Ryan stood frozen outside the church, the weight of the moment sinking in. He wasn’t ready to say goodbye to his father, not like this. The funeral was barely more than a formality, considering the circumstances.
“We couldn’t even give Dad a proper funeral,” he thought, his heart heavy with the thought. Just then, a loud, sharp bark pierced the air, dragging his attention away from his thoughts.
It was Bella, his dog. She was in the car, but unlike usual, she seemed off—tense and barking like mad. Ryan raised a hand in a signal for her to settle down. “Bella,” he called softly, trying to calm her. The dog obeyed, though her eyes remained fixed on him, her body trembling with agitation. He patted her head through the open window. “Stay, Bella. Stay.”
With a final look at the car, he turned and entered the church. His father, Arnold, lay in the casket at the front, the funeral director keeping a respectful distance. The closed casket was a reminder of the tragedy—a life cut short by a contagious disease.
Arnold’s body would be cremated, not buried, for safety reasons. As Ryan sat next to his mother, the gravity of everything hit him again. The funeral was more than just about saying goodbye. It was about closure, and he wasn’t sure he was ready for that.
Just as the mass came to an end, Bella’s bark echoed through the church like a warning bell. The mourners were rising to sing the final hymn when the dog leapt from the car, charging into the church with unexpected force.
She darted toward the casket, knocking over the flower arrangement in her wild frenzy. Then she stopped, sitting rigidly in a staring position, eyes locked on Ryan.
Ryan’s gut twisted with a strange sense of dread. He could feel something wasn’t right. The air in the room felt thicker, as if the world was holding its breath. “Open the casket!” he demanded, his voice loud enough to turn heads.
Gasps spread through the crowd, but Ryan didn’t care. He walked straight to the casket, ignoring the whispers, and lifted the lid. The sight that met his eyes was impossible to believe. The casket was empty.
“Wh-Where’s my brother?” his uncle asked, looking bewildered at the funeral director.
Ryan’s heart pounded in his chest, his mother’s scream ringing in his ears. She collapsed, her body going limp as the shock took over. Ryan rushed to catch her, barely keeping her from crashing to the cold marble floor. “Mom, stay with me. I’m taking you to the hospital,” he said, his voice tight with panic.
At the hospital, after ensuring his mother was stable, Ryan made the call to the police. Detective Bradshaw took the call, her voice calm but professional. “At this point, all we know is that the coroner confirmed the cause of death and released the remains to the funeral home,” she said. “Was your father involved in any activities I should be aware of?”
Ryan thought about it for a moment. His father had been a good man—honorable, reliable—but he’d been distant in recent months. “No,” Ryan replied, though he couldn’t help but feel a nagging sense of unease. “He would never risk the family’s reputation.”
With no solid leads, Detective Bradshaw promised to keep him informed and left. But Ryan wasn’t willing to wait around. His mother was still in the hospital, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. He needed answers.
At the morgue, things didn’t go as expected. “The coroner resigned?” Ryan asked in disbelief when the nurse told him there was no replacement yet. “Where is my father’s file?”
The nurse’s refusal to show him the file only fueled Ryan’s determination. With a silent promise to himself, he placed $1000 on the counter, and the nurse reluctantly looked the other way. As he searched the shelves of the coroner’s office, his heart sank—there was no file for Arnold.
Ryan’s phone buzzed, distracting him from his frustration. It was Mr. Stevens, his father’s lawyer. “Ryan, it’s urgent,” Mr. Stevens said. “I need to speak with you right away. I’ve taken over as CEO of your father’s company.”
Ryan felt a pang of confusion. Why would Mr. Stevens need to see him now? He immediately drove to his father’s office.
When Ryan logged into his father’s Gmail, hoping to find some answers, the inbox was mysteriously empty. He stared at the screen, confused. “Who’s been using this computer?” he asked, turning to Mr. Stevens.
“Nobody,” Mr. Stevens answered, his voice smooth but unreadable.
