Chapter 6: The Woman at the Door
The darkness swallowed the room.
For one second, nobody breathed.
Then I heard the unmistakable sound of a key turning in the front door downstairs.
Nick grabbed my hand.
“Stay behind me.””
“I’m not hiding behind you,” I whispered.
Another sound followed.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Unhurried.
Someone was walking through the house as though they belonged there.
Ruth reached for her phone.
“No signal.””
Nick pulled his out.
“Neither do I.””
The footsteps stopped.
I could hear rain beating against the windows.
Then came three soft knocks on the library door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
My heart slammed against my ribs.
Nick stepped in front of me.
“Who is it?””
No answer.
He looked at Ruth.
Her face had gone completely gray.
“Ruth?””
She swallowed.
“Don't open it.””
Another knock.
This time louder.
Nick reached for the door.
“Nick,” Ruth warned.
He ignored her.
His fingers closed around the handle.
Before he could turn it, a woman's voice came from the other side.
“Nicholas?””
Nick froze.
I felt his hand tighten around mine.
He looked at Ruth.
“Who is that?””
Ruth whispered a name.
“Laura.””
Nick's face changed.
He pulled the door open.
A woman stood in the hallway.
She was older than the woman in the photograph, perhaps in her sixties, with rainwater dripping from a dark coat and strands of silver hair plastered against her cheeks.
She looked exhausted.
Terrified.
And very much alive.
Her eyes found Nick.
For several seconds, she simply stared at him.
Then she whispered,
“Your father would be so proud of you.””
Nick stopped breathing.
I watched his entire expression collapse.
“You knew my father?””
Laura nodded.
“I knew him better than anyone.””
Nick stepped into the hallway.
“Who are you?””
She looked at Ruth.
“You didn't tell him?””
Ruth shook her head.
“I didn't know if you'd survived.””
Laura gave a bitter smile.
“I barely did.””
Nick looked between them.
“Someone needs to start explaining.””
Laura took one step toward him.
“Martha knows I'm here.””
Ruth's eyes widened.
“What?””
“She called me.””
“When?””
“An hour ago.””
My skin prickled.
“Martha called you?””
Laura nodded.
“She said she needed to see me before Nick opened the vault.””
Nick's jaw clenched.
“She knew we'd come here.””
Laura looked directly at him.
“She always knows.””
A noise downstairs made all three of us turn.
The front door creaked.
Laura whispered, “She's here.””
Nick stepped toward the staircase.
“No.””
Laura caught his arm.
“You don't understand.””
“I understand enough.””
“Then listen to me.””
Nick stopped.
Laura looked at the vault.
“What you found isn't the whole story.””
Ruth closed the library door.
“Tell him.””
Laura looked at me.
“You must be Emily.””
I nodded.
“Yes.””
Her expression softened.
“I've heard about you.””
“From Martha?””
“No.””
She looked at the wedding braid still uneven around my neck.
“From your husband.””
My throat tightened.
“Then you know what happened tonight.””
“I know exactly what happened.””
Laura walked into the library and closed the door behind her.
“Martha was desperate.””
Nick folded his arms.
“What was she trying to find?””
Laura looked toward the wooden box with my name on it.
“The original agreement.””
Nick frowned.
“What agreement?””
“The one your grandmother made with your father.””
Ruth interrupted.
“I thought that agreement was destroyed.””
Laura shook her head.
“Martha thought it was.””
She reached into her coat and removed a small plastic sleeve.
Inside was a photograph.
Not old enough to match the others.
It showed a younger Martha standing beside a man I recognized immediately from the portraits.
Nick's father.
They weren't smiling.
Martha was holding a stack of documents.
Nick stared at the image.
“Why would they be meeting?””
Laura answered softly.
“Because your father had discovered where the money was going.””
Nick's eyes hardened.
“Where?””
Laura looked at me.
“Into Catherine's family.””
Nick's expression changed.
“What?””
“Martha had been moving company funds.””
Ruth nodded slowly.
“That was the real reason your father left.””
Nick stared at Laura.
“You're saying my mother stole from the company?””
“She called it borrowing.””
“How much?””
Laura hesitated.
“Enough to put your father in danger.””
Silence.
I felt Nick's fingers curl into his palms.
“How did you know?””
“I worked for your father.””
“As what?””
“His accountant.””
Ruth exhaled.
“And that's why Martha wanted you gone.””
Laura nodded.
“She knew I had copies.””
Nick took a step closer.
