Chapter 1: Mommy’s Song
Ethan only wanted to play his mother’s song.
He sat at the black grand piano with tears trembling in his eyes, his small fingers resting above the keys. Beside him stood a framed photograph of his mother, smiling in the sunlight exactly as he remembered her.
For one quiet minute, the house felt like it belonged to them again.
Ethan pressed the first key.
A soft note floated through the room.
Then another.
He swallowed hard.
“Mommy used to play this every Sunday,” he whispered.
His voice cracked.
He closed his eyes and tried to remember everything—the way she hummed under her breath, the way her wedding ring tapped gently against the piano, the way she always smiled at him whenever he missed a note.
Ethan played three more measures.
Then a door slammed upstairs.
He froze.
Footsteps thundered down the staircase.
Fast.
Angry.
Before Ethan could turn around, Vanessa stormed into the music room.
“What are you doing?””
Ethan’s fingers slipped from the keys.
“Vanessa…”
“I asked you a question.””
He looked at the piano.
“I just wanted to play Mommy’s song.””
Vanessa’s face hardened.
“That song?””
Ethan nodded.
“It was Mommy’s song…”
“That piano is not your mother’s anymore.””
She crossed the room in three sharp strides.
Ethan backed away from the bench.
“I’ll stop,” he whispered.
But Vanessa grabbed him by the hair.
Ethan cried out.
“Vanessa! Stop!””
She yanked him off the bench so violently that his shoulder struck the hardwood floor.
The framed photograph rattled beside the piano.
“Please,” Ethan sobbed.
“I’m sorry.””
Vanessa leaned over him.
“You always hide behind that little dead-woman act whenever you want attention.””
Ethan stared at her in disbelief.
“She was my mommy.””
“And she’s gone.””
The words landed harder than the fall.
Vanessa turned toward the piano and slammed the lid shut.
The crash echoed through the room.
“That piano is mine now.””
Ethan pushed himself onto his hands and knees.
His cheek was wet with tears.
He crawled toward the photograph.
“Mommy…”
The frame had fallen sideways.
He reached for it.
Vanessa kicked it first.
The frame skidded across the floor.
“No!””
Ethan scrambled after it.
Vanessa folded her arms.
“Get up.””
Ethan hugged the photograph against his chest.
“You broke it.””
“It’s only a picture.””
“It’s all I have.””
Vanessa gave a cold laugh.
“You have your father.””
Ethan looked toward the doorway.
“My dad loves that piano.””
“No,” Vanessa said.
“Your father loves peace. And you're making this house unbearable.””
She stepped closer.
“Go upstairs.””
Ethan clutched the frame tighter.
“I want Dad.””
“You don’t get to demand anything.””
“I want Dad!””
Vanessa raised her hand.
Ethan flinched.
But before she could touch him, a man's voice cut through the room.
“What is happening here?””
Vanessa turned.
Adrian stood in the doorway.
His suit jacket was still on.
His tie was loosened from the drive home.
He looked tired.
Then he saw Ethan.
His son was curled on the floor, clutching his mother’s damaged photograph.
Adrian's eyes moved slowly upward.
To Vanessa.
Then to the piano.
Then back to Ethan.
“What did you do?””
Vanessa immediately changed her expression.
“Adrian, wait. This isn't what it looks like.””
Ethan tried to stand.
His legs shook.
“Dad…”
Adrian crossed the room.
“Ethan.””
He dropped to his knees and pulled his son into his arms.
Ethan buried his face against his father's chest.
“She grabbed me,” he whispered.
“She pulled my hair.””
Adrian looked at Vanessa.
“Is that true?””
Vanessa opened her mouth.
“She was acting out. I was trying to discipline him.””
“You pulled his hair?””
“I barely touched him.””
Ethan's fingers tightened around Adrian's shirt.
“She kicked Mommy's picture.””
Vanessa snapped, “Because he was being disrespectful!””
Adrian's jaw clenched.
“You kicked a photograph?””
“It was in the way.””
“It was his mother's photograph.””
“I said I didn't mean—”
“Enough.””
The room went silent.
Adrian gently took the frame from Ethan.
The glass was cracked.
He brushed his thumb across the damaged corner.
Then he set the photograph upright beside the piano.
“There,” he whispered to Ethan.
“She's still here.””
Ethan wiped his face.
“Dad… can you fix it?””
“I'll get a new frame.””
“No.””
Ethan pointed at the piano.
“Just put Mommy's picture there.””
Adrian placed it exactly where Ethan wanted.
For a second, nobody moved.
Then Adrian noticed something.
A thin section beneath the piano's side panel looked slightly raised.
He frowned.
He crouched.
“What is that?””
Vanessa stiffened.
Adrian ran his fingers along the wood.
There was a narrow hidden slot.
He pressed it.
A tiny compartment clicked open.
Vanessa's face drained of color.
Adrian looked inside.
A small black USB drive slid forward.
Ethan stared.
“What's that?””
Adrian picked it up.
“I don't know.””
Vanessa stepped toward him.
“Probably nothing.””
Adrian looked at her.
“You knew it was there?””
“No.””
The answer came too quickly.
Adrian said nothing.
He carried Ethan to the sofa and sat beside him.
Then he turned back toward the piano.
He plugged the USB drive into his laptop.
One folder appeared.
Then another.
Documents.
Scans.
Audio recordings.
A final folder was labeled with one word:
*ELENA.*
Adrian stopped breathing.
Elena.
His late wife.
He opened the first document.
His eyes moved down the page.
Then back to the top.
His face changed.
“These signatures…”
Vanessa stood motionless behind him.
Adrian opened another file.
A legal document.
Then another.
Dates.
Property transfers.
A custody agreement.
An amended will.
His own signature appeared at the bottom of every page.
But Adrian knew immediately that he had never signed any of them.
Ethan watched his father.
“Dad?””
Adrian didn't answer.
He opened the final video file.
The screen went black.
Then a familiar face appeared.
Elena.
Ethan gasped.
“Mommy?””
Adrian's hand tightened around the edge of the laptop.
Elena looked directly into the camera.
Her expression was frightened.
And before she spoke, the video displayed a date from six months before her death.
Adrian stared at the screen.
May you like
Then Elena whispered four words that made the entire room freeze.
“Adrian, Vanessa betrayed us.””
