Chapter 3
Daniel bowed his head, his tears falling silently onto the pristine white satin lining the coffin. The heavy, warm light from the dual crystal chandeliers beat down on his shoulders. He closed his eyes, entirely consumed by the devastating wave of his grief. The murmurs of the wealthy guests in the background faded into a dull, meaningless hum.
Then, something impossible happened.
Daniel felt a vibration against the mahogany wood. He opened his eyes. He stared down at Elena’s heavily pregnant belly, draped in the delicate white lace fabric. For a second, he thought the exhaustion was playing tricks on his mind. But then, it happened again. The white lace fabric violently shifted outward. It was a powerful, unmistakable kick from inside the womb.
Daniel’s weeping halted instantly. The air was sucked from his lungs. His eyes bulged, transforming his face from a portrait of crushing despair into an explosive mask of pure, breathless shock.
"Did you see that?" Daniel gasped, his voice a frantic, strangled whisper.
"See what, Daniel?" Marcus asked, stepping closer to the coffin with a bored expression. "Stop staring at her like a madman."
"She moved," Daniel said, his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. "The baby just kicked."
"That is biologically impossible," the Mother stated, her voice hardening with an edge of absolute authority. "Post-mortem muscle spasms are common. Do not do this to yourself, Daniel. You are acting completely unhinged."
"It wasn't a spasm!" Daniel shot back, his American accent rising in volume.
He lunged downward aggressively, abandoning all decorum. His fingers locked onto the distinctive purple bruises on Elena’s neck, pressing his thumb firmly against the pale skin just beneath her jawline. The skin was cold, but beneath it... deep beneath the surface... there was a rhythm.
"I can feel it," Daniel breathed, his eyes wide as he stared at his wife’s face. "It’s faint. It’s incredibly faint, but it’s there. A fluttering pulse."
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Marcus’s smirk instantly vanished. The fair, rosy skin of his sharp-featured face drained of color. "What are you talking about? She’s been dead for ten hours, Daniel. The doctor signed the papers."
"The doctor you brought to the house!" Daniel roared, keeping his fingers pressed desperately against Elena's neck. "There is a pulse! I swear to God, she is alive!"