“Copies of what?””
“Bank transfers. Contracts. Letters.””
She pointed toward the black briefcase.
“Everything in there.””
Nick opened the briefcase.
Inside were folders marked with dates.
He pulled out the first.
His father's handwriting covered the front.
*M. CARTER — TRANSFERS*
Nick opened it.
The first page listed account numbers and amounts.
His eyes moved rapidly down the page.
Then stopped.
“That's Catherine's father's company.””
Laura nodded.
“She was financing the relationship.””
Nick looked sick.
“All those years…”
“She wanted you dependent on her,” Laura said.
“Marriage to Catherine would have protected the arrangement.””
“But my grandmother stopped it.””
“She tried.””
Nick looked at the papers.
“Then why didn't she expose Martha?””
Laura's expression changed.
“Because Martha threatened you.””
Nick looked up.
“What?””
“She said if your father went to the police, she'd disappear with you.””
Ruth closed her eyes.
“I didn't know that.””
Laura stared at the floor.
“Neither did I until later.””
Nick's voice cracked.
“Did my father leave to protect me?””
“Yes.””
“Then why didn't he tell me?””
“Because Martha made him believe you'd be safer if you hated him.””
I could barely breathe.
“That's what she told Nick?””
Laura nodded.
“She told him your father abandoned you.””
Nick leaned against the desk.
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
Then he whispered,
“She stole my father.””
Laura shook her head.
“No.””
She looked at him.
“She stole your memory of him.””
A sound came from downstairs.
A drawer opening.
Nick straightened.
“She's inside.””
Laura nodded.
“Then we have minutes.””
“Minutes for what?””
“For you to see the last document.””
She reached into the briefcase and pulled out a thin red folder.
“This is what Martha has been searching for.””
Nick took it.
On the front was a handwritten note.
*Open only after Nicholas is married.*
Nick looked at me.
My pulse quickened.
“Why after marriage?””
Laura answered.
“Because your grandmother knew your mother would interfere with the wedding.””
“She planned for this?””
“Yes.””
I whispered, “She knew Martha would hurt me?””
“She knew Martha would hurt anyone standing between her and control.””
Nick opened the folder.
The first page was a legal document.
The second was a letter.
The third made him go completely still.
“What?””
He turned the page toward me.
At the bottom was a signature.
My name.
But I had never signed it.
“That's my signature,” I whispered.
Laura's face darkened.
“No.””
Nick stared.
“It looks exactly like hers.””
“It was forged.””
“By whom?””
Laura looked toward the hallway.
“Martha.””
My stomach dropped.
“Why would she forge my signature?””
Laura's eyes met mine.
“To make it look like you agreed to something.””
Nick turned another page.
His face changed.
“Emily.””
I stepped closer.
“What?””
He showed me the document.
It was a marriage-related financial agreement.
But there was a clause I hadn't expected.
*In the event that the marriage is dissolved, all rights to the Carter trust shall revert to Martha Carter.*
My blood ran cold.
“What?””
Laura nodded.
“She forged your signature before your wedding.””
“But why?””
“Because she planned to destroy your marriage.””
Nick looked at the date.
It was eight months earlier.
Before our wedding invitations had even been mailed.
Before we'd booked the restaurant.
Before Martha had pretended to accept our relationship.
Nick stared at the page.
“She planned this from the beginning.””
Laura nodded.
“She needed one thing from Emily.””
I looked at her.
“What?””
“A reason for the trust to return to Martha.””
I shook my head.
“But I never signed anything.””
“You don't need to,” Laura said.
“Not if she could convince everyone you did.””
A noise came from the hallway.
Someone was approaching.
Nick closed the folder.
The footsteps stopped outside the library.
Then Martha spoke through the door.
“Nick.””
Nobody answered.
Her voice became softer.
“Please open the door.””
Nick stared at me.
I shook my head.
Martha knocked.
“You don't understand what you're reading.””
Laura whispered, “Don't let her in.””
Martha's voice cracked.
“If you open that red folder, you will destroy your father's name.””
Nick's expression hardened.
“You already destroyed it.””
Silence.
Then Martha said something that made Laura's face go white.
“I didn't forge Emily's signature.””
Nick looked at the door.
“Then who did?””
Martha answered,
“Your father.””
Laura staggered backward.
“No.””
Martha continued.
“He signed it before he disappeared.””
Nick opened the door.
Martha stood on the other side.
She looked directly at Laura.
May you like
And smiled.
“Hello, sister.””
