Chapter 4: The Truth Hidden in the Letters
I stared at the document.
The words blurred.
My mother ran away.
Those four words felt heavier than anything I had ever heard.
Mr. Bennett grabbed the paper.
“This is fake.””
The woman smiled.
“You always did hate accepting the truth.””
“Get out, Vanessa.””
Her name hit me.
Vanessa.
The name from the text message.
The person who wanted me silent.
She looked at me.
“You should ask him why your mother was afraid of him.””
My chest tightened.
“No.””
The word came from Mr. Bennett.
Not angry.
Terrified.
Vanessa stepped closer.
“She knew what kind of man he was.””
“That’s a lie,” he said.
“Is it?””
She placed another file on the desk.
“Read the letters.””
My hands moved before my brain could stop them.
Inside were pages written in my mother’s handwriting.
I knew it instantly.
The loops in the letters.
The way she crossed her t’s.
My eyes filled with tears.
But then I read the first sentence.
Ethan,
If anything happens to me, do not let him find Amara.
I stopped breathing.
Mr. Bennett looked shocked.
Vanessa watched me carefully.
I read more.
My mother wrote about fear.
About someone following her.
About protecting me.
But she never mentioned running away.
She never said she hated my father.
She said one name repeatedly.
Vanessa.
I looked up.
“She was afraid of you.””
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
For the first time, she looked nervous.
Mr. Bennett stepped forward.
“You were involved.””
Vanessa laughed.
“You still don’t understand.””
“Understand what?””
She looked at me.
“Your mother discovered something.””
“What?””
She didn’t answer.
Instead, she pulled out another photograph.
This one was different.
It showed my mother standing beside another man.
A man I had never seen.
“This was taken the week before she disappeared.””
Mr. Bennett looked at it.
His expression changed.
Because he recognized him.
“Who is he?””
Nobody answered.
Then the office phone rang.
Mr. Bennett picked it up.
His face changed after only a few seconds.
“What?””
He listened.
Then slowly lowered the phone.
“What happened?”” I asked.
He looked at me.
“The police found something.””
My heart raced.
“Found what?””
He looked at the photograph.
Then at me.
“They found your mother’s old storage box.””
I stepped closer.
“Where?””
May you like
His voice became quiet.
“In the house where she disappeared.””
