Chapter 13 - Amelia’s Final Choice
The fire spread quickly through the dining room.
They moved into the stone chapel, the only section protected from the flames.
Rose sat on a wooden bench between Elena and Rachel.
Daniel stood before her.
“You killed my wife.”
Rose’s face folded with grief.
“I caused the crash.”
Elena stared at her mother.
“Why?”
Rose looked at Rachel.
“Tell them.”
Rachel removed a chain from beneath her shirt.
Amelia’s wedding ring hung from it.
She placed it in Daniel’s palm.
“After the motel, Amelia left with me. Julian followed us.”
The memory seemed to pull her backward through time.
“We drove toward Maine. Amelia wanted to reach Elena before Julian reached Door 17. Rose met us near the coastal road.”
Rose continued.
“I had been hiding for years. Amelia convinced me to testify against Julian and expose Saint Catherine’s.”
“Then why did you stop her?” Daniel asked.
“I did not stop her. I tried to stop Julian.”
She explained that Julian’s vehicle followed Amelia’s car through the rain.
Rose drove a second car and attempted to force Julian off the road.
Instead, she struck Amelia’s rear bumper.
Amelia’s car broke through the guardrail.
Rachel pulled her from the wreckage.
“She was alive,” Daniel whispered.
“For twelve minutes,” Rachel said.
Daniel closed his eyes.
“Why didn’t you call an ambulance?”
“We did. Amelia refused to wait.”
“That makes no sense.”
“She knew Julian would reach the children before the police understood what was happening.”
Rachel’s voice broke.
“She made me promise to return to Whitmore House and watch them.”
“You lived in my walls.”
“I tried to approach you twice.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“Julian controlled people on your security staff. Clarissa watched the nursery. Dr. Cross monitored medical records. I did not know whom you trusted.”
Daniel remembered the figure at the funeral.
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you speak?”
“Because Julian stood beside you.”
The truth settled over him.
Julian had remained closer than anyone throughout the year after Amelia’s death.
He selected doctors for the twins.
He recommended nannies.
He persuaded Daniel to increase security while planting his own people inside it.
“What did Amelia say before she died?” Daniel asked.
Rachel looked at the ring in his hand.
“She said she was sorry she doubted you.”
Daniel’s composure broke.
He sat on the front bench and pressed the ring to his lips.
For eleven months he had imagined Amelia dying alone.
She had not been alone.
But she had died believing her sons remained in danger.
Elena sat beside him.
“She trusted you at the end.”
“At the end was too late.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at her.
“She left you the truth because she believed you would do something with it.”
Outside, gunfire echoed across the estate.
Marcus entered.
“We found Julian’s trail near the cliff, but he has a boat waiting offshore.”
Daniel stood.
“Stop him.”
Marcus hesitated.
“He took Ethan.”
The world narrowed.
“What?”
“A call came from Boston fifteen minutes ago. The hospital security feed was compromised. A man posing as a federal agent removed Ethan during an evacuation drill.”
“Noah?”
“Safe. Mrs. Finch is with him.”
Daniel turned toward Julian’s empty chair.
The kidnapping at the clinic had been a test.
This was the real attempt.
His phone rang.
Julian’s voice came through the speaker.
“I only need one heir.”
Daniel’s hand shook.
“You hurt him and I will destroy everything you ever cared about.”
“You already did.”
“Where is he?”
“Bring the drive to the north cliff.”
Rachel stepped closer.
“It is a trap.”
Daniel pocketed the drive.
“I know.”
Elena blocked his path.
“You cannot go alone.”
“He has my son.”
“He expects you to act without thinking.”
“He expects me to act like a father.”
Elena looked into his eyes.
“Then act like the father Ethan needs, not the one Julian understands.”
Daniel stopped.
“What do you suggest?”
Elena glanced toward the old speaking tube built into the chapel wall.
The estate possessed passages, tunnels, and communication lines Julian believed only the Whitmores knew.
But Elena had spent summers there with Amelia.
May you like
She knew paths Julian had forgotten.
“We let him believe you are alone.”
