Chapter 8 - THE LETTER FROM A DEAD WOMAN
Anna had come to the mansion because she could no longer stay away.
She had planned to watch from outside.
To see Lily from a distance.
To leave before anyone noticed.
Instead, a metal box crashed through a window and landed less than ten feet from her.
She stared at it.
Then she heard shouting upstairs.
Anna picked up the box.
The moment she saw the handwriting on the letter, her knees weakened.
She recognized it.
Her handwriting.
She opened the envelope.
Grant,
I hope you never read this because if you do, it means I was right to be afraid.
Arthur’s accounts don’t make sense.
Money is missing from the company.
Rebecca knows more than she admits.
Yesterday I found her in the garage beside my car.
She said she dropped an earring.
I wanted to believe her.
I don’t anymore.
I am taking Lily to my sister’s tomorrow.
Once Lily is safe, I will show you everything.
Please forgive me for not telling you sooner.
Claire.
Anna’s hands shook so violently the paper rattled.
The memory returned in pieces.
Claire arguing with Rebecca.
Claire discovering Arthur’s accounts.
Claire hiding evidence.
Claire planning to leave the mansion temporarily.
Then the final morning.
Rebecca hugging her too tightly.
Rebecca whispering.
“You always win.”
Anna whispered.
“No.”
She finally understood.
Rebecca had not simply taken her life after the crash.
She had planned the crash.
The front door opened.
Grant stepped outside.
He had arrived after Evelyn’s call.
He saw Anna standing in the garden.
He saw the broken nursery window.
Then he saw the letter in her hands.
“What are you doing here?”
Anna could barely speak.
Something about seeing him outside their home destroyed the careful distance she had built.
Grant approached.
“That belongs to my family.”
Anna looked at him.
“It belongs to me.”
His expression hardened.
“What?”
She held out the letter.
Grant took it.
As he read, every trace of anger disappeared.
He looked toward the signature.
Then toward Anna.
“How did you know where this box was?”
“I didn’t.”
“How did you know what Claire wrote?”
Anna’s eyes filled.
“I wrote it.”
Grant stared at her.
Anna pulled back her sleeve.
The wrist scar showed.
Then she said the words Claire had spoken to him every anniversary morning.
“Seven minutes late.”
Grant went completely still.
The phrase meant nothing to anyone else.
Claire had arrived seven minutes late to their first date.
For twelve years, they joked that those seven minutes changed both their lives.
Grant stepped backward.
“No.”
Anna’s voice broke.
“I survived.”
“No.”
“I don’t remember everything.”
Grant shook his head.
“This isn’t possible.”
“I know.”
“Claire died.”
“They never found me.”
His face collapsed.
Anna whispered.
“Grant.”
He stared at her eyes.
Then she said.
“Little moon, don’t hide tonight.”
Grant stopped breathing.
Upstairs, Lily heard the melody drifting through the broken window.
Her wheelchair nearly struck the doorway as she pushed herself toward the hall.
“Mommy?”
Rebecca grabbed the handles.
Lily screamed.
Down below, Grant heard it.
May you like
So did Anna.
And before anyone could stop her, Lily’s mother ran toward the house.
