My Man, Our Man 3 - by Princess Chronicles

FINAL EPISODENo...The word barely left my lips before I heard the front door open.Daniel.I stood so quickly that the photograph slipped from my hand.“Baby?”His footsteps came closer.I didn't answer. He appeared at the doorway, still dressed in his work clothes.Then he saw the photograph on the floor.He stopped. For the first time since I had known him, Daniel looked afraid.I picked it up.“Who is he?”Daniel said nothing.I held the photograph between us.“The man beside my mother.”His eyes dropped to the tattoo.And something inside me broke. “You know him.”Daniel closed the door behind him.“Yes.”My stomach twisted.“Who is he?” He looked at me for a long moment.“My father.”The room went completely silent.I laughed. Because my mind couldn't understand what I had just heard.“Your father?”Daniel nodded.“The man in this photograph is your father?”“Yes.” I looked at the photograph again.My mother.Me.And the man who had been standing beside her all those years ago.The man whose tattoo I had traced with my fingertip that morning.The same tattoo Daniel had carried for seven years. “Why was he with my mother?”Daniel looked away.“Because they knew each other.”“Knew each other?”His silence answered before he did.“They were involved.” My throat tightened.“While my father was alive?”Daniel didn't answer.I already knew. My mother had been having an affair.With Daniel's father.And somehow, that wasn't even the worst part.“What does that have to do with the money?” Daniel looked at me.“Everything.”He walked toward the table.I stepped back.“Don't.”He stopped. “The money came from your father's insurance settlement.”I stared at him.“What?”“Your father left you more than you were told.” My mother's words came back to me.There was nothing left.Medical bills.Funeral expenses.Everything was gone.I had believed her.For over twenty years. “It was never gone,” Daniel said.My eyes burned.“Who took it?”He didn't answer immediately.“My mother knew about it.”I froze.I felt sick.“And my sister?”Daniel swallowed.“She knew.” The room seemed to tilt.I grabbed the back of the chair.“Why?”Daniel's voice dropped.“Because they needed someone who could get close to you without making you suspicious.” I stared at him.No.No.“No.”He stepped toward me.“I didn't know how it would end.”“Don't.”“I was supposed to find out where everything was. The accounts. The documents. The investments.” My eyes filled with tears.“And you?”He looked at me.“I was supposed to stay.”Seven years. My entire relationship suddenly felt like something written by strangers.“You were planted in my life?”Daniel's eyes closed.“Yes.” I slapped him.The sound cracked through the room.He didn't move.“I hate you.”“I know.”“No. You don't.”I wiped my face.“You don't know what you've done.” His voice broke.“I fell in love with you.”I laughed bitterly.“That was never part of the plan, was it?”“No.”“Then why didn't you tell me?” He looked at me.“Because they threatened to kill me.”I stopped.“What?” “My father had enemies. Your mother knew things about him. Things that could destroy everyone involved.” He reached into his pocket.His phone buzzed.He looked at the screen.His face changed.“Daniel?”He didn't answer.Another message came.Then another. He looked at me.“We have to leave.”“Who is it?”He grabbed my hand.“Now.” A loud crack split the night.The window shattered.Daniel pulled me to the floor.Another shot.Then another.Glass rained across the room.“Stay down!”Someone screamed outside. A car screeched away.Then silence.For three seconds.Then sirens.Daniel got up.“Stay here.”“Daniel!”He ran toward the door.I followed. By the time I reached the street, headlights were cutting through the darkness.People were running.Someone was shouting.A gun lay on the pavement.Then another shot rang out from somewhere beyond the houses. Police cars came around the corner.Blue lights flooded the street.“GET DOWN!” Officers rushed forward.Someone was crying.Someone was screaming that there had been shooting. I turned around.“Daniel?”Nothing.I searched the crowd.Nothing.I called his phone.It rang.Once.Twice.Then went dead. One officer grabbed my arm.“Ma'am, step back!”“My boyfriend"...“Where is he?”I opened my mouth.No words came. Daniel wasn't there.Neither was my sister.Neither was my mother.And the man in the photograph the man whose tattoo had started all of this had been dead for years.But somehow, his secrets had survived him. I looked down at the photograph still clutched in my hand.The date.2009.Everything changed that night.It finally made sense.My father died.My mother lied.The money disappeared.And years later, Daniel entered my life.Because someone had planned it. For seven years, I thought Daniel was my man.I was wrong.He had always been our man.

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