight updo as her young daughter clung tightly to her waist, sobbing into the silk fabric.
Standing opposite her was Sophia Grant, wearing dark designer sunglasses, a black blazer, and holding a single white rose. Sophia flinched from the violent slap, her head turned to the side as her hand rose slowly to her reddened cheek.
"You don't get to stand here! Stay away from my husband!" Claire screamed, her voice cracking with raw, unbearable grief.
Claire's brother-in-law, Marcus, rushed forward, his dark suit crisp and his jaw set in a hard line. "Sophia, leave right now! You have no place at Daniel's funeral!" Marcus snapped, taking a threatening step toward her.
Instead of turning away in shame, Sophia calmly reached into her leather handbag and pulled out a black smartphone with a spiderweb of shattered glass across its screen.
Marcus’s eyes widened in sheer panic, and he lunged forward, trying to grab Sophia's arm. But Sophia dodged his reach and handed the cracked phone directly to Claire.
"Daniel left this for you," Sophia said, her voice steady and serious amidst the gasps of the crowd. "His final recording made three hours before he died."
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Before Marcus could snatch it away, Marcus knocked the phone out of Sophia's grip in sheer panic, sending it clattering onto the stone pathway.
👉 Read Part 2 to find out why Marcus was terrified of a cracked smartphone.
