Chapter 3
Ryan stared at Emma.
The room seemed to narrow until there was only his wife.
The woman he had slept beside.
Trusted.
Built a life with.
Raised Lily with.
Emma shook her head.
“That’s not what happened.”
Margaret laughed.
“Then tell him what did.”
Ryan stepped toward Emma.
“What did you do?”
“Ryan, I was scared.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I helped Mom with paperwork.”
“What paperwork?”
Emma looked at Mia.
Ryan understood immediately.
“Take the girls upstairs,” he told Mrs. Dawson.
Lily clung to him.
“No, Daddy.”
He knelt.
“I’ll be right here.”
“Mia can come too?”
Ryan looked at Mia.
The little girl had not let Lily’s hand go.
“Yes.”
Mrs. Dawson took both girls upstairs.
When they disappeared, Ryan turned back.
“Tell me everything.”
Emma sat down.
She looked smaller than she had that morning.
“When Claire survived, Mom needed to make sure nobody found out.”
“Especially me.”
“Yes.”
Ryan flinched.
Emma continued.
“The hospital records had to be changed. The facility needed legal documents showing Mom had authority.”
Victor stared at Margaret.
“You forged them?”
Margaret said nothing.
Emma nodded.
“Mom had a doctor declare Claire mentally incompetent.”
Alvarez took notes.
“Doctor’s name?”
“Dr. Samuel Kern.”
Victor cursed under his breath.
Ryan had heard the name.
Kern had been Margaret’s personal physician for years.
Emma swallowed.
“I worked at Bennett Financial then. I had access to scanners, notaries, corporate records. Mom asked me to prepare forms.”
Ryan’s voice went cold.
“And you did.”
“Yes.”
“Knowing Claire was alive.”
“Yes.”
“Knowing everyone thought she was dead.”
“Yes.”
“Knowing I was grieving her.”
Emma began crying.
“Yes.”
Ryan walked away.
He gripped the back of a chair.
Memories came fast.
Emma sitting beside him after the funeral.
Emma telling him Claire would want him to move on.
Emma comforting him on Claire’s birthday.
Emma eventually kissing him.
Ryan turned.
“When did you decide to marry me?”
Emma looked up.
“What?”
“Was that part of it too?”
“No.”
“Don’t lie.”
“I loved you.”
“While your sister was alive in a locked facility carrying my child?”
Emma sobbed.
“I didn’t know about Mia until later.”
Ryan stared.
“How much later?”
“Claire had already given birth.”
“So that makes it better?”
“No.”
Emma wiped her face.
“I told myself Claire hated me. I told myself she was sick. Mom said she had become dangerous.”
“And you believed that?”
“I wanted to.”
That answer stopped him.
Because it sounded true.
Not good.
Not forgivable.
But true.
Emma had wanted the lie because the lie gave her what she wanted.
Ryan.
A life.
A family.
Margaret spoke.
“She was always jealous of Claire.”
Emma spun.
“Shut up.”
“You were.”
“Shut up!”
“You watched Ryan look at her like she was the only person in the room, and you hated her for it.”
Emma stood.
“I said shut up!”
Margaret smiled.
Ryan had never seen his wife look at her mother that way.
“You want the truth?” Emma shouted. “Fine. Yes. I was jealous. Claire got everything without trying. People loved her. Dad loved her. Ryan loved her. Even you loved fighting with her more than you ever cared about me.”
Margaret’s smile disappeared.
Emma pointed at her.
“But I never wanted you to destroy her.”
“You helped.”
“I was twenty-six!”
“You were an adult.”
“I was your daughter!”
Margaret shrugged.
“Exactly.”
Alvarez stepped between them.
“Enough.”
Ryan looked at Emma.
“What happened when Claire left the facility?”
Emma sat again.
“She escaped.”
“How?”
“A nurse helped her.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
Ryan frowned.
“And Mia?”
“With her.”
“Why didn’t Claire come to me?”
“She tried.”
Ryan’s face went blank.
Emma stared down at the table.
“She came here.”
Ryan felt the room tilt again.
“This house?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three years ago. You were in Chicago for a development conference.”
Ryan remembered the trip.
Four days.
