Chapter 8: The Woman Behind the Curtains
Emily stared at Karen.
For years, she had known that face.
The gentle smile.
The calm voice.
The woman who always remembered Emily’s favorite dessert.
The woman who sat beside her during thunderstorms when she was little and told her scary stories were only scary because people didn’t know the ending.
Karen had never been the mother Emily lost.
But she had been the closest thing she had.
And now she was standing at the top of the staircase like a stranger.
“I can explain.””
The same words again.
Emily almost smiled.
Almost.
“Everyone keeps saying that.””
Karen slowly walked down the stairs.
Her hands were raised slightly.
Not surrender.
Not exactly.
More like she was afraid any sudden movement would make Emily disappear.
“Emily.””
“Don’t.””
Karen stopped.
The entire room watched them.
Robert.
Daniel.
Margaret.
Everyone waiting for the next secret.
Emily looked at Karen.
“How long?””
Karen swallowed.
“How long what?””
“How long have you known?””
Karen’s eyes dropped.
That was the answer.
Emily nodded slowly.
“Right.””
She laughed softly.
“I don’t even know why I’m surprised anymore.””
Karen reached the bottom step.
“I didn’t know everything.””
Emily looked at her.
“But you knew something.””
“Yes.””
The honesty hurt.
More than another lie would have.
“What did you know?””
Karen looked at Robert.
He didn’t speak.
For once, he didn’t protect her.
Emily noticed.
“You’re on your own now.””
Karen looked back.
“I knew Evelyn left something behind.””
“What?””
“The truth.””
Emily shook her head.
“That means nothing.””
Karen took a breath.
“When I married Robert, I thought I was joining a wealthy family.””
She looked around the mansion.
“I didn’t know I was walking into a war.””
Daniel crossed his arms.
“You knew enough to stay quiet.””
Karen looked at him.
“You disappeared.””
“And you helped them bury her.””
Karen flinched.
Emily turned.
“Her?””
The room became silent.
Karen closed her eyes.
“Evelyn.””
Emily felt her chest tighten.
“You knew what happened to my mother?””
“No.””
The answer came quickly.
“I didn’t know she would die.””
Emily stared.
“Would?””
Karen looked terrified.
“I knew something was going to happen.””
The words were barely audible.
Emily stepped closer.
“What does that mean?””
Karen looked toward the window.
The storm had become heavier.
“I started working for Robert eight years after Evelyn died.””
Emily frowned.
“What?””
Karen nodded.
“I wasn’t his wife then.””
She looked at Robert.
“I was his assistant.””
Robert’s expression changed.
Emily noticed.
Another hidden piece.
Karen continued.
“Robert was obsessed with finding something.””
“The trust.””
“Yes.””
Emily looked around.
“The house.””
Karen nodded.
“Evelyn had hidden evidence here.””
“What evidence?””
“Enough to destroy powerful people.””
Daniel looked at her.
“Arthur Whitmore.””
Karen nodded.
“And others.””
Emily felt a chill.
“So you helped Robert search.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Karen looked ashamed.
“Because I didn’t know the truth.””
She paused.
“Not at first.””
Emily studied her.
“And when you found out?””
Karen looked at Robert.
“I tried to leave.””
Robert’s expression hardened.
“Karen.””
She ignored him.
“I found documents.””
“What documents?””
“The original agreement.””
Margaret’s eyes widened.
“The ownership papers?””
Karen nodded.
“Yes.””
Emily looked at her.
“And you knew the house would belong to me?””
Karen nodded slowly.
“Yes.””
The answer landed heavily.
“You knew.””
“Yes.””
“Then why did you help him throw me out?””
Karen’s eyes filled with tears.
“I didn’t.””
Emily stared.
“You were there.””
“I was.””
“You closed the curtains.””
Karen looked devastated.
“I did.””
“Why?””
A long silence.
Then Karen whispered:
“Because I was trying to protect you.””
Emily froze.
The sentence sounded impossible.
“Protect me by making me stand outside in the snow?””
Karen shook her head.
“No.””
She looked toward the window.
“I closed the curtains because someone was watching.””
Everyone went still.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Who?””
Karen’s voice dropped.
“I don’t know.””
Emily frowned.
“What do you mean?””
