Chapter 17: The Woman From My Mother’s Past
The woman standing in front of us looked exhausted.
Like she had spent years running from something.
Or someone.
“Who are you?”” I asked.
She looked at me.
“My name is Sarah Collins.””
My breath caught.
The photograph.
The woman beside my mother.
The name written on the back.
Dr. Sarah Collins.
“You knew my mother.””
Sarah nodded.
“I was Claire’s closest friend.””
My grandmother stepped forward.
“You were supposed to leave town.””
Sarah looked at Pearl.
“I tried.””
That answer made everyone uneasy.
My father lowered the poker slightly.
“What is happening?””
Sarah placed the bag on the table.
“I brought what Claire wanted Emma to have.””
Jonathan immediately moved closer.
“What is it?””
Sarah looked at him.
“Not for you.””
The lawyer stopped.
The old fear returned to his face.
Sarah noticed.
“She was right about you.””
Jonathan looked away.
My father looked confused.
“About him?””
Sarah nodded.
“Claire knew Jonathan had been pressured.””
She opened the bag.
Inside was a small journal.
Another one.
My mother’s handwriting.
Sarah handed it to me.
“She wrote this after she realized she couldn’t trust anyone.””
My fingers touched the cover.
It felt like touching my mother again.
I opened the first page.
Emma,
If Sarah gives you this journal, then everything has fallen apart.
My eyes blurred.
She knew.
She always knew.
The next line made my heart race.
Ethan is alive.
I looked up.
Everyone was watching me.
My father whispered:
“She knew.””
I nodded.
Sarah sat down.
“Claire discovered Ethan had staged his death.””
“Why?”” I asked.
“Because he was running from debt.””
Sarah looked at Michael.
“And because he had learned how to manipulate people.””
My uncle looked down.
Claire’s journal continued.
Ethan believed he deserved everything my family owned.
He believed my father’s money should have been his.
He believed I stole a life that belonged to him.
I turned the page.
Then came the part that made my hands shake.
Victoria was never the mastermind.
She was a tool.
I looked at Victoria.
She looked away.
Sarah sighed.
“Claire was trying to separate the people involved.””
My father frowned.
“What do you mean?””
“She knew Victoria was being controlled.””
Victoria looked surprised.
“You knew?””
Sarah looked at her.
“Yes.””
The room went quiet.
“You knew I wasn’t doing everything?””
Sarah nodded.
“But you still made choices.””
Victoria looked down.
For once, she had no argument.
My father looked at Sarah.
“Who else knew?””
Sarah’s face became serious.
“Your father.””
Everyone froze.
My grandfather.
Again.
The dead man at the center of every secret.
“My father knew Ethan was alive?””
Sarah nodded.
“He found out before Claire.””
My grandmother looked devastated.
“And he hid it.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Sarah looked at me.
“Because he made a deal.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“What deal?””
Sarah opened the journal to the final pages.
Claire wrote:
My father believes he can control Ethan.
He is wrong.
Ethan does not want money.
He wants revenge.
I stopped reading.
Revenge.
Against my mother.
Against my family.
Against me.
Sarah continued.
“Your grandfather thought he could pay Ethan to disappear.””
My father whispered:
“But he didn’t.””
“No.””
Sarah shook her head.
“He came back.””
Suddenly, the lights went out.
The room went black.
Someone screamed.
Glass shattered somewhere near the window.
My father grabbed my arm.
“Emma, get down!””
A loud crash echoed.
Then silence.
When the lights returned seconds later, everyone was still alive.
But the evidence box was gone.
The journal was still in my hand.
Everything else had disappeared.
Jonathan looked around.
“He was here.””
Sarah stared toward the broken window.
“No.””
My father frowned.
“What?””
She whispered:
“He wasn’t trying to steal the evidence.””
Everyone looked at her.
She pointed at the journal in my hands.
“He wanted to make sure Emma kept the one thing he couldn’t destroy.””
My stomach dropped.
“What?””
Sarah looked terrified.
“The truth.””
Then a sound came from outside.
A voice.
Coming through a speaker.
A man speaking calmly from the darkness.
“Emma.””
Everyone froze.
Because the voice belonged to Ethan.
“You finally found your mother’s last message.””
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A pause.
“Now let me show you why she died.””
