The Unwanted Wife and Her Secret Twins (Mia and Kyle) novel Chapter 194

194 /422

Mia's POV

Wrong. All wrong.

I sat on the sofa, staring at the business card Lieutenant Walsh had left behind. The edges were crisp, the printing precise. Everything about it suggested order, procedure, systems functioning as they should.

But nothing about Richard's death felt orderly or procedural.

"It doesn't make sense, Gas," I whispered. "Not one bit."

My father was many things. He was manipulative, selfish, cruel when it suited him. But he had never struck me as suicidal. Quite the opposite. Richard Williams had been a survivor, clinging to advantage and opportunity with relentless determination. Even in prison, facing disgrace and a lengthy sentence, he had been looking for leverage.

Prison suicides. The phrase felt scripted, a convenient explanation for inconvenient deaths. Epstein. McAfee. People who knew too many secrets suddenly hanging themselves in their cells. Guards conveniently absent. Surveillance cameras mysteriously malfunctioning.

I pushed myself up from the sofa with effort, one hand supporting my lower back as I waddled to the kitchen for water.

In the kitchen, I paused with my glass halfway to my lips, a thought popped. My conversation with Richard had likely been monitored.

Three days ago, he was still pleading with me to get him out of prison, and today he committed suicide.

He had been on the verge of telling me something important about Diana Porter. And now he was dead.

Was Diana Porter's daughter somehow connected to all of this?

My gaze drifted to the drawer where I'd hidden Diana Porter's journal after receiving it. Someone had sent it to me deliberately. But why? Why sending me this but killing Richard?

And if he had been killed to silence him, was I next?

The doorbell rang. I checked the peephole and felt a rush of relief at the sight of Scarlett and Morton standing side by side in the hallway. I opened the door.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Scarlett said by way of greeting, her smile fading as she registered my expression. "What happened?"

I gestured them inside, waiting until the door was securely locked behind them before speaking.

"My father is dead," I said, the words still sounding unreal as they left my lips. "They're calling it suicide."

Scarlett's eyes widened. "When?"

"This morning. Early. They found him hanging in his cell."

Morton frowned slightly. "I'm sorry for your loss, Mia."

The formality of his condolence almost made me laugh. I can't explain how I feel right now. My father had been monstrous in many ways, but he was still my father. Despite everything, some small part of me mourned.