Chapter 13 - The Woman in the CabinWe found my mother two days later.
She was living in a remote cabin near the mountains.
When she opened the door, I knew her immediately.
Older.
Thinner.
Gray in her hair.
But the same eyes.
My knees collapsed.
"Mom?"
She covered her mouth.
Then she pulled me into her arms.
I cried like a child.
For a long time, neither of us spoke.
Finally she whispered:
"I'm sorry."
"You were alive."
"Yes."
"You let me believe you were dead."
"I was trying to keep you alive."
I pulled away.
"From Daniel?"
She shook her head.
"From everyone."
She looked toward Daniel.
"Especially him."
Daniel stood outside the cabin.
He refused to come inside.
My mother looked exhausted.
"Your father discovered the network."
"I know."
"He also discovered Adrian."
"I know."
"And he discovered Daniel."
I froze.
"What did he discover?"
My mother sat down.
"Daniel had been working with his father since he was seventeen."
"Against him?"
"No."
She shook her head.
"For him."
My heart sank.
"He recruited your father to do the bookkeeping."
"Daniel?"
"Yes."
"He was seventeen."
"He was already dangerous."
She told me the truth.
Daniel had discovered the corruption years before anyone else.
But instead of exposing it, he learned how to profit from it.
When his father died, Daniel took control.
He became the architect of the new network.
The women he married were not random.
Each one had access to a piece of the old evidence.
He married them to locate it.
Then he destroyed their lives.
Mara.
Julia.
Rebecca.
Everyone.
I thought of the sheet.
The brass key.
The note.
The house.
The fire.
All of it.
"My wedding night."
My mother looked at me.
"What about it?"
"He left the key on the sheet."
She went pale.
"He wanted you to investigate."
"But why?"
"Because he knew I would eventually come looking."
I stared.
"Who?"
She grabbed my hand.
"The person controlling Daniel."
I didn't understand.
Then the cabin door opened.
Adrian stepped inside.
My mother looked terrified.
"It's you."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
He looked at me.
"I found him."
"Found who?"
Adrian slowly pointed toward the hallway.
A man stepped out of the darkness.
He looked old.
Gray-haired.
Calm.
Smiling.
Daniel's father.
I couldn't breathe.
But everyone had been told he died eight years ago.
He looked at me.
"Hello, Claire."
May you like
Then he smiled.
"Your wedding was beautiful."
