Chapter 7: The Night Her Mother Really Died
Vanessa felt the ground disappear beneath her feet.
“What did you just say?””
Daniel stood motionless near the auditorium exit. His keys were still in his hand, but his fingers had gone completely white around them.
Margaret stepped closer.
“Daniel, we need to tell her the truth.””
He looked at Vanessa.
“Your mother died in a car accident seven years ago. That's what the police report said. That's what I told you because I believed it was the safest explanation.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“Safest for whom?””
Daniel lowered his eyes.
“For you.””
“I'm not a little girl anymore!””
Her voice echoed through the corridor.
Brielle stood near the doorway, watching silently.
Vanessa stepped closer to her father.
“Did someone hurt Mom?””
Daniel swallowed.
“No one has ever proved that.””
“That isn't what I asked.””
He rubbed his face.
“Your mother had been receiving threatening messages in the weeks before the accident. Someone was pressuring her to sign documents connected to her charitable foundation and the educational trust.””
Vanessa remembered the photograph.
Her mother standing outside the courthouse with Tiana.
The missing documents.
The forged signatures.
Everything suddenly seemed connected.
“Was Tiana threatening her?””
Daniel hesitated.
Margaret answered.
“Tiana was one of several people your mother had reported to the authorities. But we don't yet know who was responsible for the threats.””
Vanessa stared at her.
“Why didn't anyone tell me?””
“Because you were eleven,” Daniel replied.
“You had just lost your mother. I was told that revealing the threats could make the investigation more difficult.””
“Who told you?””
Daniel looked at Margaret.
She opened her folder and removed a faded newspaper clipping.
The headline read:
*LOCAL BUSINESSWOMAN DIES IN SINGLE-CAR CRASH. POLICE RULE OUT FOUL PLAY.*
Vanessa recognized the photograph.
Her mother.
She took the clipping with trembling hands.
“Where did this come from?””
“Your mother's attorney kept copies of the original investigation records,” Margaret explained.
“There were inconsistencies in the vehicle inspection and the timeline.””
Daniel nodded.
“The police found evidence that the brakes may have malfunctioned.””
Vanessa looked up.
“May have?””
“The car had been inspected two days before the accident. Everything was working.””
“Then why did the report say it was an accident?””
“Because the mechanic later claimed he had never completed the inspection.””
Margaret turned another page.
“And the mechanic disappeared shortly after giving his statement.””
Vanessa felt sick.
“Who was he?””
“His name was Thomas Reed.””
Daniel took the newspaper clipping from her.
“He worked for a garage that maintained vehicles belonging to several families, including Tiana's former employer.””
Vanessa stared at him.
“Dad, you're saying Tiana might have been involved in Mom's death?””
“I'm saying we don't know.””
“But you suspected her.””
Daniel didn't answer.
That silence was enough.
Vanessa stepped away.
“You let her live in our house. You let her sleep in Mom's bedroom. You let her treat me like I didn't belong.””
Daniel's eyes filled.
“I thought the past was behind us.””
“How could you think that?””
“I wanted to believe your mother was simply unlucky. I wanted to believe the accident had no connection to those threats.””
Vanessa shook her head.
“You didn't want to know.””
Daniel looked as though she had struck him.
Before he could answer, Margaret's phone rang.
She listened for several seconds.
Then her expression changed.
“Where?””
She turned toward Daniel.
“The police have located the garage records. But there's a problem. Someone attempted to remove a storage box from the property this morning.””
Daniel frowned.
“What was inside?””
“Your wife's original trust agreement and several archived correspondence files.””
Vanessa's heart began racing.
“The original agreement from the music room?””
Margaret nodded.
“We need to get there before anything else disappears.””
Daniel immediately called the officer assigned to the incident.
Within minutes, they were on their way home.
The drive was painfully quiet.
Vanessa sat in the back seat beside Brielle, holding the damaged violin case.
Her stepsister hadn't spoken.
Finally, Vanessa turned toward her.
“Did you know about the accident?””
Brielle shook her head.
“No.””
“Did your mother ever mention my mother?””
Brielle hesitated.
“Sometimes.””
“What did she say?””
“That your mother had ruined her life. That she had taken something that belonged to her.””
Vanessa looked out the window.
“She helped your mother.””
“I know that now.””
Brielle's voice cracked.
“Mom used to say your mother had money and connections. She said she could have saved Olivia if she wanted to.””
Vanessa turned back.
“But she couldn't.””
“I know.””
Brielle began crying.
“I don't know what else she lied about.””
Vanessa didn't comfort her.
She didn't have the strength.
When they arrived at the house, two police officers were already waiting outside.
One of them approached Daniel.
“Mr. Hayes, we need to speak with you about the attempted removal of documents.””
Daniel nodded.
“Of course.””
Margaret followed them inside.
Vanessa walked straight toward the staircase.
The music room was at the end of the upstairs hallway.
Her mother's old room.
The door had been locked for years.
Daniel had always kept the key in his office.
But now the door was slightly open.
Vanessa stopped.
“Dad?””
Daniel turned.
His face changed.
“I locked that door this morning.””
An officer immediately approached.
“Everyone stay back.””
He pushed the door open carefully.
The room smelled of dust and old wood.
Her mother's piano stood beside the window.
Music sheets were still arranged on the stand.
A faded blue scarf hung over the back of a chair.
Vanessa's throat tightened.
She hadn't entered this room since she was a child.
Then she noticed something.
The piano bench had been moved.
And the small drawer beneath the music stand was hanging open.
Margaret walked toward it.
“Something's missing.””
Daniel looked around.
“Where is the envelope?””
Vanessa turned.
“What envelope?””
He pointed toward the piano.
“Your mother kept an original copy of the trust agreement inside a hidden compartment beneath the music stand.””
The officer examined the drawer.
“It's empty.””
Vanessa approached the piano.
A small piece of paper lay on the floor.
She picked it up.
There were only six words written in her mother's handwriting.
If anything happens, trust Margaret.
Vanessa began crying.
Her mother had known something was wrong.
She had left a warning.
And someone had come back to take the evidence.
Margaret carefully took the note.
“Vanessa, this is important.””
A sudden noise came from downstairs.
A door slammed.
One officer hurried toward the hallway.
“Police! Stay where you are!””
Footsteps thundered across the ground floor.
Then a man's voice shouted.
“I'm not stealing anything!””
Vanessa looked toward the staircase.
She recognized the voice.
Richard Lawson.
And when the officer brought him upstairs, Vanessa noticed something clutched in his right hand.
May you like
A small brass key.
The key to her mother's music room.