Ryan wasn’t convinced. “Wait, where are the dancers?” He noticed two figurines missing from the shelf, a set his father had collected for years.
“Oh, Arnold took them home,” Mr. Stevens explained, dismissing the question. “Poor man could never get the third figurine in the set. The one owned by that collector in the city.”
Ryan’s mind raced. His father had always been proud of his collection, and he had never mentioned bringing them home. Something wasn’t adding up.
Mr. Stevens then dropped a bombshell. The company was in deep financial trouble, and several investors were threatening to pull out. Ryan’s father had stopped attending meetings months before his death.
The cause? Arnold had become romantically involved with his secretary, Miss Pearson. “She’s the one who brought the trouble, Ryan,” Mr. Stevens said. “He was so distracted by her, everything else fell apart.”
Ryan clenched his fists. The betrayal stung, especially knowing how it might hurt his mother. He was about to confront Miss Pearson when Mr. Stevens stopped him, warning that doing so would only ruin Arnold’s reputation further.
Later that day, Ryan followed Miss Pearson to a suburban house. It was the only lead he had left, and he wasn’t about to let it slip away. When she left, he managed to slip inside her garage just before the door closed, sneaking into the house. What he found in her bedroom took his breath away: a photo of her kissing Arnold.
He kept searching, feeling the walls close in on him, but it wasn’t until he spotted a manila envelope in the coffee table that he found something useful. Inside was a life insurance policy—$7 million, with Miss Pearson as the beneficiary.
With no time to waste, Ryan handed the document over to Detective Bradshaw, who was shocked at the revelation. It was clear that Miss Pearson was involved, but she had already booked a flight to Morocco. “We need to stop her before she boards!” Detective Bradshaw ordered, gathering a team to head to the airport.
Ryan wasn’t about to stay behind. “Police!” Detective Bradshaw called out at the airport, pushing her way through the crowd. Ryan slipped in with the officers, hoping to finally end this nightmare.
But when they confronted the woman, it wasn’t Miss Pearson. It was someone else entirely. And soon, Miss Pearson was gone.
Back to square one, Ryan was growing desperate. But then a thought struck him—his father hadn’t taken the figurines home. He set off to find the collector who owned the missing piece of the set, determined to use it as bait.
After convincing the man to sell the figurine for $750,000, Ryan called Mr. Stevens and arranged to sell off his shares in the company. “But you’ll lose control of the company,” Mr. Stevens warned.
“I’m aware,” Ryan said. “But this is urgent.”
When the money was wired to him, Ryan bought the figurine, ready for his next move.
The auction house was the next stage in his plan. As he stood among the crowd, the figurine was brought up for bidding. The price skyrocketed, and Ryan’s pulse quickened. “Going once… going twice…” the auctioneer’s voice echoed.
“$1 million!” a voice rang out.
Ryan’s heart skipped a beat. He turned toward the back of the room. There, standing in the shadows, was his father—alive. Arnold stood and removed his hat, his eyes locking onto Ryan’s.
“$1 million going once, going twice… sold!” the auctioneer called.
Ryan blocked Arnold’s path, ready to confront him. But just as Arnold glared at him, Detective Bradshaw stepped forward, cuffing him.
“Ryan?” Arnold’s voice was cold, full of disbelief. “You tricked me. This was a trap!”
“No, Dad,” Ryan replied, his voice fierce. “You faked your death, ran off with your mistress, and left all of us to mourn you. How could you?”
Arnold lowered his head, guilt washing over him. “I just wanted to start a new life,” he whispered.
Ryan’s voice broke as he spoke. “You taught me that a man should do what is right, not follow his selfish desires. This… this was your downfall.”
Detective Bradshaw assured Ryan that Miss Pearson would be caught soon. And with that, Arnold was led away in handcuffs, leaving Ryan to grapple with the bitter truth of what had really happened.
Ryan knew the truth, and despite the pain, he could finally let his father go. What do you think of the story? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
