Chapter 10 - The Final Letter
Claire unfolded the letter with shaking hands.
Her mother's handwriting filled the page.
She read silently.
Then she stopped.
Ethan watched her.
“What does it say?”
Claire looked up.
“It says my father didn't die because he discovered the money.”
Vanessa leaned closer.
“What did he discover?”
Claire swallowed.
“He discovered that Lily would be born with something in her blood.”
Silence.
Ethan stared at her.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It does.”
Claire read the final lines.
Her mother had written that Claire's father had been studying a rare genetic marker.
Not because it was dangerous.
Because it could reveal the identity of a child connected to an old medical experiment.
Claire's daughter had inherited the marker.
That was why someone had been watching Lily.
That was why the medical records had been stolen.
That was why the memory card had been hidden inside her rabbit.
But there was one final revelation.
The person who had ordered Claire's father's death wasn't Ethan's mother.
It was someone higher.
Someone who had used the police, doctors, and financial networks to erase the evidence.
And that person was still alive.
The final sentence of the letter revealed the name.
Claire read it twice.
Then she looked at Ethan.
“Your father wasn't paid to silence mine.”
Ethan shook his head.
“Then why?”
“Because he was paid to protect someone.”
“Who?”
Claire's voice broke.
“Me.”
Ethan stared at her.
The room seemed to disappear.
Claire finally understood.
Her father hadn't been investigating a stranger.
He had been protecting his daughter.
And Ethan's father had helped him hide her identity.
The accident had been staged because someone wanted Claire gone before she discovered the truth.
But there was something even worse.
Claire turned the letter over.
A second message had been written on the back.
IF YOU EVER READ THIS, DO NOT TRUST ETHAN.
Claire looked at her husband.
Ethan's eyes filled with tears.
“I can explain.”
Before he could say more, the front door opened.
Ethan's mother walked in.
She wasn't alone.
Detective Reed reached for his weapon.
The woman smiled.
“You've all been looking in the wrong direction.”
Claire stepped in front of Lily.
Her mother-in-law looked directly at the child.
“She's the reason your father had to die.”
Then Lily spoke for the first time in days.
“No.”
Everyone turned.
The little girl pointed at Ethan.
“Daddy knows the rest.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
May you like
And Claire realized the truth wasn't finished.
It was only beginning.
