Chapter 13 - THE SECRET FROM THE PAST
I kicked the drive across the concrete floor. It slid to a stop at Vanessa’s feet. She bent to pick it up, her eyes never leaving mine. She handed it to one of the men and nodded, and he stepped toward a laptop sitting open on a crate nearby.
“Check it,” she said. “Make sure it is all there.”
While he typed, she turned her gaze back to me. There was no warmth left. No pretense. Just pure, unmasked hatred.
“You ruined everything,” she said. “Everything I built. Everything I deserved. I was going to be a mother to him. I was going to give him status. Security. A name people respected. And you… you had to dig up the past.”
“Why did you hurt that little girl?” I asked quietly. “The one who died.”
Vanessa flinched. Her finger tightened on the trigger. “An accident.”
“It was not an accident, was it?” I pressed. “She would not obey you. She would not call you ‘Mom.’ So you punished her. And she fell. And your father helped you bury it.”
Vanessa went very still. For a long moment, the only sound was the tapping of keys and Olivia’s ragged breathing behind the gag. Then Vanessa laughed—a sharp, bitter, terrible sound.
“She was weak,” Vanessa said. “Just like Noah. Just like all of you. You think you know pain? You think you know what it is to be overlooked? To be compared constantly? Olivia was always the good daughter. I was always the difficult one. So I decided… I would make my own perfect family. One that obeyed. One that adored me. No dead wife standing in the way. No stubborn little boy remembering someone else’s name.”
She leaned forward, her voice dropping to a whisper.
“And that girl… she did fall. But not before she told me she hated me. Just like Noah did. Children who hate you… must be taught to love you. Even if it hurts. Your wife knew. She came to me before she died. She told me she would never let me replace her. So I had to make certain she was silenced first. But she left that bear. That stupid bear.”
The man at the laptop looked up suddenly. “Vanessa… these are copies. The originals are not here.”
Everything stopped.
Vanessa’s face twisted. She spun back toward me, the gun trembling in her hand. “Where are they?”
“Safe,” I said. “And if I do not return… every single file goes to every news station, every prosecutor, and every judge in this state. You have copies, Vanessa. But you do not have the originals. You will never silence the truth.”
May you like
She stared at me. Fury warring with fear. Then her expression hardened into something terrifying.
“Then I will take the boy,” she said. “If you will not give me the files… I will take the one thing you care about more than anything else. And I will make him love me. Or I will make him disappear. Just like the little girl. Just like your wife almost did.”