Emma had called him every night.
Lily had been only one.
“What happened?”
Emma whispered, “I opened the door.”
Ryan could barely speak.
“She stood on this porch?”
“Yes.”
“With Mia?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“No.”
Ryan pressed his fist to his mouth.
“What did she say?”
Emma’s eyes filled.
“She said she wanted to see you. She said she had proof Mom had kept her locked away. She said Mia was yours.”
Ryan’s voice cracked.
“And you?”
“I panicked.”
“What did you do?”
“I called Mom.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
Of course she did.
Emma spoke faster now.
“I didn’t know what else to do. Lily was a baby. You and I were happy. I thought if Claire came back, everything would disappear.”
“It should have.”
Emma stared at him.
Ryan’s eyes were cold.
“If our marriage existed only because your sister was trapped and I believed she was dead, then yes, Emma. It should have disappeared.”
She lowered her head.
Victor looked sick.
“Where did Margaret take them?”
Emma answered.
“I don’t know. Claire ran before Mom arrived.”
“Then what?”
“For three years, nothing.”
Ryan frowned.
“Until thirteen days ago?”
Emma nodded.
“I came home and found Mia sitting on the back steps.”
“Alone?”
“Yes.”
“She had a backpack. A note. Blood on her sleeve.”
Ryan’s chest tightened.
“Whose blood?”
“Claire’s.”
Alvarez leaned forward.
“Where’s the note?”
Emma hesitated.
Ryan immediately knew.
“You still have it.”
She nodded.
“Where?”
Emma walked toward the pantry.
An officer followed her.
She reached beneath a shelf and pulled loose a wooden panel.
Inside was an envelope.
Ryan stared.
Another hiding place.
Another secret.
Emma handed it to him.
His name was written on the front.
Ryan recognized the handwriting instantly.
Claire.
His fingers shook.
He opened it.
Ryan,
If Mia reached you, then something happened to me.
She knows who you are. I made sure of that.
Do not trust my mother.
Do not trust Victor.
And please, no matter what Emma tells you, do not let her take Mia anywhere alone.
I know what she did.
I have proof.
The first place we promised each other forever.
C.
Ryan read the final line twice.
The first place we promised each other forever.
A memory surfaced.
A lake.
An old boathouse.
Claire laughing beneath summer rain.
They had been twenty-four.
Ryan had given her a cheap silver ring and joked that one day he would replace it with something better.
Claire had said she never wanted better.
Only him.
The Mercer family cabin.
Ryan looked at Victor.
“The lake house.”
Victor understood.
Ryan folded the note.
Alvarez held out his hand.
“That is evidence.”
Ryan gave it to him.
“We need to go there.”
Alvarez shook his head.
“You’re staying here.”
“If Claire left evidence—”
“We’ll send officers.”
“I know the property.”
“So does your father.”
Ryan looked at Victor.
Victor slowly nodded.
“There are storage spaces under the boathouse.”
Margaret suddenly laughed.
Everyone turned.
“You won’t find anything.”
Alvarez looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because Claire was never as clever as she thought.”
Ryan stepped toward her.
“You’ve been there.”
Margaret smiled.
“Maybe.”
Emma stared at her mother.
“What did you do?”
Margaret ignored her.
Alvarez ordered an officer to place Margaret in handcuffs.
Margaret’s smile vanished.
“You can’t arrest me based on a child’s story.”
“We’re detaining you while we investigate allegations of assault, unlawful confinement, fraud, and attempted interference with a child.”
Margaret looked toward Victor.
“You think you’re safe?”
Victor said nothing.
She leaned closer.
“You paid for everything.”
Victor’s jaw tightened.
“I paid you. That was my mistake.”
“Your mistake?”
Margaret laughed.
“You begged me to keep Claire away from Ryan.”
Ryan turned.
Victor closed his eyes.
“Is that true?”
Victor looked at his son.
“I thought Claire would ruin your future.”
Ryan almost smiled from disbelief.
“My future.”
“I was wrong.”
“You decided who I should love.”
“Yes.”
“You helped fake her death.”
“I did not know Margaret would go that far.”
“But when you found out?”
Victor said nothing.
Ryan knew.
