Chapter 2: The Boy Who Broke the Coffin
I spent the next twenty minutes searching for something heavy enough to break the coffin.
Nobody noticed.
That was the strangest part.
Everyone was too busy mourning a woman who wasn’t dead.
I walked through the storage rooms behind the funeral hall until I found an emergency maintenance closet.
Inside was a hammer.
A simple metal hammer sitting on a shelf.
I picked it up.
It felt heavier than it looked.
Not because of the weight.
Because of what it meant.
If I was wrong, I would destroy my mother’s funeral.
If I was right…
I would save her life.
I returned to the hallway just as the ceremony began.
People were gathering around the coffin.
A pastor stepped forward.
Richard stood beside him.
His face looked calm.
Too calm.
The pastor opened his book.
“We gather today to remember Claire Parker…”
I gripped the hammer behind my back.
My hands were sweating.
Then I saw it.
The smallest movement.
The coffin lid shifted.
Just a little.
My mother was still inside.
Alive.
I didn’t think.
I moved.
“Ethan!””
Someone shouted my name.
I ran forward.
The crowd turned.
I raised the hammer.
And brought it down.
CRACK.
The entire room exploded with screams.
Someone dropped a phone.
A woman covered her mouth.
The pastor stepped backward.
Richard’s voice cut through everyone.
“Stop him!””
I hit the coffin again.
CRACK.
The wood splintered.
“Ethan!”” Richard yelled.
But he didn’t sound worried.
He sounded angry.
That scared me more.
I hit it again.
A crack spread across the lid.
Then I saw something.
A hand.
A pale hand pushing upward from inside.
The room went silent.
A woman near the front whispered:
“Oh my God.””
Everyone moved closer.
Everyone except Richard.
He reached inside his jacket.
At first, I didn’t understand what he was doing.
Then I saw the gun.
The room stopped breathing.
Richard pulled it out and pointed it toward everyone.
“EVERYONE STEP BACK!””
Someone screamed.
A man raised his hands.
“Richard, what are you doing?””
“Back away!””
His voice echoed.
The person I had watched receive sympathy only moments before was now holding a weapon at his wife’s funeral.
I stood beside the broken coffin.
“Richard…”
He looked at me.
For the first time, I saw panic in his eyes.
“Move away from it, Ethan.””
“No.””
His jaw tightened.
“Ethan.””
“No!””
I grabbed the damaged lid and pulled.
The broken wood moved.
And then I saw her.
My mother.
Her eyes were open.
She was crying.
A strip of silver duct tape covered her mouth.
I fell backward.
“Mom…”
Her eyes locked onto mine.
She was terrified.
But she was alive.
A scream came from somewhere behind me.
Claire was alive.
Everyone saw it.
The funeral hall transformed instantly.
People who had come to mourn were now witnesses.
Richard kept the gun raised.
“You don’t understand what you’re seeing.””
Nobody answered.
Because there was nothing to understand.
A living woman had been placed inside a coffin.
My mother tried to move.
Richard looked toward her.
And something changed.
The fear disappeared.
The cold expression returned.
“You ruined everything,” he whispered.
My stomach turned.
“You did this.””
Richard looked at me.
“You should have listened.””
A man from the crowd stepped forward.
“Put the weapon down.””
Richard aimed at him.
“Stay back.””
My mother made a muffled sound behind the tape.
I moved toward her.
Richard shouted.
“DON’T!””
I stopped.
The entire room was frozen.
Then, from somewhere behind the guests, I heard a woman’s voice.
“Richard Hale.””
Everyone turned.
An older woman stood near the doorway.
She was holding a folder.
Richard’s face changed immediately.
He knew her.
The woman looked at him with disgust.
“You really thought nobody would find the records?””
Richard lowered the gun slightly.
“Who are you?””
The woman opened the folder.
“My name is Laura Bennett.””
She looked at Claire.
“I was Claire’s lawyer.””
The room erupted in whispers.
Richard stared at the papers.
“What records?””
Laura walked closer.
“The ones proving you had a reason to make your wife disappear.””
I looked at my mother.
Then at Richard.
And suddenly I understood.
This wasn’t just about hurting her.
This was about hiding something.
Something my mother had discovered.
Laura opened the folder.
“She left instructions.””
Richard’s face went pale.
“She said if anything happened to her…”
May you like
The lawyer looked directly at me.
“…Ethan was the only person she trusted to uncover the truth.””
