Chapter 12 - MY SON ASKED ME ONE QUESTIONEthan was seven when he finally asked me the question I had been avoiding.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Was Grandma bad?”
I sat beside him.
“She made very bad choices.”
“Does that mean she doesn't love me?”
I paused.
“I don't know.”
He looked down.
“Can people love you and still hurt you?”
That question broke my heart.
“Yes.”
He looked at me.
“Then how do I know who to trust?”
I thought about everything that had happened.
Then I said:
“Watch what people do when nobody is watching.”
Ethan nodded.
“Like Claire?”
“Yes.”
“Like Grandma?”
“Yes.”
“Like Daisy?”
I smiled.
“Daisy never lied to you.”
He laughed.
That night, I tucked him into bed.
He held the silver pendant I'd given him on his first birthday.
The letter F.
I had bought it three years earlier.
Before I knew how important the letter would become.
“Dad?”
“Yeah?”
“Are we safe now?”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Good.”
He closed his eyes.
I stayed there for another minute.
Then I walked downstairs.
Sarah was waiting.
“How is he?”
“Asleep.”
She smiled.
I sat beside her.
For the first time, our house felt normal.
No secrets.
No strangers.
No hidden cameras.
No locked rooms.
No footsteps outside the nursery.
Just silence.
Peaceful silence.
Then we heard a sound outside.
A horse whinny.
We looked at each other.
I opened the door.
Daisy stood near the barn.
She was staring toward the old pasture.
I laughed.
“What does she want now?”
Sarah smiled.
“Maybe she's checking on us.”
We walked toward her.
She turned and started toward the field.
We followed.
Halfway there, she stopped.
She looked back at us.
Then toward the trees.
I frowned.
“What?”
Something moved between the trees.
A man.
I immediately stepped in front of Sarah.
The figure raised his hands.
“Don't shoot.”
I recognized him.
Robert.
He looked terrified.
“You need to come with me.”
“Why?”
He looked toward the house.
“Because I found something in Nathan's files.”
“What?”
“Another name.”
“Whose?”
Robert swallowed.
“Your mother's.”
I froze.
“What about her?”
“She didn't die naturally.”
Sarah stepped closer.
“What are you saying?”
Robert looked at us.
“Teresa didn't kill your mother.”
“Then who did?”
Robert handed me a folder.
“The person who ordered it…”
May you like
He stopped.
“Was your father.”
