Chapter 3: The Photograph
I read the sentence twice.
Then a third time.
*Your husband is not the betrayer.*
The room seemed to shrink around me.
Marcus stared at the photograph in my hand.
Vanessa stood beside her suitcase, one hand pressed against the emerald ring.
I looked at my husband.
“Then who is?””
Marcus shook his head.
“I don't know.””
“You're sure?””
“Yes.””
“Because you lied to me about Vanessa.””
His face tightened.
“I lied about knowing her.””
“That is not the same thing.””
“No.””
“It's worse.””
He looked down.
Vanessa suddenly said, “You need to stop.””
I turned toward her.
“Stop what?””
“Digging into things you don't understand.””
“That sounds familiar.””
She swallowed.
“I mean it.””
“So do I.””
I held up the photograph.
“What is this?””
Vanessa stared at it.
“I don't know.””
“You've said that a lot.””
“Because it's true.””
I turned the photograph over.
The handwriting was unmistakable.
My grandmother had written the date.
Twenty years earlier.
Then beneath it:
*The night everything changed.*
I looked at the image.
Three people stood in front of a house I didn't recognize.
My grandmother.
A much younger Vanessa.
And another woman whose face had been partially covered by a shadow.
But there was something else.
A child's crib visible through a window.
I looked closer.
“Who is the woman?””
Vanessa's breathing changed.
Marcus noticed.
“Vanessa?””
She shook her head.
“I can't.””
“You can't what?”” I asked.
“I can't talk about this.””
“Why?””
“Because your grandmother made me promise.””
My fingers tightened around the photograph.
“She made you promise?””
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Marcus stared at her.
“You knew her.””
Vanessa opened her eyes.
“Yes.””
The word fell softly.
But it changed everything.
I took one step forward.
“How?””
Vanessa looked at the will.
“I knew your grandmother.””
“For how long?””
She didn't answer.
“Where?””
Still nothing.
“Why did she put your name in her will?””
Vanessa's eyes filled with tears.
“I didn't ask her to.””
“That wasn't my question.””
“I know.””
“Why did she warn me about you?””
Vanessa looked at me.
“I don't know.””
“You just said you knew her.””
“I knew her.””
“Then you know why.””
She shook her head.
“Not everything.””
Marcus stepped between us.
“Maybe we should stop.””
I stared at him.
“Why?””
“Because she's scared.””
“So am I.””
He lowered his voice.
“Alicia, please.””
I looked at him for several seconds.
Then I placed the photograph beside the will.
“Did you know she was coming here?””
Marcus hesitated.
Vanessa answered for him.
“Yes.””
My chest tightened.
“When?””
“Before today.””
“How long?””
Vanessa looked at Marcus.
“Three months.””
I stared at my husband.
“Three months?””
Marcus closed his eyes.
“I was trying to figure it out.””
“You had three months.””
“I didn't know how to tell you.””
“You could have started with the truth.””
He looked at me.
“I thought I was protecting you.””
I almost laughed.
“By asking me for a divorce?””
His face crumpled.
“That wasn't what I wanted.””
Vanessa suddenly snapped, “Marcus.””
He turned toward her.
“What?””
“You promised you wouldn't tell her.””
“I'm done promising things I don't understand.””
Vanessa's eyes hardened.
“You have no idea what you're doing.””
“Then explain it.””
She didn't.
I picked up the will.
There was a final page beneath the one I had already read.
I hadn't noticed it because it was folded inward.
I opened it.
The page contained only a few lines.
The first was a legal instruction.
The second mentioned the emerald.
The third mentioned Vanessa.
And the fourth was underlined three times.
*If Vanessa returns wearing the emerald, Alicia must open the second box.*
I froze.
“The second box?””
Marcus looked confused.
“What second box?””
I scanned the bookshelf.
There was only one wooden box.
The one I had already opened.
I ran my fingers along the back panel.
Nothing.
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Alicia.””
I ignored her.
I checked behind the photograph.
Nothing.
Then I noticed a narrow seam along the bottom shelf.
I pressed it.
A small wooden panel popped open.
Behind it was a second compartment.
Inside sat another box.
Smaller.
Older.
Locked.
Vanessa backed away.
“No.””
Marcus looked at her.
“You knew about that?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“You clearly did.””
“I knew there was another box.””
My heart began pounding.
“You've been here before.””
Vanessa's face went pale.
“I never said that.””
“You didn't have to.””
I picked up the second box.
It was heavier than it looked.
A brass plate was attached to the lid.
Three words were engraved into it.
*FOR ALICIA ONLY.*
Marcus stared.
“What does that mean?””
I looked at Vanessa.
She was crying now.
Not dramatically.
Quietly.
One tear slid down her cheek.
I placed the first key into the lock.
It didn't fit.
I tried the second.
Nothing.
Then I remembered the emerald.
I looked at Vanessa's hand.
She instinctively stepped back.
“Alicia,” she whispered.
“What?””
“Don't.””
I stared at the ring.
“You said it suited you better.””
She shook her head.
“That isn't what I meant.””
“Then what did you mean?””
Vanessa couldn't answer.
Marcus stepped toward her.
“Give Alicia the ring.””
“No.””
“Why?””
“Because if she opens that box—”
Vanessa stopped.
I felt the room go silent.
“If I open the box, what?””
Vanessa looked at me.
Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
“You'll find out why your grandmother spent twenty years making sure nobody told you the truth.””
I held out my hand.
“Give me the ring.””
Vanessa stared at me.
Then, slowly, she began pulling the emerald from her finger.
But before she could remove it, the front door unlocked.
All three of us turned.
The handle began to move.
May you like
And from the other side came an unfamiliar man's voice.
“Alicia? Your grandmother told me to come if Vanessa ever returned.””
