Chapter 6 - The Woman in the Photograph
The secret Mark buried before our wedding
I didn't look at Mark.
I couldn't.
I kept staring at the photograph.
The woman beside him looked barely thirty.
Dark hair.
Green eyes.
A small scar beneath her chin.
The same eyes Maya had.
“Who is she?”
Evelyn answered.
“Her name was Laura.”
Mark whispered:
“Don't.”
Evelyn ignored him.
“She was married to Mark for eleven months.”
I felt suddenly weightless.
“Before me?”
“Yes.”
I looked at Mark.
“You told me you had never been married.”
“I told you what you needed to know.”
I stepped back.
“What I needed to know?”
“You were nineteen when we met.”
“I was twenty-nine.”
“Exactly.”
His voice was cold.
“You were young enough to believe love could fix people.”
I felt physically sick.
“You lied to me for twenty-three years.”
“I protected our family.”
“You erased a wife.”
“I did not erase anyone.”
Evelyn opened another folder.
“He did.”
She showed me a death certificate.
Laura Bennett.
Date of death:
The year before my wedding.
Cause:
Accidental fall.
I stared at it.
“Is she dead?”
Evelyn nodded.
“Officially.”
The room went silent.
“Officially?”
“She never died.”
I looked at Mark.
His expression had gone completely blank.
Evelyn continued.
“Laura survived.”
My breath caught.
“She left Ohio under another name after falling down a flight of stairs.”
“Mark pushed her?”
“No.”
The answer surprised me.
“He didn't need to.”
She placed another document on the table.
A settlement agreement.
“Laura was paid to disappear.”
“By whom?”
“Patricia.”
I turned toward my mother-in-law.
She looked like a ghost.
“You knew.”
Patricia didn't deny it.
“I was trying to save my son.”
“From what?”
“From prison.”
My heart pounded.
“For what?”
Patricia whispered:
“Fraud.”
I looked at Mark.
He sat down.
For the first time, he seemed exhausted.
Evelyn continued.
“Laura discovered Mark had been moving money through shell companies.”
“When?”
“Before your wedding.”
“Why?”
“Because Mark had started using money from his father's company to finance property acquisitions.”
I didn't understand.
“What does this have to do with Second Chapter House?”
“Everything.”
Evelyn pulled out another document.
A property deed.
I read the name.
“Bennett Strategic Partners.”
She nodded.
“This company was created six months before Clare founded Second Chapter House.”
I looked at Mark.
“Why?”
He didn't answer.
“Because the plan started before you knew it existed,” Evelyn said.
“What plan?”
“To control the buildings.”
My head spun.
Evelyn pointed to the first property.
“This building was purchased in 2013.”
It was our first permanent Second Chapter House location.
“We raised $420,000 for it.”
“Correct.”
“But the building cost $680,000.”
“Yes.”
I frowned.
“How did we pay the difference?”
“You thought a private donor covered it.”
“Who?”
Evelyn looked at Mark.
“Bennett Strategic Partners.”
My mouth opened.
“Mark?”
“Yes.”
“Why would my husband secretly fund my nonprofit?”
“Because he knew the property would appreciate.”
I shook my head.
“That doesn't explain it.”
“It does when the nonprofit didn't own the property.”
I stared at the deed.
My hands began to shake.
The deed listed another organization.
“Second Horizon Properties.”
“That's right.”
“Who owns it?”
Evelyn looked at me.
“You.”
I blinked.
“What?”
“Technically, the nonprofit leases the building from a company controlled by you.”
“That makes no sense.”
“It does when someone created the company in your name without telling you.”
I turned toward Mark.
“Did you do this?”
He said nothing.
“You used my name.”
Still nothing.
“Why?”
His eyes finally met mine.
“Because I knew one day you would thank me.”
I laughed.
The sound was hollow.
“You stole my work.”
“I built the foundation underneath it.”
“You built a trap.”
“No.”
He leaned forward.
“You wouldn't have survived without me.”
“Maybe.”
I looked around the room.
“But I would have survived without you.”
His face hardened.
Evelyn looked at me.
“There is something else.”
“What?”
She handed me another photograph.
A woman standing outside a small house.
Older now.
Silver streaks in her hair.
Same eyes.
Same scar.
I recognized her.
I had met her once.
Three years ago.
At a fundraising luncheon.
She had introduced herself as Linda Harper.
She had hugged me.
She had thanked me for the work.
I had never known why.
My voice cracked.
“That's Laura.”
“Yes.”
“She's alive.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Evelyn hesitated.
“She lives forty minutes from here.”
My pulse raced.
“Why hasn't she come forward?”
“She tried.”
“When?”
“Fourteen months ago.”
“Maya.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Maya is her daughter.”
My head snapped up.
“Then Mark knew all along.”
“He knew.”
“Why would he hide his daughter?”
“Because Maya found something.”
“What?”
Evelyn took out a sealed envelope.
“She found the original ledger.”
I frowned.
“What ledger?”
“The first ledger from Bennett Strategic Partners.”
“What's in it?”
“Payments.”
“To whom?”
Evelyn looked at Mark.
“To Patricia.”
Patricia suddenly stood.
“That is not the whole story.”
Everyone turned toward her.
She was trembling.
“I didn't take the money.”
Mark shouted:
“Mom.”
She ignored him.
“I hid it.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew he would do exactly what he did.”
My heart pounded.
“What did you hide?”
She looked at me.
“The original ownership documents.”
I stared.
“Where?”
Her lips trembled.
“In the house.”
“Where?”
She pointed toward me.
“Under the floor.”
I followed her gaze.
The conference room floor was solid wood.
But she wasn't looking at the floor.
She was looking at my shoes.
“No,” she whispered.
“Under your bedroom floor.”
I felt a chill run through me.
Patricia stepped closer.
“There's a safe beneath the third floorboard beside your bed.”
Mark stood.
“Mother.”
Patricia turned toward him.
“You told me Clare would never discover it.”
He looked furious.
“You're destroying this family.”
“No.”
Patricia's eyes filled with tears.
“You destroyed it twenty-three years ago.”
Then she looked at me.
“Go home.”
“Why?”
“Because Laura is waiting there.”
I froze.
“Laura?”
Patricia nodded.
“She called me yesterday.”
“Why?”
Patricia whispered:
“She said it was finally time for Clare to know what happened the night before her wedding.”
Before I could ask another question, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A woman's voice came through.
Older.
Shaking.
“Clare?”
“Yes.”
“This is Laura.”
My entire body went cold.
She whispered:
“I need you to come alone.”
“Where?”
A pause.
“Your house.”
“Why?”
Her breathing changed.
Then she said:
“Because Mark is about to find out that I kept the original tape.”
The call ended.
I looked at Mark.
May you like
He was already reaching for his phone.
And I knew, with absolute certainty, that the war had officially begun.
