Chapter 1: The Woman Beneath the Water
“Marcus...””
The voice came from beneath the water.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it in my dreams for fourteen months. I had replayed it in old recordings, whispered it into my daughter's hair when she cried for her mother, and begged God to let me hear it one more time.
It was Elena.
My wife.
The woman I had buried without a body.
“Marcus!”” I shouted, staring into the dark water.
Vanessa grabbed my shoulder.
“Get away from the pool!””
I spun around.
“That's my wife's voice!””
“No, it isn't!””
Her answer came so quickly that even the guests heard it.
I stared at her.
Behind us, Ava was crying so hard she could barely breathe.
“Daddy, Mommy is scared.””
I looked at my daughter.
Then at the pool.
And suddenly, I understood something terrifying.
Vanessa wasn't afraid that I would find a dead woman beneath my swimming pool.
She was afraid that I would find a living one.
“Call the police!”” I shouted.
One of my guests, Daniel, immediately raised his phone.
Vanessa lunged toward him.
“Don't you dare!””
Daniel stepped backward.
“Vanessa, what is wrong with you?””
“Give me that phone!””
I caught her arm.
“Enough!””
She jerked away, nearly losing her balance on the wet marble.
For a moment, the woman who had spent eleven months smiling beside me looked like a complete stranger.
Her champagne-colored dress was soaked at the hem. Her expensive diamond earrings trembled as she turned toward the pool.
Then came three knocks.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
They came from beneath the metal hatch.
Ava covered her ears.
“Mommy!””
I didn't wait.
I dove again.
The water closed over my head, and I kicked toward the opening.
The hatch had shifted slightly when I pulled it earlier. A thin stream of bubbles escaped from the gap.
I grabbed the handle.
This time, it moved more easily.
Something had pushed against it from below.
I pulled with both hands.
The metal groaned.
A narrow opening appeared, revealing a dark passage beneath the swimming pool.
I reached inside.
My fingers touched something soft.
Fabric.
Then a hand closed around my wrist.
I almost screamed underwater.
The hand was warm.
Alive.
I pulled.
A woman's face appeared beneath the opening.
Her blonde hair floated around her head. Her skin was pale, and a long, dark bruise stretched across her forehead.
But I recognized her.
Even after fourteen months.
Even after every sleepless night.
Even after standing beside an empty coffin and telling my daughter that Mommy had gone to heaven.
“Elena!””
She opened her eyes.
Her lips moved.
I couldn't hear her.
I grabbed her beneath the arms and pulled her toward the surface.
Her body was weak. She barely helped me.
When we broke through the water, Daniel and another guest rushed forward.
“Help me!”” I screamed.
They grabbed Elena's arms.
Together, we dragged her onto the marble deck.
She coughed violently.
Water poured from her mouth.
Her fingers clawed at the ground.
Then she whispered something.
“Marcus...””
I dropped beside her.
“I'm here. I'm here, sweetheart.””
Her eyes moved toward my face.
For one impossible second, I saw the woman I had married.
Then she grabbed my shirt.
“Don't let her...””
Her eyes shifted.
Straight toward Vanessa.
“Don't let her take Ava.””
The entire terrace fell silent.
Vanessa stepped backward.
“That woman is not Elena.””
I looked up slowly.
“What?””
“She isn't your wife.””
Elena began shaking.
“No...”” she whispered.
I took her hand.
“Don't talk. The ambulance is coming.””
But she tightened her grip.
“Marcus, listen to me.””
Her voice was barely audible.
“She told you I was dead.””
I looked at Vanessa.
Her face had gone completely white.
“Who?”” I asked Elena.
Elena swallowed.
Then she whispered the name.
“Vanessa.””
Ava broke away from the guests and ran toward us.
“Mommy!””
Elena turned her head.
Her eyes filled with tears.
“My baby.””
Ava dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around her mother's neck.
“You came back!””
Elena sobbed into her daughter's hair.
“I tried, sweetheart. I tried so hard.””
I couldn't move.
I couldn't breathe.
My wife was alive.
The woman I had spent fourteen months mourning was lying in front of me.
And the woman I had planned to marry was standing only a few feet away, watching her return from the dead.
Vanessa suddenly straightened.
“This is a setup.””
Daniel stared at her.
“What?””
“She arranged this! She's been manipulating Marcus for months!””
Elena flinched.
I stood up.
“Get away from my family.””
Vanessa's eyes narrowed.
“Marcus, you're making a terrible mistake.””
“You can explain everything to the police.””
She looked toward the house.
Then toward the guests.
Then toward the driveway.
I noticed the movement.
“Daniel, don't let her leave.””
Daniel moved in front of her.
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You people have no idea what you're getting involved in.””
A distant siren sounded.
Elena suddenly grabbed my wrist again.
“Marcus.””
I turned.
“What is it?””
She looked terrified.
“Where is the little boy?””
My stomach tightened.
“What little boy?””
Elena tried to sit up.
“The boy they took from the house.””
I stared at her.
“Sweetheart, we don't have a boy.””
Her expression changed.
She looked at me as if I had just confirmed her worst nightmare.
Then she whispered:
“Marcus, we had a son.””
Before I could answer, her eyes rolled backward.
Her body went limp.
“Elena!””
The paramedics rushed through the terrace doors seconds later.
They lifted her onto a stretcher and began working.
I climbed into the ambulance with her.
Ava came with me.
As the doors closed, I looked through the rear window.
Vanessa was still standing beside the pool.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't screaming.
She was staring at the open hatch.
And she was smiling.
Not happily.
Not nervously.
It was the smile of someone who had just realized that a problem she thought was buried forever had somehow returned.
Then she raised her phone to her ear.
I saw her mouth three words.
He's still alive.
My blood turned cold.
May you like
Who was she talking about?
And why had my wife asked me where our son was?
