Chapter 2 - The Perfect Alibi
At 11:30 p.m., the Gilded Lily, Marcus Mitchell’s luxury yacht, docked at the private marina in Seattle. Marcus stepped off the vessel, his expensive coat immaculate, his face a carefully orchestrated mask of absolute horror and grief.
He ran toward the marina security office, stumbling realistically, shouting for help.
"Call the Coast Guard!" Marcus screamed, grabbing the security guard by the lapels. "My wife... Sarah... she slipped! The water was so rough, I tried to reach her, but she was gone!"
Within thirty minutes, the marina was swarming with flashing red and blue lights. News outlets, tipped off by police scanners, arrived with cameras flashing. Marcus stood on the dock, wrapped in a blanket, weeping openly for the lenses. He gave a masterful performance, describing how his beautiful, pregnant wife had leaned over the railing to look at the bioluminescence before losing her balance.
By 2:00 a.m., headlines flashed across the globe: Billionaire Tech CEO Marcus Mitchell’s Pregnant Wife Missing at Sea After Tragic Anniversary Cruise.
Safely tucked inside his private limousine driving back to his Bellevue mansion, Marcus dropped the blanket. The tears vanished instantly. He pulled out his phone and dialed Chloe.
"The media ate it up," Marcus sneered, pouring himself a glass of scotch from the limo's bar. "The police are launching a search-and-rescue, but with the temperature of the sound tonight, they’ll be looking for a body by sunrise."
"And the inheritance?" Chloe asked from the other end, her voice purring through the line. "Her family’s shares in Mitchell Holdings?"
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"Without a body, it takes time to declare her legally dead, but her father’s will specifically states that if she passes, her marital proxy goes directly to me," Marcus smiled, taking a slow sip. "By next week, I will control eighty percent of the voting power. We won, Chloe."
Marcus looked out the window, completely unaware that two unmarked police vehicles were trailing his limousine from a distance, and that his "dead" wife was currently watching his live television performance from a secured room at Mercy General Hospital.
