Chapter 3: The Letter Rebecca Left Behind
At 6:12 the next morning, I woke to the sound of someone crying outside my bedroom door.
Not loud sobbing.
Not the kind of crying that demanded attention.
This was quiet, careful crying, interrupted every few seconds by the soft scrape of a sleeve against a face.
I sat up.
For a moment, I wondered whether I had dreamed it.
Then I heard a whisper.
“Please don't send her away.””
I slipped out of bed and crossed the room.
When I opened the door, Lily stood in the hallway wearing the same oversized sweater from the night before.
Her hair was tangled. Her eyes were swollen, and she clutched a small stuffed rabbit against her chest.
She looked up at me.
“Are you leaving today?””
My throat tightened.
“Who told you that?””
“Mrs. Whitmore.””
She stared at the floor.
“She said you were bad and that you wouldn't be here anymore.””
I crouched in front of her.
“Lily, I haven't decided what I'm doing yet.””
“Please don't go.””
The words were so small that I almost didn't hear them.
She gripped the rabbit harder.
“Everyone leaves.””
I looked at her face.
“Who else left?””
She immediately shook her head.
“I'm not supposed to talk about it.””
“It's okay. You can talk to me.””
“No.”” Her eyes darted toward the staircase.
“Aunt Victoria says talking makes things worse.””
I took a slow breath.
“Lily, has anyone hurt you?””
She went completely still.
Then she looked at the rabbit.
Its left ear had been sewn back on with thick, uneven stitches. One black button eye was missing.
“My mom used to fix things,” she whispered.
I waited.
“She fixed this rabbit when its ear came off.””
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“She said broken things weren't bad things. They just needed someone to care about them.””
I felt something tighten painfully in my chest.
“Your mom sounds wonderful.””
“She was.””
Lily looked up at me.
“Do you think bad people can make good people disappear?””
I couldn't answer immediately.
The question was too carefully chosen, too heavy for a child her age.
“Sometimes people try to hide the truth,” I said finally.
“But that doesn't mean the truth disappears.””
Lily studied my face.
Then she leaned closer.
“There's a door in the west wing.””
I glanced toward the staircase.
“The west wing?””
She nodded.
“Mom used to take me there. Before the accident.””
My pulse quickened.
“What's behind the door?””
“A room with pictures. And a desk. And a big wooden box.””
She lowered her voice.
“Mom told me never to let Aunt Victoria find the key.””
Before I could ask another question, a woman's voice cut through the hallway.
“Lily!””
Victoria stood at the top of the staircase, already dressed in a cream-colored suit.
Her hair was perfect. Her makeup was flawless.
She looked as though she had slept peacefully while the rest of the house held its breath.
Lily recoiled.
Victoria descended the stairs.
“What are you doing outside Marissa's room?””
Lily clutched the rabbit.
“I was looking for water.””
“At six in the morning?””
“I was thirsty.””
“You were told not to disturb the staff.””
Victoria reached the bottom step.
Her gaze shifted to me.
“Apparently, my instructions have been difficult for both of you to understand.””
I stood.
“She's just a child.””
“And you are still employed here only because I haven't yet decided how to handle your insubordination.””
“Then perhaps you should decide quickly,” I said.
“Mr. Whitmore is on his way home.””
For the first time, Victoria's composure faltered.
Only for a second.
Then she reached into her pocket and took out a small white envelope.
“Your wages,” she said, holding it toward me.
“One month in advance. Consider it compensation for the inconvenience of your departure.””
I looked at the envelope.
“I haven't agreed to leave.””
“You signed no contract promising you permanent employment.””
“I also signed no agreement to watch a child being mistreated.””
Victoria's fingers tightened around the envelope.
“You're making a serious mistake.””
“No. I think I made a mistake when I believed your beautiful house meant you were a decent person.””
The words hung between us.
Lily stared at me.
Victoria's face flushed.
She dropped the envelope onto a nearby table.
“Get dressed. You have until eight to pack.””
Then she seized Lily's wrist.
The little girl cried out.
“Please, Aunt Victoria! It hurts!””
Victoria released her only when she noticed me watching.
“Go upstairs,” she ordered.
