Chapter 1: The Empty Casket
The pale hand rested on the broken edge of the casket.
Every person in the funeral hall froze.
Daniel instinctively stepped backward.
Victoria covered her mouth, unable to breathe.
Noah dropped the hammer.
The metallic thud echoed through the silent room.
Slowly, the owner of the hand pulled himself upward.
A middle-aged man in a black suit climbed out of the hidden compartment beneath the casket.
His face was pale but unharmed.
He wore a silver ring engraved with the family crest.
Gasps swept through the room.
"Mr. Harrison..." Victoria whispered.
The family's longtime attorney looked around at the stunned guests.
"I never wanted it to happen this way."
Daniel stared at him.
"You were supposed to be dead."
Mr. Harrison shook his head.
"No."
He pointed toward the empty space inside the casket.
"The person everyone came to bury was never placed here."
Noah wiped away his tears.
May you like
"I told you nobody would believe me."
The room fell silent once again.
