Chapter 10 - The Mother Who Chose SilenceEleanor could not move.
Her mother stood in the doorway with the sea wind stirring her black veil. She looked older than the woman in the photographs, but her eyes were unmistakable.
For several seconds, neither of them spoke.
Then Catherine whispered, “Ellie.”
Eleanor crossed the chapel so quickly that she nearly stumbled.
“Mother?”
Catherine opened her arms.
Eleanor stopped just short of embracing her.
“Where were you?”
Catherine's eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Everyone says that.”
“Ellie…”
“Father said it. Theron said it. Chen said it. Everyone who abandoned me had the same excuse.”
Catherine lowered her arms.
“I know.”
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“I was afraid.”
“You let me grow up without a family.”
“I thought it was the only way to keep you alive.”
Eleanor looked at her mother, searching for the woman who had once sung to her while brushing her hair.
“Did you know Father survived?”
Catherine nodded.
“I found him three years ago.”
“Then why didn't you come to me?”
“Because Julian threatened to kill anyone who tried.”
The chapel seemed to shrink around Eleanor.
“My brother threatened you?”
“He believed our father had betrayed him. He thought we had chosen you over him.”
Catherine took a trembling breath.
“He was not entirely wrong.”
Eleanor stepped back.
“What does that mean?”
Catherine sat on the front pew.
“On the night of the crash, Julian discovered that Charles Ashworth intended to kill Richard. He believed he could stop it by taking the evidence onto the plane and forcing Charles to surrender. But Charles had already arranged for the aircraft to be sabotaged.”
“Father wasn't aboard.”
“No.”
“Mother, was Julian?”
“Yes.”
Eleanor closed her eyes.
The memory of her brother's photograph returned.
The scar.
The words in the video.
Don't come looking for me.
“Why did he survive?”
“The aircraft was diverted before it exploded. Julian escaped with several other people, but Charles's men captured him.”
“And Father?”
“He believed Julian had died. When he learned the truth, he wanted to rescue him. But every attempt failed.”
Eleanor looked at the coffin.
“Then why did Father die eleven days ago?”
Catherine hesitated.
“Because Julian found him.”
The answer landed with terrifying simplicity.
Eleanor sank onto the pew opposite her mother.
“Did Julian kill him?”
“I don't know.”
“You're his mother too.”
Catherine's face crumpled.
“I know.”
“Then how can you not know?”
“Because the boy I raised is not the man he became.”
Silence settled between them.
Catherine removed a small silver locket from beneath her collar and placed it in Eleanor's palm.
Inside was a miniature photograph of two children.
Eleanor and Julian.
On the other side was a tiny inscription.
ONE LIVES IF THE OTHER REMEMBERS.
“Your father gave this to Julian,” Catherine explained. “They made a promise when they were children. If one of them ever became lost, the other would find him.”
Eleanor stared at the words.
“Then why would Julian threaten you?”
“Because the promise became a weapon. Charles convinced Julian that Richard had sacrificed him to save the family fortune.”
“Was that true?”
Catherine looked directly into her eyes.
“Your father did sacrifice him. He believed that if he let Charles take Julian, the rest of us would survive.”
Eleanor's chest tightened.
“And you went along with it?”
“I fought him. I begged him not to do it. But he believed he had no other choice.”
“Did you forgive him?”
Catherine shook her head.
“Not completely.”
For the first time, Eleanor felt a flicker of understanding. Not forgiveness. Not acceptance.
Just the realization that even the people she loved most had been capable of making choices that destroyed the lives around them.
Chen approached quietly.
“We must leave. Vivienne has been seen near the harbor.”
Catherine stood.
“Then she has the second ledger.”
Eleanor turned toward her.
“What second ledger?”
Catherine met her gaze.
“The one your father entrusted to me before he went into hiding.”
She slipped a key into Eleanor's hand.
“There's a safe in London. Inside is a list of the men who financed the crash, the identities they used, and the evidence that can bring them down.”
“Why didn't Father give it to Chen?”
“Because he didn't trust him.”
Chen stiffened.
Catherine looked at him.
“Richard believed someone inside the network had betrayed him.”
“Who?” Eleanor asked.
Catherine's eyes moved toward the chapel doors.
“I never found out.”
A car engine roared outside.
A gunshot shattered one of the windows.
Everyone dropped.
When Eleanor lifted her head, Catherine was lying on the floor, blood spreading across her coat.
“Mother!”
Eleanor crawled to her side.
Catherine gripped her hand.
“London,” she whispered. “Find the woman who raised me.”
Her eyes fluttered.
“And Ellie?”
“Yes?”
“Whatever Julian tells you, remember that your brother loved you before the world taught him how to hate.”
Her fingers loosened.
Eleanor screamed for help.
As Chen dragged them away from the broken windows, Eleanor saw a dark vehicle speeding down the coastal road.
In the rear window sat Vivienne.
May you like
And beside her, smiling through the glass, was a man Eleanor had never seen before.
A man with the same scar beneath his left eye as Julian.
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