Chapter 8: The Person Behind Nicole
Dad didn’t sleep.
Again.
But this time, neither did I.
The name on the letter stayed in my head.
*Daniel Whitmore.*
Nicole’s brother.
The person we had never heard about.
The person she had never mentioned.
The next morning, Dad called a private investigator.
I expected him to tell me to stay out of it.
Instead, he looked at me and said:
“You deserve to know the truth.””
Those words meant more than he probably realized.
Because for months, Nicole had treated me like I was too young to understand anything.
But Dad finally saw me.
Not as a child.
As someone who survived.
Two days later, the investigator returned.
His name was Aaron.
He placed a folder on the table.
“Nicole wasn’t acting alone.””
Dad opened it.
“What did you find?””
Aaron looked at me.
Then back at him.
“Her brother helped her research your family.””
My stomach turned.
“Why?””
Aaron pulled out photos.
“Because they had done this before.””
The first photo showed another family.
A man.
A woman.
A teenage daughter.
“Who are they?””
Aaron answered.
“A family from Colorado.””
Dad looked confused.
“What does this have to do with Nicole?””
Aaron opened another page.
“Nicole married into that family three years before meeting you.””
I stared.
“She was married?””
“Yes.””
Dad looked shocked.
“What happened?””
Aaron sighed.
“The husband died.””
Silence.
“How?””
“Heart attack.””
Dad looked at the file.
“And?””
Aaron hesitated.
“The investigation was closed.””
“But?””
“But his daughter claimed Nicole changed after the funeral.””
I felt cold.
“What did she say?””
Aaron looked at his notes.
“She said Nicole became obsessed with money.””
My father closed the folder.
“What happened to the daughter?””
Aaron looked down.
“She disappeared from the family.””
My heart sank.
“Disappeared?””
“She moved away. Cut contact.””
Dad looked at me.
And I knew he was thinking the same thing.
Nicole destroyed families.
She didn’t just enter them.
She replaced them.
That evening, someone knocked on our door.
Dad froze.
Because we weren’t expecting anyone.
He opened it slowly.
A woman stood there.
Around my age.
Maybe a few years older.
She looked terrified.
“Are you Marcus Hayes?””
Dad nodded.
“Who are you?””
She looked at me.
Then whispered:
“I’m Emily.””
Aaron’s folder was still on the table.
The Colorado daughter.
The one who disappeared.
My heart started racing.
“Emily?””
She nodded.
“I know what Nicole did.””
Dad stepped aside.
“Come in.””
Emily sat in our living room.
She held her hands together.
Like she had been preparing for this moment for years.
“She always finds people who are hurting.””
Dad listened.
“She found my father after my mother died.””
I looked down.
The pattern.
Always the same.
“She acted like she saved us.””
Emily laughed sadly.
“She made everyone think she was an angel.””
“What happened?””
Emily looked at me.
“She hated that I existed.””
My breath caught.
“She told my father I was difficult.””
I felt my stomach twist.
“She isolated me.””
Emily’s eyes filled.
“She made me believe I was the problem.””
Just like me.
Exactly like me.
“She took my father’s attention away from me.””
Emily looked at Dad.
“Then she started talking about the future.””
“What future?””
Emily whispered:
“The future after my father died.””
Nobody moved.
Because suddenly everything made sense.
Nicole didn’t want a family.
She wanted control.
Emily reached into her bag.
“I brought something.””
She placed a small notebook on the table.
“My father found this before he died.””
Dad opened it.
The handwriting was Nicole’s.
Again.
Always her handwriting.
The first page said:
*Family replacement strategy.*
I felt sick.
Dad turned pages.
Then stopped.
“What?””
He looked up.
His face had lost all color.
“Maya…”
“What?””
He handed me the notebook.
There was a list.
Names.
Families.
Dates.
And our family was not the first.
But it wasn’t the last either.
At the bottom of the page was a new entry.
A family she had planned to approach after leaving us.
May you like
And beside the name was a note:
*Maya is the biggest obstacle. Remove her first.*
