Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Answered After Twenty-One Years

Marcus stared at the number.

No one in the ballroom moved.

Snow pressed against the windows.

The Christmas orchestra had stopped playing.

I stood beside Henry.

Adriana stood beside her grandfather.

Edward Bell looked calm again.

Too calm.

Marcus pressed call.

One ring.

Two.

Three.

Then a woman answered.

"Hello?"

Marcus stopped breathing.

His hand tightened around the phone.

"Sarah?"

Silence.

Then:

"Marcus?"

His face changed.

Not fear.

Not anger.

Something younger.

Something I had never seen before.

"Mom?"

Across the room, Edward looked away.

Sarah began crying quietly.

Marcus closed his eyes.

For twenty-one years, he had believed she was dead.

Now her voice was in his hand.

He asked:

"Are you really my mother?"

"Yes."

"Where are you?"

"I can't tell you yet."

"Why?"

"Because Edward Bell is still standing near you."

Marcus opened his eyes.

Everyone looked at Edward.

Edward said:

"She is manipulating you."

Sarah heard him.

Her voice changed.

"Marcus, put the phone on speaker."

He did.

Sarah said:

"Edward, you told an eleven-year-old boy I died because you needed him to stop asking questions."

Edward answered:

"You were unstable."

"No."

"You accused innocent people."

"I named you."

Edward's jaw tightened.

Sarah continued:

"Three times."

Henry nodded.

Exactly what he had said.

Marcus looked at his mother's name on the paper.

"Tell me what happened to Dad."

Sarah went silent.

Marcus asked again.

"What happened to my father?"

"He found me."

Marcus froze.

Henry looked surprised.

Even Edward turned.

Marcus whispered:

"You said he never came back."

"He never came back to you."

"Why?"

"Because someone followed him."

Marcus looked at Edward.

Sarah said:

"Your father found me eight months after the fire."

"Where?"

"Maryland."

"What did he say?"

"That he was sorry."

Marcus lowered his eyes.

"For the money?"

"For everything."

Sarah took a breath.

"He helped Edward hide accounts. He moved money through companies that did not exist. Then he found out Edward was using those companies for things your father never agreed to."

Edward laughed once.

"Convenient story."

Sarah replied:

"I still have the documents."

Marcus looked up.

"What documents?"

"The ones your father stole before he disappeared."

Edward stepped forward.

Adriana grabbed his sleeve.

"Grandfather."

He pulled away.

Sarah continued:

"Marcus, do you still have the drawing?"

He looked at it.

"Yes."

"Look at the blue car."

Marcus turned the paper over.

Then back.

A blue car stood beside the house.

Small.

Childish.

Simple.

He frowned.

"What about it?"

"You drew that car every day for almost a year."

Marcus stared.

"I don't remember."

"Your father owned it."

Henry whispered:

"The Jaguar."

Marcus looked at him.

Henry nodded.

"Your father had a dark blue Jaguar before the fire."

Sarah said:

"He hid something inside it."

Edward's face changed for the first time.

Marcus saw.

"What did he hide?"

"I don't know."

"You just said you have documents."

"I have copies."

"Where are the originals?"

"In the car."

Marcus looked at Henry.

Henry said:

"The car disappeared after the fire."

Edward spoke quickly.

"It was sold."

Henry looked at him.

"No."

Edward stared.

Henry smiled without warmth.

"It was moved."

Marcus asked:

"Where?"

Henry pointed toward the drawing.

"Your father told me once that if everything went wrong, he would put the car where Edward never bothered to look."

Marcus studied the picture.

The house had three windows.

A chimney.

A tree.

Behind the house was a small black square.

Marcus touched it.

"What is this?"

Sarah whispered:

"The old carriage house."

Marcus looked at me.

I knew the property.

Everyone on the staff did.

The abandoned Vale carriage house stood nearly a mile behind the main estate.

Locked for years.

Used before Marcus was born.

Marcus turned toward the doors.

Edward said:

"You are not leaving this house because of a child's drawing."

Marcus stopped.

Then looked back.

"It was my drawing."

Edward said nothing.

Marcus handed me his glass.

"Nina."

"Yes?"

"Get my coat."

Adriana stepped toward him.

"Marcus, please."

He looked at her.

"Did you know about the car?"

"No."

"Did you know my mother was alive?"

She hesitated.

That was enough.

Marcus's expression hardened.

"How long?"

Adriana whispered:

"Three months."

The room went silent.

Marcus stared at her.

"Three months?"

"My grandfather told me she might be alive."

"Might?"

"Marcus—"

"You tried to destroy the drawing."

"I panicked."

"Why?"

Adriana looked at Edward.

Marcus followed her eyes.

Then he understood.

"You were protecting him."

She shook her head.

"I was protecting us."

Marcus stepped closer.

"There is no us until I know what you were protecting me from."

Sarah spoke through the phone.

"Marcus."

He looked down.

"Yes?"

"Do not go to that carriage house alone."

Marcus glanced toward Edward's security men.

Sarah added:

"And do not let Edward Bell leave the estate."

Edward laughed.

"You don't give orders in my presence."

Sarah answered quietly:

"I survived your fire."

Edward stopped smiling.

Marcus looked at his head of security.

"Close the gates."

Edward said:

"You wouldn't dare."

Marcus put on his coat.

Then looked at him.

"My mother just came back from the dead."

A pause.

"I dare."

Five minutes later, Henry, Marcus, and I walked into the snow.

Behind us, the Christmas lights still glowed.

Adriana followed.

Edward remained inside.

But as we crossed the courtyard, my phone vibrated.

A message from one of the kitchen staff.

Nina.

Mr. Bell is gone.

I stopped.

Marcus turned.

"What?"

I showed him the screen.

His eyes lifted toward the dark trees.

Then toward the abandoned carriage house.

The same place his father had hidden the car.

Marcus whispered:

May you like

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"He knows what we're looking for."

And somewhere beyond the falling snow, an engine started.