Lily hurried away, clutching her rabbit.
I waited until she disappeared around the corner.
Then I picked up the envelope and set it back on the table.
“I won't take your money.””
Victoria leaned toward me.
“Everyone has a price, Marissa. Yours is simply lower than you think.””
She walked away before I could answer.
I returned to my bedroom and locked the door.
My hands were shaking, but my mind was suddenly clear.
I could leave.
I could collect my wages, find another job, and tell myself that whatever happened inside the Whitmore mansion was beyond my control.
Or I could find out what Lily meant by the locked room in the west wing.
At 7:03, I heard the front doors open.
A man's voice echoed through the entrance hall.
“Where is my wife?””
Adrian Whitmore had returned.
I hurried into the hallway.
He stood beneath the chandelier in a dark suit, his overcoat still on his shoulders. His hair was disheveled, and deep shadows circled his eyes.
He looked older than the photographs in the drawing room.
A security guard followed him inside.
“Sir, Mrs. Whitmore asked that you wait in the study.””
Adrian turned.
“Did I ask what my wife wanted?””
“No, sir.””
“Then don't tell me what she wants.””
The guard stepped aside.
Adrian saw me.
“Marissa.””
“Mr. Whitmore.””
He crossed the hallway quickly.
“Are you all right?””
“Yes.””
“Did Victoria threaten you?””
I hesitated.
His expression hardened.
“Tell me the truth.””
“She fired me. She said she'd ruin me if I spoke about what I saw.””
Adrian closed his eyes briefly.
When he opened them, his gaze was fixed on the staircase.
“Where is Lily?””
“Upstairs, I think.””
He started toward the stairs.
Before he could reach them, Victoria appeared in the doorway of the drawing room.
“Adrian. You're home early.””
He stopped.
“I told you I was coming.””
“You sounded upset on the phone. I assumed you needed time to calm down.””
“Time to calm down?”” He stared at her.
“You made an eight-year-old eat from a pet bowl.””
Victoria folded her arms.
“You don't understand what happened.””
“Then explain it.””
“She was disrespectful.””
“So you humiliated her?””
“She needs discipline.””
Adrian took a step toward her.
“Discipline doesn't involve starving a child.””
Victoria laughed, but the sound was brittle.
“You've been away for months, Adrian. You have no idea what it takes to manage this house.””
“I know enough to recognize cruelty.””
“You weren't here when Rebecca died.””
The name silenced him.
I watched Adrian's face change.
Victoria noticed it too.
She straightened her shoulders and continued.
“You left me to handle everything. The funeral. The legal paperwork.
The child. You disappeared into your business trips, and I had to keep this family from falling apart.””
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“You told me Lily was being cared for.””
“She is.””
“Then why does she look like she's afraid to breathe?””
Victoria's eyes flicked toward me.
“Because your housekeeper has been filling her head with nonsense.””
“Marissa told me what she saw.””
“Marissa has been here for three weeks.””
“And you have been here for years. That makes what you've done worse, not better.””
Victoria's mouth opened.
Then closed.
For a moment, I thought Adrian might finally force her to face what she had done.
Instead, she stepped closer to him and lowered her voice.
“Be careful, Adrian. If you start pulling at old threads, you may discover things about your precious sister that you don't want to know.””
His expression turned cold.
“I already know what you told me about Rebecca.””
“Then you know she wasn't the innocent woman everyone remembers.””
Adrian looked at her for a long moment.
“Show me the guardianship papers.””
Victoria's face lost its color.
“Why?””
“Because Marissa tells me you aren't Lily's legal guardian.””
Silence filled the drawing room.
Victoria looked at me as if she wanted to tear the words from my mouth.
Then she turned to Adrian.
“This is absurd.””
“Show me the papers.””
“They're in my office.””
“Then get them.””
Victoria didn't move.
Adrian took out his phone.
“Fine. I'll call my attorney.””
That did it.
Victoria stepped forward.
“You wouldn't dare.””
“Try me.””
For several seconds, they stared at each other.
Then Victoria turned sharply and walked toward the west corridor.
“Come with me.””
Adrian followed.
I stayed behind until he glanced over his shoulder.
“Marissa, come too.””
