Chapter 15 - The Door Opens Again
Nobody moved.
Claire could not breathe.
Her father stood beneath the chandelier.
Older.
Thinner.
But unmistakable.
She whispered:
“Dad?”
He nodded.
Claire took one step forward.
Then another.
Tears filled her eyes.
“You're alive.”
“I am.”
“Why did you let me believe you were dead?”
“Because I needed you to survive.”
Claire looked at the others.
“Who can I trust?”
Her father didn't answer immediately.
His eyes moved toward Richard.
Then Evelyn.
Then Pamela.
Finally, they stopped on Maria.
Maria's face went pale.
Claire noticed.
“Maria?”
Maria stepped backward.
“I can explain.”
The room fell silent.
Claire's father looked at her.
“She has been protecting you.”
Claire relaxed slightly.
Then he continued.
“But she has also been hiding something.”
Maria began crying.
“I had no choice.”
Claire stared.
“What did you hide?”
Maria looked at Mateo.
The boy lowered his head.
“I told her not to tell you.”
Claire turned to him.
“Tell me what?”
Mateo's voice trembled.
“The first time I talked.”
Claire's heart pounded.
“When was it?”
Mateo looked toward his grandfather.
“Before the seven years.”
Claire's breath caught.
“You could speak before that night?”
Mateo nodded.
“I always could.”
Claire stared at her son.
Everything she believed collapsed again.
“What happened?”
Mateo whispered:
“I heard them talking.”
“Who?”
“Dad.”
“Grandma.”
“And someone else.”
Claire's father stepped forward.
“Who?”
Mateo looked at him.
“You.”
Everyone froze.
Claire's father went pale.
Mateo continued.
“You were there that night.”
Claire stared at her father.
“You were in the car?”
He closed his eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To stop them.”
“Did you?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
Claire's fingers tightened around the amber bottle.
“Then what happened?”
Her father looked at the bottle.
“That bottle contains the last piece.”
Claire stared.
“What piece?”
“The truth about who ordered everything.”
Richard stepped forward.
“Dad.”
Claire's father looked at him.
“You knew.”
Richard nodded.
“I knew some of it.”
Claire looked between them.
“You all knew.”
“No,” Richard said.
“Then tell me.”
Richard took a breath.
“Your father didn't create the trust to protect Mateo from my family.”
Claire frowned.
“Then why?”
Richard looked at Mateo.
“Because Mateo isn't the person they were trying to protect.”
Silence.
Claire looked at her son.
“What does that mean?”
Richard's voice dropped.
“Mateo is the witness.”
Claire's father nodded.
“The only witness who remembers what happened before the seven minutes disappeared.”
Claire felt the room closing around her.
She looked at Mateo.
“What did you see?”
Mateo began crying.
His grandfather stepped closer.
“Tell her.”
Mateo shook his head.
“I can't.”
Claire knelt beside him.
“You can tell me anything.”
Mateo looked into her eyes.
Then he whispered:
“Mom…”
His eyes moved toward the hallway.
“There was someone else in the car.”
Claire's heart stopped.
“Who?”
Mateo's lips trembled.
“I don't know her name.”
“Then what did she look like?”
Mateo swallowed.
“She looked like you.”
Claire froze.
Her father looked away.
Evelyn covered her mouth.
Richard stepped backward.
Pamela whispered:
“No.”
Claire stood slowly.
“What do you mean she looked like me?”
Mateo stared at her.
“She said she was your sister.”
The room went silent.
Claire's father closed his eyes.
And somewhere inside the mansion, a door slammed.
Everyone turned.
A woman was standing at the end of the hallway.
She looked almost exactly like Claire.
But she was holding the amber bottle.
And she smiled.
“Seven years was a long time to keep a secret.”
Claire couldn't move.
The woman lifted the bottle.
“But you still don't know the worst part.”
May you like
The lights went out.
And this time, nobody knew who was still inside the house.
