Chapter 15 - The Letter That Should Not Exist)
Three months after the wedding that never happened, the rain finally stopped.
Spring reached Boston.
Lucy had begun spending alternate weeks at Ethan’s apartment.
Not because a court ordered it.
Because she wanted to.
Her bedroom was painted the exact shade of blue she chose.
She had photographs on the walls.
Her mother.
Ethan.
Claire.
Margaret.
Even Thomas.
The first photograph she placed beside her bed was the old picture from the envelope.
Ethan and Olivia laughing on the pier twelve years earlier.
One evening, Ethan stood in the doorway while Lucy finished homework.
“Dad?”
He still felt something every time she said it.
“Yeah?”
“Mom says you’re making pancakes Saturday.”
“I am.”
“She says yours are terrible.”
“She’s lying.”
Lucy grinned.
“She showed me pictures.”
“That woman keeps too much evidence.”
Lucy laughed.
Ethan walked toward the kitchen.
Olivia was there.
She had moved into the guest room temporarily after reporters discovered her address.
Their relationship remained undefined.
They were not pretending twelve lost years could be repaired in three months.
Sometimes they talked until morning.
Sometimes they argued.
Sometimes silence was easier.
But Ethan no longer wondered whether she loved him.
And Olivia no longer wondered whether he wanted Lucy.
That was enough for now.
Thomas and Margaret were attempting something even stranger.
Not reconciliation.
Not yet.
Truth.
Thomas had provided federal investigators with everything he remembered about Northstar.
Several investigations were expanding.
Names once considered untouchable had begun appearing in subpoenas.
Conrad Hale remained in custody awaiting proceedings.
Victoria continued cooperating.
Samuel was buried quietly under his real name.
Ethan did not attend.
He sent flowers without a message.
Northstar’s legal assets were being dismantled.
The legitimate money inherited from Samuel had been placed into a trust for victims connected to the network.
For the first time, Ethan believed the nightmare might actually be ending.
Then the package arrived.
No return address.
Plain brown wrapping.
Security scanned it twice.
Inside was a wooden box.
Ethan recognized it immediately.
It had belonged to his grandfather.
Thomas recognized it too.
“Where did you get that?”
“It was delivered.”
Thomas went pale.
“That box disappeared before you were born.”
Olivia entered the room.
Lucy followed.
Ethan opened it.
Inside were three items.
A silver pocket watch.
An old photograph.
And a sealed letter.
The photograph showed four young men outside the original Pierce factory.
Ethan recognized Thomas.
Samuel stood beside him.
The third man was Conrad Hale.
The fourth man was unknown.
On the back were four names.
Thomas Pierce.
Samuel Pierce.
Conrad Hale.
Jonathan Pierce.
Thomas sat down.
Margaret whispered, “Who is Jonathan?”
Thomas stared at the photograph.
“My brother.”
Ethan felt the familiar cold return.
“You told me Samuel was your only brother.”
“I thought Jonathan was dead.”
Olivia stepped closer.
“When?”
Thomas looked at her.
“Before Samuel disappeared.”
“How?”
“A boating accident.”
“Body?”
Thomas closed his eyes.
“No.”
Ethan almost laughed.
Of course there had been no body.
Lucy pointed at the letter.
“Open it.”
The envelope was addressed to Ethan.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
He broke the seal.
Inside was one page.
Ethan read silently.
Then stopped.
Olivia touched his arm.
“What?”
He handed her the letter.
She read aloud.
“Ethan,
Samuel believed Northstar belonged to him.
Thomas believed destroying it would bury what they had done.
Conrad believed money could erase the past.
They were all wrong.
Northstar was never theirs.
It was mine.
If Samuel is dead, Thomas has returned, and Olivia Bennett is standing beside you, then the first part happened exactly as I expected.
Now we can begin.”
Lucy moved closer to Ethan.
Olivia continued.
“There is one thing Thomas never discovered.
The adoption records were not created to hide where the Pierce brothers came from.
They were created to hide where they went.”
Olivia stopped.
Thomas looked terrified.
Ethan took the letter back.
There were only four lines remaining.
“You have been searching for the beginning of Northstar.
You should have been searching for the children.
Ask Thomas about House Seven.
Ask Olivia why Lucy’s birth certificate was changed.
And Ethan, before you trust the DNA test, ask yourself one question.
Whose blood did Olivia really send?”
No one spoke.
Ethan slowly turned toward Olivia.
Her face had gone white.
Lucy looked at her mother.
“Mom?”
Olivia backed away from the table.
Ethan felt his heart begin to pound.
“What does he mean?”
Olivia said nothing.
“Olivia.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I was going to tell you.”
Lucy stared at her.
“Tell us what?”
Thomas stood abruptly.
“No.”
Everyone looked at him.
He seemed more frightened than Ethan had ever seen him.
“Jonathan cannot be alive.”
A phone rang.
Not Ethan’s.
Not Olivia’s.
Thomas reached into his pocket.
The screen displayed an unknown number.
His hands shook.
He answered.
“Hello?”
A man spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear.
“Hello, Thomas.”
Thomas’s face drained of color.
The voice continued.
“It has been a long time.”
Ethan grabbed the phone.
“Who is this?”
The man laughed softly.
Then said:
“You must be Ethan.”
“Jonathan?”
A pause.
“Eventually.”
“What do you want?”
“Not what.”
The man sounded almost amused.
“Who.”
Ethan looked toward Lucy.
Olivia moved instantly between them.
The caller continued.
“You found one child who was stolen from the truth.”
Ethan’s grip tightened.
“What are you talking about?”
“You should find the others.”
“How many?”
Silence.
Then:
“Thirty-seven.”
The call ended.
Ethan stared at the phone.
Outside the windows, a black sedan stopped across the street.
A man stepped out.
Gray-haired.
Tall.
Holding another brown envelope.
Security moved toward him.
The stranger raised both hands.
Then he looked directly up at Ethan’s window.
Even from six floors above, Ethan could see the resemblance.
Not to Thomas.
Not to Samuel.
To himself.
Lucy whispered, “Dad… who is that?”
Ethan did not answer.
Because on the front of the envelope the stranger was holding were four handwritten words.
FOR LUCY PIERCE BENNETT.
May you like
And beneath them:
HOUSE SEVEN IS OPEN.
