Chapter 2 - The Stolen Life
I stared at the marriage certificate until the elegant, cursive letters began to blur into a meaningless puddle of ink.
This had to be some sort of sick, elaborate forgery.
Ethan and I had spent the last five years sharing every secret, every bank account, and every quiet morning together.
"This is impossible," I muttered, aggressively shoving the paper back into the stranger's hands.
"My name is Mia, and he promised me he was leaving you after the baby was born," she cried, clutching her swollen stomach defensively.
Before I could tear into her obvious lies, a tall man in a damp trench coat walked into the trauma bay.
He flashed a silver badge, introducing himself as Detective Vance from the Chicago Police Department.
"Dr. Bennett, I am terribly sorry to interrupt, but I need to ask you a few urgent questions about your husband's accident," he said softly.
I crossed my arms, feeling my professional composure slipping away with every passing second.
"The paramedics said he rear-ended a truck in the heavy rain," I replied defensively.
The detective shook his head slowly, his expression turning incredibly grim.
"It was not an accident, Doctor," Vance explained, pulling a small, plastic evidence bag from his pocket.
He held up a severed, heavy-duty rubber brake line that clearly belonged to a car.
"Someone purposefully cut the brake lines on his sedan, turning his vehicle into a death trap."
My blood ran ice cold as the reality of his words washed over me.
"But that isn't the most concerning part," the detective continued, lowering his voice so the nurses couldn't hear.
He pulled a second evidence bag from his pocket and held it up to the harsh fluorescent lights of the emergency room.
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Inside the clear plastic was a loaded, unregistered handgun equipped with a massive silencer.
"We found this hidden in his glove compartment, along with a duffel bag containing a quarter of a million dollars in cash."
