CHAPTER 2 – THE WOMAN INSIDE THE COFFIN

The chapel exploded into chaos.

One woman screamed.

The priest stumbled backward.

The funeral attendants nearly dropped the coffin as Clara’s chest rose again with a desperate breath.

“Call an ambulance!” Ethan shouted.

Clara’s eyes fluttered weakly. Her lips trembled.

“E... Ethan...”

He grabbed her hand.

“Oh my God... Clara... I'm here.”

Tears streamed down his face.

Behind him, Margaret looked like she might faint.

Adrian looked worse.

He looked terrified.

Not shocked.

Terrified.

The difference mattered.

As paramedics rushed into the chapel, Ethan noticed Adrian slowly backing toward the exit.

“Stop him!” Ethan yelled.

Two attendants blocked the doorway.

Adrian's face turned white.

“What are you doing?” he snapped.

“What am I doing?” Ethan shouted. “My wife was declared dead while she was still breathing!”

Every eye in the chapel turned toward Adrian and Margaret.

The ambulance doors slammed shut minutes later.

As Clara was rushed to Saint Mary's Medical Center, Ethan rode beside her.

Meanwhile police officers remained behind.

And for the first time...

Questions began to be asked.

Questions Margaret and Adrian desperately did not want to answer.

Hours later, doctors gathered around Clara’s bed.

The lead physician emerged with a grim expression.

“Mr. Dawson,” he said quietly. “Your wife was never dead.”

Ethan stared.

“What?”

The doctor opened a file.

“She was given a powerful sedative capable of slowing her heart rate and breathing to nearly undetectable levels.”

Ethan's blood turned cold.

“You mean someone did this?”

The doctor's silence was answer enough.

Then Clara opened her eyes.

And whispered four words that changed everything.

“Adrian tried to kill me.”