Chapter 4 - the story Hannah was never supposed to question
Hannah spent the next morning searching through old family records.
Her mother's name appeared everywhere.
Birth certificates.
Medical records.
Tax documents.
But the lake house was registered under a trust.
The trust had been established fifteen years earlier.
The same year Hannah's mother supposedly died.
Hannah drove there.
The house stood beside a frozen lake, untouched by time.
Inside, she found furniture covered with white sheets.
Photographs.
Boxes.
A child's bedroom.
Her childhood bedroom.
Hannah stood in the doorway, unable to breathe.
She remembered this room.
Not from stories.
From memory.
She remembered sleeping there.
She remembered her mother singing downstairs.
She remembered someone telling her they were leaving.
Then nothing.
The memories had been buried for years.
A floorboard creaked.
Hannah turned.
No one was there.
On the desk sat a small wooden box.
Inside was a letter.
My dearest Hannah,
If you are reading this, someone has finally tried to take away what belongs to you.
Do not trust the story you were told about my death.
Hannah's hands shook.
She continued reading.
Your father loved you.
But he was afraid.
And Vivian knew exactly why.
The letter ended there.
Hannah searched the box.
There was one key.
And a photograph.
The photograph showed her mother standing beside Samuel.
On the back was a date.
Three days before the wedding between Richard and Vivian.
Hannah returned home before dark.
Vivian was waiting.
“You went to the lake house.”
It was not a question.
Hannah stopped.
“How do you know?”
Vivian's expression hardened.
“Because your father promised me you would never go there.”
Hannah stared at her.
“Why?”
Vivian said nothing.
May you like
Then she whispered:
“Because your mother is not the only person your father lied about.”