“You stayed quiet.”
Victor looked down.
“Yes.”
Ryan felt something inside him break.
Alvarez escorted Margaret toward the door.
Before leaving, she turned toward Emma.
“You think Ryan will forgive you because you cried?”
Emma stared.
Margaret smiled.
“He won’t.”
Then she looked at Ryan.
“And when Claire tells you the whole truth, you won’t forgive Victor either.”
She left.
The house became painfully quiet.
Ryan walked upstairs.
Lily and Mia were sitting on Lily’s bedroom floor.
Mrs. Dawson had given them crayons.
They were drawing.
Ryan stopped in the doorway.
Mia held up a picture.
Three stick figures.
A woman with dark hair.
A little girl.
A tall man.
Ryan’s throat tightened.
“Who’s that?”
Mia pointed.
“Mommy.”
Then herself.
Then him.
“Daddy.”
Lily leaned over.
“You forgot me.”
Mia frowned.
Then grabbed another crayon.
She added a smaller figure beside Ryan.
Lily smiled.
“And Mommy Emma.”
Mia stopped.
Silence.
Ryan saw fear return to her face.
He crouched.
“Mia, did Emma hurt you?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Did she lock you inside the wall?”
Mia hesitated.
“She said I had to hide.”
“Why?”
“Because Grandma was looking.”
Ryan glanced toward the hallway.
That was different.
Still terrible.
But different.
“Did Emma give you food?”
Mia nodded.
“Sometimes.”
“Why did Lily bring you food?”
Mia whispered, “Mommy Emma got scared.”
Ryan’s heart twisted at the name.
Mommy Emma.
“How long have you known Emma?”
Mia looked confused by the question.
“A long time.”
Ryan froze.
“How long?”
Mia pointed at Lily.
“Before her.”
Ryan stared.
Lily was four.
Mia was nearly five.
Emma had claimed she did not know Mia existed until after Claire escaped the facility.
Ryan stood slowly.
Another lie.
He went downstairs.
Emma looked up when he entered.
Ryan did not shout.
That frightened her more.
“Mia says she knew you before Lily was born.”
Emma stopped breathing.
Victor turned.
“What?”
Ryan walked closer.
“You said you didn’t know Mia existed until after Claire gave birth.”
Emma’s face collapsed.
“Ryan—”
“How did Mia know you before Lily was born?”
Emma began trembling.
“I can explain.”
“Do it.”
She pressed a hand over her mouth.
“Emma.”
“I visited Claire.”
Ryan stared.
“At the facility?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“Every month.”
Victor cursed.
Ryan’s voice became dangerously calm.
“You visited the woman I loved while she was locked away?”
“Yes.”
“You saw my daughter?”
“Yes.”
“You held her?”
Emma sobbed.
“Yes.”
“And then you came home to me.”
“Yes.”
“You dated me.”
“Yes.”
“You married me.”
“Yes.”
“You had Lily with me.”
“Yes.”
Ryan stepped back.
There was no anger on his face anymore.
Only devastation.
“Why?”
Emma looked at him.
“Because Claire asked me to.”
Ryan froze.
“What?”
Emma wiped her tears.
“Claire asked me to get close to you.”
No one spoke.
Ryan stared.
“That makes no sense.”
Emma nodded desperately.
“She wanted me to find out what your father knew. She wanted me to help her contact you.”
Ryan’s mind raced.
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because I fell in love with you.”
Victor looked away.
Emma continued.
“And when Claire realized it, she hated me.”
Ryan whispered, “What did you do?”
Emma closed her eyes.
“I stopped carrying her letters.”
Ryan’s face went white.
Letters.
Claire had written to him.
Emma had them.
“How many?”
“Ryan—”
“How many letters?”
Emma whispered, “Thirty-seven.”
Ryan stared at her.
Thirty-seven chances.
Thirty-seven pieces of Claire reaching toward him.
Thirty-seven times Emma had chosen silence.
“Where are they?”
“I burned most of them.”
Ryan closed his eyes.
“Most?”
Emma nodded.
“One is left.”
“Where?”
Emma glanced toward the hidden hallway.
May you like
Ryan understood.
Behind another wall.
