Chapter 6: The Truth Vanessa Carried
Vanessa stood at the edge of the garden.
She wasn’t angry.
That was the first thing I noticed.
I had expected anger.
A lecture.
A warning.
Something sharp enough to make me regret finding the letter.
But she just stood there beneath the old tree, her face pale, her hands hanging at her sides.
Like she had been walking toward this moment for years.
“You found it,” she said.
My grip tightened around the paper.
“You knew it was here.””
Vanessa looked at the letter.
“Yes.””
The honesty shocked me.
No denial.
No excuse.
Just yes.
“How long?””
She looked away.
“Since the day your father buried it.””
The words hit me.
“Then why didn’t you take it?””
Her eyes moved back to mine.
“Because I promised him I wouldn’t.””
I laughed quietly.
A bitter sound.
“You promised my father a lot of things.””
The hurt on her face was brief.
But I saw it.
“You think I wanted any of this?””
“I don’t know what to think anymore.””
“That’s fair.””
The answer caught me off guard.
Vanessa had never said something like that before.
No argument.
No defense.
Just acceptance.
I stood up slowly.
The letter shook in my hand.
“My father said you were there when my mother died.””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
“I was.””
“And you never told me.””
“No.””
“Why?””
She looked toward the house.
Because somehow, even now, she couldn’t look directly at me.
“Because your father asked me not to.””
I felt anger rise again.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
“He was trying to protect you.””
“You keep using that word.””
“Because it’s true.””
“No.””
My voice cracked.
“Protecting me would have been telling me the truth.””
Vanessa looked at me.
“You were eight years old.””
“I’m seventeen now.””
“I know.””
“Then why am I still being treated like a child?””
She didn’t answer.
The silence was the answer.
I looked down at the letter.
“The bottom part is missing.””
Vanessa’s face changed.
A small movement.
But enough.
“You know about that too.””
“Yes.””
“Who tore it?””
Her eyes moved away.
“I don’t know.””
I stared at her.
“You expect me to believe that?””
“I expect you to understand that there are things I don’t know.””
“That’s impossible.””
“No, Nia.””
Her voice became softer.
“That’s what you need to understand.””
She walked closer.
“You think everyone around you has been hiding one big secret. One simple answer.””
She pointed at the letter.
“But this?””
“This is five years of people making choices because they were scared.””
I looked at her.
“Scared of what?””
Vanessa stopped.
Then she said:
“Of losing you.””
The words hurt more than I expected.
Because they sounded almost like love.
And I didn’t know what to do with that.
We went inside the house.
For the first time in five years, Vanessa walked through my mother’s home without pretending it didn’t exist.
She sat at the kitchen table.
The same table where my mother used to cut apples into little pieces because she knew I hated biting into whole fruit.
I stayed standing.
I didn’t trust myself to sit.
“Tell me everything.””
Vanessa looked down.
“I can’t tell you everything.””
I almost walked away.
“Why not?””
“Because some things aren’t mine to tell.””
I laughed.
“Of course.””
“Nia.””
“No, seriously.””
I held up the letter.
“My father wrote this for me. My mother was involved. You were there. Everyone knows pieces.””
My voice shook.
“And somehow I’m still the last person who gets the truth.””
Vanessa took a deep breath.
“Your mother and I were best friends.””
I said nothing.
“She was the person who helped me when my own family fell apart.””
That surprised me.
Vanessa?
Needing help?
I had never imagined her as someone who needed anyone.
“She knew me before I became this person.””
“What person?””
Vanessa gave a sad smile.
“The person you hate.””
I looked away.
Because I didn’t know if I hated her anymore.
I hated what she did.
I hated the secrets.
But the person sitting across from me looked nothing like the villain I had created.
“She knew about my father.””
Vanessa nodded.
“Yes.””
“What did she know?””
“That he was keeping something from her.””
My chest tightened.
“What?””
Vanessa looked at the window.
“Your father had been investigating something.””
“Investigating?””
“Yes.””
“Like what?””
She hesitated.
“Money.””
I frowned.
“Money?””
“Your father discovered missing money from a business account.””
I stared.
“My father wasn’t a businessman.””
“No.””
Vanessa folded her hands.
“But he trusted people too easily.””
“Who?””
She looked at me.
“I can’t say.””
“Why?””
“Because I don’t know enough.””
“You know more than me.””
“That doesn’t mean I know the truth.””
I hated that answer.
Because it sounded reasonable.
And I didn’t want reasonable.
I wanted someone to blame.
I wanted someone to say:
Here.
This person ruined your family.
But Vanessa wouldn’t give me that.
“My mother found out?””
“Yes.””
“What did she do?””
“She confronted the person responsible.””
“And?””
Vanessa looked down.
“And everything changed.””
The room felt colder.
“Was that why she died?””
Vanessa didn’t answer.
That was enough.
I walked away from the table.
“No.””
“Nia.””
“No.””
I turned back.
“You don’t get to sit there and say half the truth.””
“I know.””
“Then stop.””
Vanessa looked exhausted.
“I was there that night because your mother called me.””
“Why?””
“Because she was scared.””
“Of what?””
“Of someone finding out what she knew.””
I swallowed.
“Who?””
Vanessa’s eyes filled with something I had never seen before.
Regret.
“She didn’t tell me.””
“Why?””
“Because she said if I knew, I would become involved.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“And she was right.””
Vanessa looked down.
“Yes.””
When I got home that evening, Caleb was waiting.
He was sitting on the stairs.
“You found her.””
I stopped.
“How did you know?””
“Vanessa called me.””
My eyebrows lifted.
“She called you?””
He nodded.
“She said you deserved answers.””
That was strange.
Very strange.
Because Vanessa had spent years preventing me from asking questions.
“She changed.””
Caleb looked down.
“No.””
“What?””
“She didn’t change.””
I stared at him.
“She stopped pretending.””
That sentence stayed with me.
I sat beside him.
“Caleb.””
He looked over.
“Do you know who sent the messages?””
He shook his head.
“No.””
“But you have a guess.””
A pause.
Then:
“Yes.””
“Who?””
He looked toward the living room.
“Someone who was there the night Dad died.””
My heart stopped.
“You know who?””
“I think so.””
“Caleb.””
He rubbed his face.
“I saw something.””
“What?””
“The night Dad died.””
I turned toward him.
“You said you were asleep.””
“I was supposed to be.””
My voice lowered.
“What did you see?””
He swallowed.
“I saw Vanessa leaving.””
My body went still.
“What?””
“After Dad left.””
“When?””
“The night of the accident.””
I stared at him.
“You never told anyone?””
He shook his head.
“Dad told me not to.””
“Caleb.””
“He said Vanessa wasn’t the person I thought she was.””
My stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?””
“I don’t know.””
“Then why are you telling me now?””
He looked at me.
“Because I think someone else knows.””
“What?””
He handed me his phone.
There was another message.
Not from the same unknown number.
A different one.
This time there was no picture.
Just a warning.
*Stop looking for answers, Nia.*
Then another message appeared.
*Your father died because he trusted the wrong person.*
I looked at Caleb.
“Who sent that?””
He shook his head.
“I don’t know.””
My phone buzzed.
A new message.
Same unknown sender from before.
But this one was different.
Because it included a name.
*If you want the truth about your mother, meet me tomorrow.*
My hands went cold.
Then the location appeared.
A place I knew.
A place that made my heart stop.
The hospital where my father died.
May you like
And underneath the address were four words:
*Come alone, Nia.*