“I saw a reflection.””
She pointed toward the glass.
“Across the driveway.””
Emily remembered.
That moment.
The curtain.
The darkness.
She thought Karen was rejecting her.
But maybe…
Karen had been hiding her.
“There was someone outside?””
Karen nodded.
“Someone with a camera.””
Robert looked shocked.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
Karen laughed bitterly.
“You think I didn’t?””
Robert said nothing.
Karen looked at Emily.
“I told him.””
Emily turned toward Robert.
“And?””
Karen’s eyes filled.
“He told me to forget it.””
The room became silent.
Emily looked at Robert.
“Why?””
Robert didn’t answer.
Because he had no answer.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Because he knew who it was.””
Robert looked at him.
“Careful.””
“No.””
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“Not anymore.””
He looked at Emily.
“Robert has spent years pretending he was protecting you.””
A pause.
“But he was protecting the secret.””
Emily turned back.
“Is that true?””
Robert looked exhausted.
“I was trying to keep you alive.””
“By hiding everything?””
“Yes.””
Emily stared.
“Then you failed.””
The words hurt him.
She saw it.
But she didn’t take them back.
A sudden sound interrupted them.
A crash.
From the east wing.
Everyone turned.
The hidden room.
Daniel moved first.
Emily followed.
They rushed upstairs.
The door was open.
Emily stopped.
She knew she had closed it.
Inside, everything had been disturbed.
Documents scattered across the floor.
The desk drawers open.
The blue notebook missing.
Someone had searched the room.
Margaret whispered:
“No.””
Emily stepped inside.
The place where her mother’s memories lived had been violated.
She looked around.
Then she noticed something.
The wall behind the desk.
A small gap.
Something had been removed.
“What was here?””
Nobody answered.
Karen stepped forward.
“The final file.””
Emily turned.
“What file?””
Karen looked at Robert.
His face changed.
“Karen.””
“What file?””
Karen swallowed.
“The one Evelyn hid because she knew someone would come looking.””
Emily felt a chill.
“What was inside?””
Karen’s voice shook.
“The proof of who was responsible for the accident.””
Everyone froze.
Emily whispered:
“The accident.””
The night her mother died.
The night everything changed.
Margaret moved toward the empty space.
“It’s gone.””
Emily looked around.
The thief had taken the file.
But not everything.
Something remained.
A small piece of paper stuck beneath the desk.
Emily pulled it free.
Only one sentence.
Written in red ink.
*You’re closer than your mother ever was.*
Below it was a symbol.
A symbol Emily recognized.
From her childhood.
A small circle with a line through the center.
Her mother used to draw it on birthday cards.
Emily looked at Daniel.
“What is this?””
His face went pale.
“Where did you find that?””
“Why?””
Daniel took a step back.
“Because that symbol belonged to someone who should have been dead.””
Emily felt cold.
“Who?””
Daniel stared at the mark.
Then whispered:
“Thomas Reed.””
The room went silent.
Emily’s phone vibrated.
Everyone looked.
A new message.
Unknown number.
*You finally found the room.*
Another message appeared.
*Now find the grave.*
Emily stared.
A third message.
*Your father is not the only person who lied about dying.*
She looked up.
Daniel was gone.
Everyone turned.
The doorway was empty.
“Where did he go?””
No one answered.
Then Margaret pointed toward the window.
Outside, beyond the snow-covered garden…
A figure was walking away from the mansion.
Emily ran to the glass.
The figure stopped.
Turned.
And looked directly at her.
Even from that distance, she recognized him.
The man from the photograph.
The man whose voice she had heard on the phone.
The man everyone said was dead.
Thomas Reed.
Emily whispered:
“My father…”
The figure lifted a hand.
Not waving.
Warning.
Then disappeared into the storm.
Behind Emily, Robert spoke.
And this time, his voice held no anger.
Only fear.
“Emily…”
She turned.
“What?””
Robert looked at the empty doorway where Daniel had vanished.
“The person who called you…”
A pause.
“He isn’t your father.””
Emily’s heart stopped.
Robert continued:
“Because Thomas Reed never died.””
He looked toward the storm.
“He was never the man your mother was running from.””
A silence.
May you like
Then:
“He was the man she was running from because she knew what he really was.””
