Chapter 4 - the message in the mirror
Olivia did not sleep.
She sat beside the bedroom window until dawn, watching the estate gates through the rain.
At six in the morning, Ethan entered carrying tea.
He placed the cup beside her.
“You should rest.”
“Did your mother order you to say that?”
“No.”
“Did she order you to marry me?”
He closed his eyes.
“We met because of her. What happened afterward was real.”
“Was our first date real?”
“Yes.”
“The proposal?”
“Yes.”
“The baby?”
His eyes opened.
“Never ask me that.”
“Why? Because you’re offended?”
“Because that child is mine.”
“And also the key to my father’s archive.”
Ethan turned away.
Olivia studied him.
The man she loved was still there in fragments. She could hear him in the strain of his voice and see him in the way he looked at her stomach.
But fragments could not be trusted.
“Let me call my mother,” she said.
“I can’t.”
“You mean you won’t.”
“If Margaret learns what you found, she will investigate Northbridge. The people behind it will come for all of us.”
“Diane is already threatening her.”
“She is watching her.”
“That is not better.”
Ethan sat on the edge of the bed.
“My mother believes control is the same as safety.”
“And what do you believe?”
He looked toward Olivia.
“I believe there is still a way for us to leave.”
“Then let’s leave now.”
“I need the archive first.”
Olivia stood.
“You are exactly like her.”
He flinched.
Before he could respond, Diane appeared in the doorway with a physician Olivia had met twice before.
Doctor Marcus Rowe carried a leather medical case.
“Your mother-in-law said you had a difficult night,” he said.
“I don’t need an examination.”
Diane entered.
“You nearly fainted after the dinner.”
“I was upset.”
“Stress can affect the baby.”
Doctor Rowe set his case down.
“This will only take a few minutes.”
Olivia looked at Ethan.
“Tell them to leave.”
He remained silent.
That silence ended something between them.
Olivia allowed the examination because refusing would give Diane another excuse to call her unstable.
Doctor Rowe listened to the baby’s heartbeat and checked her blood pressure.
“Elevated,” he said.
Diane stood near the mirror.
“Should she travel?”
“Not today.”
“Should she make legal decisions?”
Olivia turned sharply.
Doctor Rowe hesitated.
“Stress can affect judgment.”
“Get out,” Olivia said.
“Mrs. Cross—”
“Get out of my room.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Olivia, calm down.”
She pointed at the door.
“All of you.”
Diane whispered something to the doctor. He packed his equipment and left.
Ethan followed after another long look at Olivia.
Diane was the final person to leave.
“You are making this harder than it needs to be,” she said.
When the door closed, Olivia locked it.
She went into the bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror.
Her reflection looked exhausted.
Then she noticed a faint line near the bottom of the glass.
A corner of paper had been pushed behind the frame.
Olivia carefully removed it.
The note contained only six words.
YOUR FATHER LEFT A SECOND RECORDER.
There was no signature.
Beneath the sentence was a symbol Olivia remembered from childhood: a small hand-drawn compass.
Her father used to draw it inside every letter he sent home.
For the first time that night, Olivia felt something other than fear.
Someone else knew the truth.
May you like
A soft knock came from the bedroom door.
“Mrs. Cross?” a man whispered. “My name is Noah Reed. I served with your father.”
