After My Daughter's Murder, I Uncovered Her Husband's SecretChapter 1
At my daughter's grave on Memorial Day, my son-in-law suddenly asked me:
"Mom, do you know where Sunny lives? Before Julia Chavez died, she always said Sunny was her savior. I'd like to go visit her."
My hand, mid-reach into the burning pile of paper offerings, went rigid.
Because Sunny was the nickname I'd given my daughter when she was little.
Once she was old enough to have opinions, she decided the name was embarrassing and told me to stop using it.
There was no way she would have told her husband that Sunny was her savior.
——
My daughter had been murdered and dismembered three months ago, on a night I would never forget.
She'd been eight months pregnant.
Her belly had been cut open. The fully formed baby inside her hadn't survived either.
When I got the call and rushed to the scene, the carnage was so horrific that I fainted on the spot.
My son-in-law had been equally devastated. He'd stayed beside Julia's body all night, weeping until his hair turned white by morning.
The case shook the entire city.
Everyone cursed the killer's brutality and mourned what had happened to my daughter.
The police formed a task force immediately.
But Julia had been killed in an alley with no surveillance cameras. There were no witnesses, no physical evidence.
It had been raining that night. Every trace on the pavement had been washed clean, leaving not a single clue about the killer.
The task force investigated for days. They had nothing.
My son-in-law, unwilling to let the killer walk free, made a very public announcement: a ten-million-dollar reward for information.
He wanted the whole country looking. He wanted everyone helping to find whoever had murdered his wife.
The story exploded. The entire nation was paying attention, and tips poured in from everywhere.
But three full months passed, and the investigation went nowhere.
Yesterday, the task force was officially disbanded.
The ten-million-dollar reward had failed to produce a killer.
The case was declared cold.
I'd resigned myself to it, too. I thought my daughter's murder might simply go unsolved.
But now, hearing what my son-in-law had just said, something twisted hard inside my chest.
I couldn't help turning to look at him.
"When did Julia say Sunny was her savior?"
He thought for a few seconds, then answered earnestly:
"A few days before she was killed."
Something was wrong.