MELISSA NEVER DIED

Chloe held Emma’s phone behind her back.

For one terrible second, Emma believed she had chosen Ryan’s side.

Then Emma saw the emergency-call screen glowing between Chloe’s fingers.

Ryan saw it too.

“What are you doing?” he demanded.

Chloe’s face crumpled.

“Stopping you.”

She had secretly called the police while Ryan was focused on Emma. She had given the dispatcher the address and whispered that her brother had attacked his wife.

Ryan moved toward her, but the pounding began at the door.

“Columbus Police! Open the door!”

Chloe finally revealed the truth she had carried for five years.

“He did this to Melissa.”

Ryan froze.

Emma turned toward Chloe.

“You told me Melissa died.”

“That’s what he made everyone believe.”

Ryan called his sister a liar. He claimed she was unstable and desperate for attention.

But Emma had investigated fraud for eight years. She knew what people looked like when they were hiding something.

Ryan was not confused.

He was terrified.

The officers entered after Chloe unlocked the door. They separated everyone and photographed the broken plate, the spilled food, and the redness on Emma’s cheek.

Ryan tried to appear calm.

“This is a misunderstanding between newlyweds.”

One officer asked him to step into the living room.

Ryan refused.

Then the woman in the gray coat appeared behind the officers.

Melissa.

Emma recognized her from the photograph Ryan had hidden in his office. She looked older, stronger, and completely alive.

Melissa explained that the police had contacted her after Chloe gave the dispatcher her name. Melissa had recently returned to Columbus because a legal investigation involving Ryan had reopened.

Ryan stared at her.

“You were supposed to stay away.”

Melissa lifted her chin.

“No. I was supposed to stay afraid.”

The officers placed Ryan under arrest.

As he was led outside, he looked at Emma and said, “You’ll regret this.”