Chapter 6: The Other Survivor
The gun was pointed directly at my chest.
Nobody moved.
Not Alexander.
Not Vivian.
Not Richard.
Not even my father.
Margaret stood at the bottom of the staircase with both hands wrapped around the weapon, but her finger wasn't on the trigger.
That was the only reason I was still breathing.
“Margaret,” Alexander said carefully, “put the gun down.””
She didn't look at him.
“I can't.””
“You're frightening everyone.””
“I know.””
Her eyes stayed on me.
“I've been frightened for twenty-seven years.””
My father stepped forward.
“Margaret, don't do this.””
She flinched at the sound of his voice.
“You shouldn't be alive.””
“I know.””
“You weren't supposed to come back.””
“I know that too.””
Her hands trembled.
I stared at her.
“What did you mean?””
She swallowed.
“You weren't the only Mercer who survived.””
My heart hammered.
“I don't understand.””
Thomas closed his eyes.
“Elias…”
“No.””
I turned toward him.
“You knew.””
He didn't answer.
“You knew there was someone else.””
“I knew there might be.””
My voice shook.
“Who?””
Margaret answered.
“Your sister.””
The room disappeared.
For a second, I couldn't hear anything.
Then a single word escaped my mouth.
“Sister?””
Margaret nodded.
“Her name was Anna.””
I stared at my father.
“We didn't have a daughter.””
“We did.””
“No.””
My mind rejected it instantly.
My mother had always told me I was an only child.
Every birthday.
Every school form.
Every Christmas.
One child.
One son.
No sister.
No Anna.
My father whispered, “Your mother was pregnant before you were born.””
I felt dizzy.
“What?””
“She gave birth to a girl three years before you.””
I looked at him.
“Why did nobody tell me?””
Thomas couldn't meet my eyes.
“Because she disappeared.””
Margaret's gun lowered slightly.
“You were both children when it happened.””
“What happened?””
She took a breath.
“The fire.””
My father's face tightened.
“The warehouse fire?”” Alexander asked.
Margaret looked at him.
“You know which one.””
Alexander said nothing.
I looked between them.
“What fire?””
Thomas finally spoke.
“The same night they tried to kill me.””
He walked closer.
“The official story was that there was an explosion at a storage facility owned by one of the Hawthorne subsidiaries.””
“And Anna?””
“She was there.””
I felt my knees weaken.
“Why was she there?””
Thomas looked at Margaret.
“Because someone took her.””
Margaret closed her eyes.
“I took her.””
Silence.
My father stepped toward her.
“You promised to protect her.””
“I did.””
“You disappeared with her.””
“I had to.””
“You let me believe she was dead.””
Margaret's voice cracked.
“I was trying to keep her alive.””
I looked at her.
“Where is she?””
Margaret didn't answer.
“Where is my sister?””
She looked toward the windows.
Then back at me.
“She's here.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
“She came tonight.””
Vivian whispered, “No.””
Everyone turned toward her.
Margaret looked at Vivian.
“You knew.””
Vivian's face collapsed.
“I didn't know she was coming.””
Alexander stared at his wife.
“You knew about Anna?””
Vivian shook her head.
“I knew there was another Mercer.””
Richard suddenly stepped forward.
“That's impossible.””
Margaret turned the gun toward him.
“You've spent fifteen years believing you killed the whole family.””
Richard froze.
“I didn't kill anyone.””
Margaret laughed bitterly.
“You ordered the warehouse fire.””
“No.””
“I saw your men.””
Richard's face hardened.
“Margaret, you have no proof.””
She lifted her chin.
“I kept the proof.””
Daniel stepped toward her.
“Where?””
Margaret looked at him.
“In the place you never searched.””
Richard's eyes narrowed.
“Where?””
“The greenhouse.””
My stomach dropped.
The greenhouse.
The place where I'd worked almost every day.
Where I'd spent hours tending flowers.
Where my father had apparently hidden something.
I looked at Thomas.
“What's in the greenhouse?””
He whispered,
“Everything.””
Suddenly, a loud crash came from outside.
The guests screamed.
Security rushed toward the doors.
Alexander turned.
“What was that?””
One guard looked through the glass.
“Someone's in the greenhouse.””
My pulse surged.
“I'll check.””
