Chapter 6 - THE SISTER WHO CAME HOME
I had imagined finding Lily a thousand times.
In my imagination, she was always five years old.
A little girl in a yellow dress.
A child who would run into my arms.
But the woman standing before me was twenty-seven.
She had spent twenty-two years living without her family.
I didn't know what to say.
So I crossed the room and hugged her.
She froze.
Then she broke down.
I held her as she cried.
"I'm sorry," I whispered.
"For what?"
"Everything."
"You didn't know."
"I should have."
"You were a kid."
She pulled away.
"I was told you were dead."
My heart cracked.
"What?"
"Jonathan told me your father died and your mother couldn't survive the grief."
I stared at her.
"He told me you died."
We both laughed bitterly.
"We were both lied to."
Clara stood nearby crying silently.
Lily turned toward her.
"You're Thomas's daughter."
Clara nodded.
Lily embraced her.
For a moment, the three of us stood together.
Three survivors of the same lie.
Then Lily's expression changed.
"Jonathan didn't bring me here to reunite us."
My blood chilled.
"Why?"
"He wanted something."
"What?"
"The files."
I immediately understood.
"The evidence."
She nodded.
"Jonathan believes Father left enough evidence to destroy him."
"Did he?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
Lily looked at Clara.
"Your father hid it."
Clara's eyes widened.
"Where?"
"In the place no one would search."
"Where?"
Lily pointed toward the floor.
"With the person everyone forgot."
I frowned.
"Who?"
"Grandmother."
I stared.
Our grandmother had died before I turned ten.
Her estate had been sold.
Except for one property.
An old farmhouse in Vermont.
My mother had always told me it was worthless.
We drove there that evening.
Inside the house, everything remained untouched.
Old furniture.
Dusty photographs.
A broken clock.
Lily walked directly to the fireplace.
She touched a brick.
"Father used to hide things here."
She pushed.
The brick moved.
A metal compartment opened.
Inside was a hard drive.
And a letter.
I read it.
The files were enough to expose Jonathan.
Bank transfers.
Bribes.
False contracts.
Names.
Dates.
Everything.
But there was one problem.
The final file had been encrypted.
Clara studied it.
"I might be able to open it."
"You?"
She smiled.
"My father taught me more than accounting."
For three hours, she worked.
Lily made coffee.
I watched Clara.
She was exhausted.
But she refused to stop.
Finally, the screen changed.
FILE OPENED.
We stared.
There was a video.
My father appeared.
Older.
Tired.
Alive.
"If you're watching this, Bennett, then you finally know the truth."
I couldn't breathe.
My father's voice continued.
"I wasn't killed."
I closed my eyes.
"I disappeared because Jonathan threatened Lily."
Then came the sentence that shattered me.
"Your mother knew."
I looked at Lily.
She was crying.
The video continued.
"Eleanor didn't betray me. She made the impossible choice to save our daughter."
My father explained that he had spent years gathering evidence.
He planned to return.
But someone had found him.
The video ended with one final warning.
"Jonathan has one weakness."
The screen went black.
Clara whispered, "What weakness?"
Then the laptop chimed.
A new message appeared.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE PAST BURIED.
A second message followed.
NOW I'M COMING FOR CLARA.
My blood turned cold.
I turned toward her.
She was already standing.
"Bennett."
"What?"
"My father didn't hide those files for your family."
"What do you mean?"
"He hid them because he knew Jonathan would eventually come for me."
May you like
Before I could respond, the farmhouse windows shattered.
Someone had arrived.
