Hidden beneath the polished lid...
Richard Harrison was still alive.
His wrists were bound.
A cloth gag covered his mouth.
Every desperate breath echoed inside the cramped darkness.
Through a tiny gap where the lid hadn't fully closed, one terrified eye watched the chapel outside.
He could hear everything.
Andrew's voice.
Maria's lies.
The footsteps surrounding his coffin.
He desperately tried to move.
The ropes cut into his wrists.
His heartbeat pounded louder with every passing second.
Outside...
Andrew placed one trembling hand on the casket.
Something felt strange.
For the briefest moment...
He thought he felt movement.
He looked toward Maria.
"I just..."
He hesitated.
"I need one last goodbye."
Maria's eyes hardened instantly.
"It can't be opened."
Her voice carried an icy finality.
"The doctors made that very clear."
She signaled two security guards to stand closer to the coffin.
Inside...
Richard closed his eyes.
Time was running out.
Every second stole more of the air trapped inside the sealed box.
He prayed his son would notice.
Anything.
A sound.
A movement.
One impossible clue.
Because the funeral everyone believed was honoring a dead man...
Was actually burying a living one.
And the only person standing between Richard Harrison and certain death...
Was the grieving son kneeling only inches away from the truth.