Chapter 31 - The Shadow in the Mirror
Julian drove home through the thick autumn fog, his mind racing as he approached the iron gates of his Charlottesville estate.
He pulled his SUV up the long winding driveway, noticing that the estate’s automated exterior floodlights were completely dead.
Unlocking the heavy front door, Julian stepped into the quiet house, calling out for Lily and her live-in nanny.
There was no answer—only the soft, rhythmic ticking of the grandfather clock in the dark entrance hallway.
Julian rushed upstairs into Lily’s nursery, finding her fast asleep in bed, holding her beige teddy bear tightly in her sleep.
Relieved, Julian walked back down to his ground-floor study to retrieve the encrypted USB drives from his coat pocket.
As he reached for his desk drawer, he froze—a small, handwritten card lay directly atop his keyboard in the moonlight.
Beside the card lay a single white lily flower identical to the ones from Clara's funeral three years ago.
May you like
Julian flipped the card over, reading the typed words illuminated by the pale moonlight streaming through the window:
"You have Clara's second phone, Julian... but you haven't looked at who was driving the car behind her that night..."
