Chapter 13: The Sister In The Shadow
I couldn’t breathe.
For several seconds, nobody in the room moved.
The woman on the phone stared back at us.
She had Vanessa’s eyes.
Vanessa’s voice.
Even the same small crease between her eyebrows.
But she wasn’t Vanessa.
“I don’t understand,” I said.
Victoria looked down.
“I know.””
Her voice trembled.
“I spent my whole life trying to make sure nobody ever found me.””
Rachel stepped closer to the phone.
“How are you alive?””
Victoria looked at her.
“You knew about me?””
Rachel swallowed.
“Only rumors.””
“Rumors become dangerous when people are afraid of the truth.””
I looked between them.
“Someone explain.””
Victoria took a deep breath.
“Vanessa and I were twins.””
Lily moved closer to me.
“Like the same birthday?””
Victoria smiled sadly.
“Yes.””
“Then why did nobody know?””
The woman on the screen looked away.
“Because my mother made sure nobody knew.””
The room became silent.
Victoria continued.
“Our mother believed one of us was good and one of us was bad.””
I frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“It didn’t have to.””
Her eyes filled with pain.
“She wanted someone to blame for everything wrong in her life.””
Rachel crossed her arms.
“And she chose Victoria?””
Victoria nodded.
“She told Vanessa that I was the reason our family suffered.””
My stomach tightened.
“Vanessa believed that?””
“For a long time.””
I thought about the things Vanessa had said.
The fear.
The obsession with control.
The way she looked at Lily.
“You said Vanessa was protecting Lily from you.””
Victoria nodded.
“She was.””
My anger returned.
“By hurting her?””
Victoria closed her eyes.
“No.””
The answer came immediately.
“Vanessa was trying to keep Lily away from me because she believed I would hurt her.””
I looked at Rachel.
Then back at the screen.
“Would you?””
Victoria didn’t answer.
That silence scared me.
Then she whispered:
“When I was younger, I made mistakes.””
“What kind of mistakes?””
She looked at Lily.
“The kind that made Vanessa afraid.””
I stepped in front of my daughter.
“Victoria, you need to tell me everything.””
She nodded.
“After our mother died, Vanessa found out the truth.””
“What truth?””
“That our mother had been manipulating both of us.””
Nobody spoke.
Victoria continued.
“She made us hate each other.””
The room felt colder.
“She convinced Vanessa that I was dangerous.””
“And you?””
“She convinced me that Vanessa was trying to destroy me.””
I looked at the phone.
“So the night your mother died…”
Victoria’s face changed.
“She fell during a fight.””
“Between who?””
“Between all three of us.””
My heart stopped.
“Vanessa, you, and your mother?””
“Yes.””
“Then why did everyone think Vanessa did it?””
“Because she was the only one left standing.””
A horrible silence followed.
I looked at Lily.
She had been carrying a memory of that night.
A child’s memory.
A broken memory.
“What does this have to do with the bruises?””
Victoria looked down.
“Everything.””
My voice hardened.
“Explain.””
“Vanessa saw Lily beginning to fear her.””
“That’s because she hurt her.””
Victoria nodded.
“Yes.””
The answer surprised me.
“She was wrong.””
I stared.
“But she believed if Lily remembered the truth about that night, Lily would become afraid of everyone.””
“She thought hurting her would help?””
Victoria looked devastated.
“She thought fear could be controlled.””
The room went quiet.
Because suddenly I understood something terrifying.
Vanessa wasn’t protecting Lily.
She was repeating the same cycle that destroyed her.
Victoria continued.
“The person pretending to be Michael wasn’t protecting Vanessa.””
I looked at her.
“Who was he?””
Victoria’s face changed.
“Someone who knew everything.””
“Who?””
She hesitated.
Then said:
“My mother’s doctor.””
The same name from Lily’s records.
The same person who had been treating Lily.
My blood went cold.
“Dr. Harris?””
Victoria nodded.
“He helped my mother control us.””
Rachel whispered:
“He’s alive.””
Victoria looked terrified.
“Yes.””
A sound came from behind us.
A door opening.
We all turned.
Vanessa stood in the hallway.
Nobody had heard her enter.
She looked at the phone.
At Victoria.
And for the first time, I saw something I never expected.
Relief.
“Victoria.””
Her voice broke.
Victoria stared back.
“Vanessa.””
The sisters looked at each other.
Twenty-five years of pain between them.
Then Vanessa whispered:
“I thought you were dead.””
Victoria’s eyes filled with tears.
“I know.””
A pause.
Then Victoria said:
“But Dr. Harris wanted you to believe that.””
Vanessa froze.
“What?””
Victoria looked at me.
Then at Lily.
“He’s been watching this family for years.””
My phone suddenly buzzed.
A message.
From an unknown number.
May you like
One sentence.
*You finally found the truth. Now watch what happens when I take it away.*