The west wing was colder than the rest of the mansion.
The hallway was lined with dark wooden panels, and a thick layer of dust covered the furniture beneath the windows. At the far end stood a door with a brass handle and a heavy lock.
Victoria stopped beside it.
“My office is here.””
Adrian looked at the door.
“I thought your office was in the east wing.””
“It was. I moved it.””
“When?””
“After Rebecca died.””
She reached into her handbag and produced a key.
As she inserted it into the lock, I noticed a small brass plate beside the door.
The name on it had been scratched almost completely away.
Only three letters remained.
*REB.*
Victoria turned the key.
The door opened.
Inside was a study that looked as though someone had left it in the middle of an ordinary afternoon and never returned.
A desk stood beside the window. Books filled the shelves. A framed photograph lay face down on a side table.
Dust covered the lampshades, but the desktop had been recently wiped clean.
Adrian walked straight to the desk.
“Where are the guardianship papers?””
Victoria opened a drawer and pulled out a folder.
“Here.””
He took it from her.
I watched him read the first page.
Then the second.
His expression changed.
“What's this?””
Victoria's voice sharpened.
“What?””
“This document says Rebecca's parental rights were transferred to you before her death.””
“She signed it.””
Adrian looked up.
“Why?””
“Because she was unwell.””
“Rebecca was never declared incompetent.””
“She was struggling after Lily was born.””
“That doesn't explain this.””
He turned another page.
Then another.
His hand began to tremble.
“Where is the original?””
Victoria reached for the folder.
“That's all there is.””
Adrian pulled it away.
“Who witnessed this?””
“Her attorney.””
“Which attorney?””
“Adrian, please. You're turning a simple matter into a spectacle.””
He pointed to the signature.
“This isn't Rebecca's handwriting.””
Victoria went still.
I stared at the page.
The signature was written in dark blue ink. The letters looked smooth and practiced, but the final stroke was unusually sharp.
Adrian opened a drawer and removed a photograph.
It showed Rebecca standing beside a window, holding a baby wrapped in a yellow blanket.
Lily.
On the back, someone had written a date.
Two months after the supposed guardianship transfer.
Adrian looked from the photograph to the document.
“Rebecca was still making decisions for Lily after this was supposedly signed.””
Victoria's face hardened.
“She changed her mind.””
“Then where is the amended document?””
“I don't know.””
“You expect me to believe that?””
“I expect you to stop treating me like a criminal!””
Her voice cracked through the room.
Adrian didn't flinch.
“You've hidden my niece from me for two years. You've told me she was receiving proper care. And now I discover that the papers giving you control of her may be forged.””
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
But I noticed she didn't wipe them away.
She looked directly at me.
“This is what happens when servants are allowed to interfere in family matters.””
Adrian stepped between us.
“Don't speak to her.””
Victoria gave a short, disbelieving laugh.
“You're choosing a housekeeper over your own wife?””
“I'm choosing the truth.””
She stared at him.
Then she turned toward the desk and swept a stack of papers onto the floor.
“Fine! You want the truth? Ask your precious housekeeper what she was doing outside this room last night.””
My heart lurched.
Adrian looked at me.
“What is she talking about?””
“Nothing,” I said.
Victoria smiled.
“She found something. I could see it on her face.””
I shook my head.
“I didn't take anything.””
“Then you won't mind if we search your room.””
Adrian's voice became dangerously quiet.
“Enough.””
But Victoria was no longer listening.
She walked to the bookshelf, pulled out a thick leather-bound book, and pressed a hidden latch behind it.
A narrow compartment opened in the wall.
Inside sat a small wooden box.
Victoria reached for it.
Adrian caught her wrist.
“Don't.””
For the first time, real panic crossed her face.
“Let go of me.””
“What is in that box?””
“Nothing that concerns you.””
“Then open it.””
She struggled against his grip.
“Adrian, you have no idea what you're doing.””
He released her and took the box from the compartment.
It was locked.
A small brass keyhole sat beneath the lid.
I remembered Lily's words.
Mom told me never to let Aunt Victoria find the key.
My eyes moved to the damaged stuffed rabbit in the photograph on the desk.
No. Not the photograph.
