Chapter 6 - The Secret Under the CribSarah stared at the note.
She knew the handwriting.
Every curve.
Every letter.
Every tiny pressure mark.
Her mother had written it.
But the date at the bottom was impossible.
Eleven years ago.
Before Sarah had met Daniel.
Before their wedding.
Before Leo was born.
Why had her mother known about him?
A crash shook the nursery door.
“Sarah!”
Daniel.
She pressed the box beneath her shirt.
“Open the door!”
Sarah backed away.
“You killed my mother.”
Silence.
Then Daniel said quietly:
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain it.”
“Open the door.”
“No.”
“Sarah, if I wanted you dead, you would've been dead downstairs.”
She stared at the blocked doorway.
“That isn't comforting.”
Daniel's voice dropped.
“You don't know what Eleanor will do if you open that box.”
Sarah froze.
“What is in it?”
No answer.
“You know.”
Still nothing.
“What is in the box, Daniel?”
Finally he whispered:
“Proof.”
A new voice spoke behind him.
“She's not wrong.”
Sarah turned.
The nursery window was open.
Margaret stood on the other side.
Sarah gasped.
“How did you…”
“Old house.”
Margaret closed the window.
“Give me the box.”
Sarah hesitated.
“Why?”
“Because I know what your mother left behind.”
“Then tell me.”
Margaret looked at Leo.
Then at Sarah.
“Your mother didn't trust the police.”
“Why?”
“Because one of them worked for Eleanor.”
Sarah felt sick.
Margaret continued.
“Your mother believed the corruption went deeper than this house.”
Sarah opened the box.
Inside were three cassette tapes.
A small photograph.
A handwritten diary.
And a folded document.
The photograph showed Sarah as a child.
Standing beside a little boy.
The boy had the same silver key around his neck.
Sarah's eyes widened.
“Nathan.”
Margaret nodded.
“He was twelve.”
Sarah looked at the date.
Eleven years ago.
Impossible.
Nathan had supposedly died at eighteen.
Sarah unfolded the document.
It was a birth certificate.
Not Leo's.
Nathan's.
But there was another name listed beneath him.
James Walker.
Sarah stared.
“Who's James?”
Margaret sat down.
“Your grandfather.”
Sarah looked confused.
“He died before I was born.”
“No.”
Margaret's voice was barely audible.
“He was declared dead.”
“What's the difference?”
“He vanished.”
Sarah's heart began pounding.
She unfolded the diary.
The first page contained a sentence.
Eleanor has been replacing names.
Sarah read further.
Property.
Bank accounts.
Birth certificates.
Trusts.
Deaths.
Disappearances.
It was all there.
A pattern.
Eleanor had been altering the family record for decades.
Not just stealing money.
Erasing people.
Replacing heirs.
Changing identities.
Sarah looked at Leo.
“Why him?”
Margaret's face hardened.
“Because Leo was the last person who could inherit what Eleanor stole.”
“What did she steal?”
“Everything.”
Daniel's voice came from the doorway.
“You need to leave.”
Sarah looked up.
He stood there alone.
No gun.
No rage.
Just fear.
“Why are you helping me now?”
Daniel stared at her.
“Because I finally know what she did to my father.”
Margaret narrowed her eyes.
“What happened?”
Daniel swallowed.
“She lied to me.”
Sarah stood.
“About what?”
Daniel looked at Leo.
“About who my father really was.”
Everyone went silent.
Then Daniel whispered the truth.
“Eleanor told me my father died in prison.”
Sarah frowned.
“He wasn't in prison?”
“No.”
Daniel's eyes filled with tears.
“He was alive.”
Sarah stepped closer.
“Where?”
Daniel looked toward the east wing.
“In this house.”
The nursery went silent.
Sarah stared.
“What?”
Daniel pointed to the floor.
“There's a room under the chapel.”
Margaret's face changed.
“You're lying.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I saw him.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
Sarah's blood ran cold.
“Last week?”
Daniel nodded.
“He was old.”
“He was chained to a chair.”
Sarah's stomach turned.
“Who was holding him?”
Daniel looked at Eleanor's direction.
“My mother.”
Then they heard footsteps outside.
Slow.
Dragging.
Someone was walking down the hallway.
Margaret reached for the key.
Daniel whispered:
May you like
“That's him.”
The nursery door handle moved.
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