My Wife Died 4 Years Ago — Then I Saw Her Holding Another Man’s Hand on a Luxury Cruise

Chapter 12

Six months later, the investigation was over.

Blackwater Meridian collapsed.

Hundreds of people were arrested.

The hidden accounts were seized.

Arthur went to prison.

My mother survived.

She received a sentence for her involvement.

I visited her once.

She looked smaller behind the glass.

“I never wanted you to become like me,” she said.

I didn’t answer.

Some wounds couldn’t be repaired with apologies.

Claire and I moved to Charleston, South Carolina.

We bought a small house near the water.

Ironically, I had once hated the ocean.

Now I watched it every morning.

Claire struggled too.

Four years of hiding had changed her.

Sometimes she woke screaming.

Sometimes she stared at the sea for hours.

I never asked her to forget.

I simply stayed.

One evening, she handed me the silver bracelet I had given her.

“I kept it.”

I smiled.

“I thought you lost it.”

“I never took it off.”

I looked at her.

“Even when you were pretending to be dead?”

She nodded.

“It reminded me that somewhere, you were still waiting.”

I held her hand.

For the first time, there were no secrets between us.

At least, I thought there weren’t.

Until a package arrived.

No return address.

Inside was a photograph.

It showed Claire standing on the cruise ship four years earlier.

But she wasn’t alone.

Standing beside her was another woman.

My mother.

The date was stamped on the back.

Three days before Claire’s disappearance.

I looked at Claire.

She went completely still.

“Daniel…”

“You knew my mother before the cruise.”

Claire didn’t answer.

Then she whispered:

“She wasn’t trying to kill me.”

“Then what was she doing?”

Claire looked toward the ocean.

“She was trying to warn me.”

I stared at the photograph.

“Warn you about what?”

Claire turned to me.

“The man who really caused the accident.”