Alexander grabbed my arm.
“No.””
“That's where she said—”
“I said no.””
But another sound came from outside.
A woman's scream.
My father's face changed.
“Anna.””
He moved toward the doors.
Security blocked him.
“Sir, stay back.””
“That's my daughter.””
Margaret lowered the gun.
Then she looked at me.
“Go.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“Go find your sister.””
Richard suddenly lunged toward the nearest exit.
Daniel tackled him before he reached it.
The two men crashed into a table.
Documents scattered across the marble floor.
Richard swung at Daniel.
“You don't understand!””
Daniel pinned him down.
“I understand enough.””
Alexander shouted to security.
“Get them under control!””
Two guards moved in.
I ran.
Outside, cold night air hit my face.
The music from the reception seemed impossibly distant.
The garden lights cast long shadows across the lawn.
The greenhouse stood at the far end of the property.
Its glass walls glowed faintly from a single light inside.
I ran faster.
My boots struck the stone path.
“Anna!””
No answer.
I pushed through the greenhouse door.
Warm, damp air wrapped around me.
The smell of soil and roses filled my lungs.
Every plant I'd cared for suddenly looked different.
Like the garden had been hiding something from me all along.
“Anna?””
A soft voice answered from the back.
“Elias?””
I froze.
I knew that voice.
I had never heard it before.
But something about it felt familiar.
I moved between the rows of plants.
Then I saw her.
She stood beside the old potting table.
A woman with dark hair falling over one shoulder.
She was close to my age.
Maybe a little older.
Her face was pale.
Her eyes were red from crying.
She held something against her chest.
A photograph.
We stared at each other.
Neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered,
“You look like him.””
My throat tightened.
“You're Anna.””
She nodded.
I took one step closer.
“Are you really my sister?””
She laughed through her tears.
“I've been asking myself the same question for years.””
I looked at the photograph in her hands.
It showed a younger Thomas.
And a woman I recognized as my mother.
Between them stood a little girl.
Anna.
My chest hurt.
“Why didn't I know about you?””
“Because they told me you were dead.””
I stopped.
“What?””
“Margaret said you died in the fire.””
I shook my head.
“She believed you were dead too.””
Anna looked at me.
“For years, I thought I was the last one.””
I wanted to touch her shoulder.
I didn't.
Everything felt too fragile.
“Where have you been?””
“Different places.””
“Who raised you?””
Anna looked away.
“Margaret did.””
That explained the gun.
The secrets.
Everything.
“Does she know my father is alive?””
Anna nodded.
“She found him years ago.””
I stared at her.
“Then why didn't she tell me?””
“Because she was afraid.””
“Of what?””
Anna's eyes shifted toward the greenhouse door.
“The same person everyone has been afraid of.””
I turned.
“Richard?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Alexander?””
“No.””
“Vivian?””
“No.””
“Then who?””
Anna stepped closer.
She lowered her voice.
“Your mother.””
I stared at her.
“What?””
“Your mother was alive when the fire happened.””
My blood ran cold.
“That isn't possible.””
Anna's face tightened.
“She survived.””
“No.””
“She survived long enough to make a deal.””
I shook my head.
“My mother died fifteen years ago.””
Anna looked at me sadly.
“No, Elias.””
“She died seven years after the fire.””
My mind raced.
“That can't be right.””
“She wasn't sick.””
I stepped backward.
“Stop.””
“She was hiding.””
“Why would she hide from me?””
Anna took a slow breath.
“Because she was the one who helped them find us.””
I couldn't breathe.
“Who?””
Anna looked into my eyes.
“Our mother.””
A noise came from behind us.
The greenhouse door creaked.
We both turned.
A shadow moved across the glass.
Someone was standing outside.
Anna grabbed my wrist.
“Elias.””
“What?””
Her face went white.
“That's why I'm here.””
“What do you mean?””
She stared through the glass.
“He followed me.””
The shadow moved closer.
Then the greenhouse lights suddenly went out.
Darkness swallowed us.
Anna whispered,
“Don't make a sound.””
The door handle began to turn.
Slowly.
And from the other side came a woman's voice.
A voice I had heard in my childhood every night before bed.
My mother's voice.
“Elias, sweetheart…”
May you like
I stopped breathing.
“It's Mommy.””
