Chapter 4 - what sophie remembered
Evelyn took Sophie upstairs and locked the bedroom door.
Celeste followed them, but Evelyn refused to let her enter.
“Open the door,” Celeste demanded.
“No.”
“You are frightening her.”
“She was already frightened.”
Evelyn waited until her mother’s footsteps faded before sitting beside Sophie on the bed.
“Tell me exactly what you heard.”
Sophie held a stuffed rabbit against her chest.
“Preston said you would sign the papers at the wedding.”
“What did the woman say?”
“She said the phone would make everyone think I was bad.”
Evelyn’s heartbeat quickened.
“What phone?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did Preston see you listening?”
Sophie nodded.
“He opened the door, but I ran.”
“Did he follow you?”
“He grabbed my jacket.”
Evelyn examined the denim jacket hanging over a chair. One pocket had been torn slightly along the inside seam.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“Grandma said you were tired because of me.”
Evelyn closed her eyes for a moment.
“What else did Grandma say?”
“That Preston was giving us a real family. She said if I ruined the wedding, you might send me away.”
“I would never send you away.”
“What if Preston asks you?”
“No.”
“What if everybody asks you?”
“No.”
“What if I do something bad?”
Evelyn held Sophie’s face gently.
“You could break every plate in this house, paint the walls purple and release a hundred frogs into the ballroom, and I still would not send you away.”
Sophie almost smiled.
“I don’t know where to find a hundred frogs.”
“We’ll solve that problem later.”
The child leaned against her.
After Sophie fell asleep, Evelyn called Naomi Chen, her attorney and closest friend.
Naomi answered on the second ring.
“You are supposed to be getting married, not calling me before sunrise.”
“I need you to review something without telling anyone.”
Evelyn photographed every page of the secret appendix and sent it through an encrypted application.
Naomi called back ten minutes later.
“Do not sign anything at the wedding.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“This is not merely an aggressive marital agreement. It is a control mechanism. The moment the marriage is registered, Preston could petition to activate the trust.”
“Could he take Sophie?”
“Not immediately. But if there were evidence that she was unstable, violent or involved in criminal conduct, he could argue that your home environment was unsafe.”
“A stolen phone.”
“What?”
“Sophie overheard him discussing a phone.”
Naomi became quiet.
“Evelyn, postpone the wedding.”
“If I do that now, they will destroy whatever evidence exists.”
“Who is they?”
“I don’t know yet.”
She told Naomi about Room 17.
“Can you access the west wing?” Naomi asked.
“The door is controlled by my father’s security system.”
“Then find another way.”
An hour later, Evelyn walked through the garden toward the west side of the estate.
The old wing had been dark for six years. Ivy covered its windows, and the doors were sealed from inside.
She followed the stone wall until she found a narrow service entrance hidden behind overgrown roses.
The lock had recently been replaced.
Evelyn tried the key she had taken from Graham’s desk.
It did not fit.
Then she heard a sound from inside.
A child’s voice.
May you like
It was faint and distorted, repeating the same four words through an old speaker.
Sophie, run to Evelyn.
