Chapter 8 - THE WOMAN AT THE SIDE GATE
Rocco spent the morning angry at a dead woman.
Not because Elena had been wrong.
Because she had known him well enough to be right.
By afternoon, Brenda asked to see Audrey.
Audrey refused.
Rocco did not negotiate.
Good.
Brenda asked to see Lily instead.
Lily agreed.
They met in a small sitting room at Gary’s house.
No Preston.
No Marian.
Gary remained nearby.
Brenda sat on one side.
Lily on the other.
They looked alike enough to make the silence uncomfortable.
Brenda spoke first.
“I don’t expect you to call me Mom.”
Lily nodded.
“I wasn’t planning to.”
Brenda almost smiled.
Good.
Then Lily asked about Elena Moretti.
Gary had told her the side-gate story.
Brenda looked down.
“She tried to help me.”
“Why did Grandma Marian say she betrayed you?”
Brenda froze.
Lily leaned forward.
“Rachel told me that too.”
Brenda stared.
Rachel had heard Marian’s version.
Elena promised escape.
Then failed to return.
Marian told everyone Elena lost interest when helping became inconvenient.
Brenda believed it.
That belief grew into resentment.
Moretti women had power.
Brenda had none.
Elena could return to her mansion.
Brenda remained trapped.
For years, she interpreted Elena’s disappearance as abandonment.
Only now did she understand Preston had blocked contact.
Lily asked:
“Did you ever see Elena again?”
Brenda shook her head.
Then Gary entered.
His face looked strange.
“I found someone who did.”
Brenda turned.
An elderly man named Henry Cole waited outside.
He had been a Reed driver for thirty-eight years.
Retired now.
He remembered Elena.
More importantly, he remembered the week after the baby was taken.
Henry sat across from Brenda.
“I’m sorry.”
Brenda seemed tired of hearing those words.
“Just tell me.”
Henry did.
Elena came to the Reed house after Brenda returned from the hospital.
She demanded to see her.
Marian refused.
Elena stayed outside for nearly three hours.
Then Preston came out.
He told Elena Brenda blamed her for everything.
He said Brenda never wanted to see a Moretti again.
Brenda stared.
“I never said that.”
“I know.”
Henry knew because he had been assigned to drive Preston that day.
Later, Preston told Marian:
“She won’t come back.”
Brenda’s breathing changed.
Preston had not only separated Brenda from Lily.
He separated Brenda from the one adult who had tried to help her.
Lily looked toward Gary.
“Why?”
Gary shook his head.
Henry answered.
“Because Preston was scared.”
Brenda looked at him.
Preston believed if Elena got inside, Rocco would learn everything.
Then Rocco would confront Marian.
The Reed family would fracture.
At twenty-two, Preston had already decided keeping the family together mattered more than whether Brenda wanted to be inside it.
Brenda laughed quietly.
Then looked at Lily.
“I did the same thing to Audrey.”
Lily said nothing.
“I decided her baby had to disappear because I was afraid another family would split.”
Her voice broke.
“I became them.”
Lily did not comfort her.
She only answered:
“Yes.”
Brenda nodded.
She needed that truth more than comfort.
Then Henry spoke again.
“There’s another part.”
Brenda looked over.
“Your mother didn’t decide everything alone.”
Brenda’s face hardened.
“Preston?”
Henry shook his head.
“Your father.”
Thomas Reed had returned home two days after Lily was taken.
He learned what Marian had done.
He became furious.
He demanded they bring the baby back.
Brenda stared.
“My father knew?”
Henry nodded.
“He tried to find Rachel.”
“What stopped him?”
Henry looked toward the doorway.
Gary went pale.
May you like
Then Henry answered.
“Preston.”
