Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN BENEATH THE FARMHOUSE
For several seconds, nobody moved.
The farmhouse was dark.
The only light came from the moon spilling through the broken windows.
Somewhere beneath us, a woman was breathing.
Then she knocked again.
Three slow taps.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
My mother was crying.
Lucas stood completely still.
My father looked like he had seen a ghost.
I stared at the floor.
“Dad.”
He didn't answer.
“Who is down there?”
My father closed his eyes.
Then he whispered the name.
“Natalie.”
Lucas's face collapsed.
“My mother.”
He stepped forward.
I grabbed his shoulder.
“Wait.”
He looked at me.
“She called my name.”
“I know.”
“I need to see her.”
“We don't know what is down there.”
Lucas pulled away.
“I don't care.”
He dropped to his knees and started searching the floor.
Richard stood near the doorway.
For the first time since I had met him, he looked genuinely frightened.
“You shouldn't open that door.”
My father turned toward him.
“You've been keeping her alive all these years.”
Richard's jaw tightened.
“I didn't keep her alive.”
“You hid her.”
“She was a liability.”
Lucas looked up.
“You knew my mother was alive?”
Richard said nothing.
Lucas stood.
“You knew?”
Richard's expression remained cold.
“Yes.”
Lucas's hands trembled.
“Where is she?”
Richard looked toward the floor.
“Underneath you.”
Lucas moved toward the trapdoor.
Richard's men tried to block him.
Mason raised his weapon.
“Move.”
Nobody did.
Mason repeated himself.
“I said move.”
The men stepped aside.
Lucas pulled up the wooden panel.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
The smell of damp earth rose from below.
I followed Lucas.
My father came behind us.
Mason remained at the top with the police.
The staircase was older than the one beneath my father's house.
The walls were made of stone.
Water dripped from the ceiling.
At the bottom was a steel door.
Lucas touched it.
“Mom?”
Silence.
Then a weak voice answered.
“Lucas?”
His breath caught.
“Mom.”
He tried the handle.
Locked.
My father reached for the key.
Richard's voice came from above.
“Don't.”
My father turned.
“Why?”
“Because you don't know what she will tell you.”
Lucas shouted:
“I don't care!”
My father unlocked the door.
It opened slowly.
The room beyond was almost completely dark.
A woman sat on a narrow bed.
Her hair was silver.
Her body was thin.
Her face looked exhausted.
But her eyes were unmistakably Lucas's.
She stared at him.
For a moment, she didn't recognize him.
Then her hand rose to her mouth.
“Lucas?”
He walked toward her.
“Mom.”
She began crying.
Lucas dropped beside the bed and wrapped his arms around her.
She held him like a child.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I thought you were dead.”
“I waited.”
“I looked for you.”
“I knew you would.”
Their voices broke.
I stood near the doorway, unable to speak.
My father turned away.
My mother covered her face.
Even Richard looked uncomfortable.
Natalie finally looked toward us.
Her eyes stopped on my father.
“You came back.”
He nodded.
“I had to.”
“You took too long.”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
“And you must be Mark.”
I nodded.
“How do you know me?”
“Your father talked about you.”
She smiled weakly.
“He talked about you every time he visited.”
I looked at my father.
“You visited her?”
He nodded.
“Not often.”
“Why didn't you tell us?”
“Because Richard was watching.”
Natalie looked toward the ceiling.
“Richard always watched.”
Lucas helped her stand.
“How long have you been here?”
She hesitated.
“Twenty-seven years.”
My stomach turned.
“Twenty-seven?”
She nodded.
“He told everyone I died.”
Richard appeared at the bottom of the stairs.
“You were going to expose everything.”
Natalie looked at him.
“I was going to expose you.”
Richard's face hardened.
“You don't understand what I protected.”
“You protected yourself.”
“No.”
He stepped closer.
“I protected the family from destroying itself.”
Natalie laughed bitterly.
“You destroyed it.”
Richard's voice rose.
“Your husband betrayed me.”
My father stepped forward.
“I betrayed your greed.”
Richard stared at him.
“You were supposed to take the trust and walk away.”
“You wanted me to give you control.”
“Yes.”
“And when I refused, you kidnapped Natalie.”
“She knew too much.”
Lucas stood between them.
“You stole my childhood.”
Richard looked at him.
“You were collateral.”
Lucas lunged.
My father stopped him.
“Don't.”
Lucas was shaking.
“He doesn't get to say that.”
“No.”
My father looked at Richard.
“He doesn't.”
Mason and the officers arrested Richard's remaining men.
Richard didn't resist.
He simply stared at Natalie.
“You'll regret opening your mouth.”
Natalie smiled.
“No.”
She looked at me.
“Because now he cannot stop the truth.”
We took Natalie to the hospital.
Doctors said she was weak but stable.
She had spent years receiving limited medical treatment.
She had survived because someone had kept her alive.
But survival wasn't the same as living.
Lucas stayed beside her.
My father sat on the other side.
I stood near the window.
For the first time, I understood that Richard's plan had never started with Lily.
It had started with Natalie.
She had been the first person who discovered what he was doing.
She had been the first person he silenced.
Then my father found out.
Then my grandfather.
Then Lucas.
Then Claire.
And eventually me.
One person at a time.
One secret at a time.
Until our entire family had been trapped inside the same lie.
Mason entered the room.
“We found something.”
He handed me a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was a key.
“What is it?”
“It was recovered from Richard's office.”
There was a number engraved on it.
0001.
Mason continued.
“We also found a ledger.”
I opened it.
Every page contained names.
People Richard had paid.
People he had threatened.
People he had forced into agreements.
Then I saw my father's name.
Beside it was a date.
Twenty-eight years earlier.
Underneath:
NATALIE — CONTAINED.
Then:
JAMES — MONITORED.
Then:
LUCAS — RELOCATED.
Then:
MARK — PROTECTED THROUGH DECEPTION.
And finally:
LILY — FINAL BENEFICIARY.
I looked at the last line.
Someone had written beneath it:
REMOVE FATHER BEFORE EIGHTEENTH BIRTHDAY.
My blood went cold.
I looked at Mason.
“This isn't over.”
He nodded.
“No.”
“Richard has been planning this for decades.”
Mason looked toward Natalie.
“And someone helped him.”
“Who?”
Mason pointed to the ledger.
May you like
There was one name circled in red.
My mother.