The rabbit Lily had carried that morning.
The missing button eye.
The uneven stitches.
I suddenly understood.
“Mr. Whitmore,” I said, “I think Lily may have the key.””
Both of them turned toward me.
Victoria's face went white.
Adrian stared at the box.
Then he looked at the door.
“Bring Lily here.””
“No!”” Victoria shouted.
The word erupted from her with such force that everyone froze.
She quickly tried to recover.
“I mean, she's a child. She doesn't need to be dragged into this.””
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Why are you so afraid of a key?””
Victoria backed away from the desk.
“I am not afraid.””
“Then we have nothing to worry about.””
He walked to the doorway and called for the house manager.
“Eleanor! Please bring Lily to the west wing.””
No one answered.
He called again.
Footsteps hurried along the corridor.
Eleanor appeared in the doorway, pale and breathless.
“Sir?””
“Where is Lily?””
Eleanor looked at Victoria.
Then at Adrian.
“I thought she was in her room.””
Victoria let out a short laugh.
“Well, she isn't.””
Adrian's expression changed.
“What do you mean?””
Victoria walked toward the desk and picked up her handbag.
“She left.””
“Left where?””
“I don't know. Perhaps she went looking for Marissa.””
I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Lily wouldn't leave the house alone.””
“Wouldn't she?”” Victoria asked.
“Children do unpredictable things.””
Adrian stepped toward her.
“If anything has happened to that child—”
“Don't threaten me!””
He stopped.
For a moment, the only sound in the room was the ticking of a small clock on the mantel.
Then Eleanor spoke.
“Sir, I need to tell you something.””
Victoria turned sharply.
“Eleanor, don't.””
The older woman trembled, but she remained where she stood.
“I've kept quiet for too long.””
Adrian looked at her.
“Tell me.””
Eleanor swallowed.
“Lily has never been allowed to enter this room since Rebecca died. But last week, I found her standing outside the door. She told me her mother had left something here for her.””
Victoria's lips parted.
Eleanor continued.
“She said her mother told her that if anything happened to her, she must find the box and give it to Adrian.””
Adrian's fingers tightened around the wooden box.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because Mrs. Whitmore said Lily was imagining things. And because I was afraid I'd lose my job.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I'm sorry, sir.””
Adrian looked down at the box.
Then he turned toward Victoria.
“You knew Rebecca left something behind.””
Victoria said nothing.
“You knew Lily was looking for it.””
Still nothing.
“And you knew exactly what was inside.””
Victoria's face became rigid.
“You have no proof of anything.””
Adrian held up the locked box.
“Then let's find out.””
A sudden crash sounded from somewhere below.
We all turned toward the corridor.
A security guard shouted from the entrance hall.
“Mr. Whitmore! Sir!””
Adrian hurried out of the room.
I followed him, with Eleanor close behind.
Victoria remained by the desk.
For one second, I glanced back.
She was standing beside the hidden compartment, staring at the empty space where the box had been.
Her hands were shaking.
Then she looked directly at me.
Her lips moved.
I couldn't hear her over the commotion below.
But I understood the words.
You have no idea.
At the bottom of the staircase, Adrian stood beside the open front door.
A security guard held a small pink backpack.
Mud stained its bottom. One strap had torn loose.
Adrian took it with trembling hands.
“Where did you find this?””
“Near the east gate, sir.””
“Was there anyone with it?””
“No, sir.””
Adrian opened the bag.
Inside lay a half-eaten packet of crackers, a small sweater, and Lily's stuffed rabbit's missing button eye.
My knees nearly gave way.
“She didn't leave voluntarily,” I whispered.
Adrian looked at me.
“Why would you say that?””
“Because she wouldn't leave her rabbit behind.””
He stared at the bag.
Then he reached into the front pocket and removed a folded piece of paper.
The handwriting was childish and uneven.
*MR. ADRIAN,*
*IF YOU FIND THIS, PLEASE DON'T LET AUNT VICTORIA TAKE ME BACK.*
Beneath the words was a small drawing of a door.
May you like
And beside it, in shaky letters, was a sentence that made the entire hallway fall silent.
*MOM IS NOT DEAD THE WAY THEY TOLD YOU.*
