Chapter 5
The first thing they took from Vivian was sleep.
That was in the letters.
Not money.
Not access.
Sleep.
William,
Someone keeps entering Charlotte's nursery after midnight.
Nothing is taken.
They move Bunny.
They open the window.
They leave the closet door open.
I know what they're doing.
They want me frightened enough to sound irrational when I tell you.
My jaw tightened.
Isabella laughed.
“Convenient.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“Dead woman writes creepy letters and suddenly every shadow becomes conspiracy.”
Marcus smiled.
“She needed help.”
I stared.
“You were moving things in the nursery.”
“No.”
“Then why are you defensive?”
He leaned forward.
“Because I'm tired of Vivian's weakness becoming our guilt.”
Another letter.
Isabella told me I should stop waking William.
She said men like him eventually resent women who always need saving.
I looked at Isabella.
She smiled.
“So?”
“You said that?”
“Probably.”
“She was afraid.”
“She was exhausting.”
I stepped closer.
“Continue.”
Isabella's face became cruel.
“She called you for everything.”
“Because someone was tormenting her.”
“Or because she liked controlling you.”
“No.”
“She cried.”
“So?”
“She made Charlotte cry.”
My jaw tightened.
Isabella continued.
“And every time either of them made noise, William Sterling appeared.”
She laughed softly.
“You trained them both.”
“Trained them to what?”
“Believe you always come.”
Silence.
I stared.
“Yes.”
Her smile weakened.
I leaned closer.
“I do.”
She looked away.
I opened another letter.
Tonight Isabella took Charlotte from my room.
She said I could have her back after I told her where William keeps the river key.
I stopped breathing.
Two years.
Same behavior.
Charlotte.
Control.
A child used as currency.
I looked at Isabella.
“You took my daughter from Vivian.”
She rolled her eyes.
“For twenty minutes.”
Marcus whispered:
“Don't.”
Too late.
Isabella continued.
“Charlotte was safe.”
“She was a baby.”
“She didn't know the difference.”
“You withheld her from her mother.”
“Vivian needed to stop being dramatic.”
My hands curled.
“What did she do?”
“She cried.”
Isabella smiled.
“Of course.”
The contempt made something inside me go cold.
“She begged.”
Isabella shrugged.
“And I told her begging didn't make her more convincing.”
I stared.
“You enjoyed it.”
“No.”
She tilted her head.
“I understood it.”
“What?”
“Pain is useful when people refuse reason.”
There.
Her entire philosophy.
Marcus nodded.
“Exactly.”
I looked at him.
“You agreed.”
“Vivian knew where things were.”
“The river key.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you need it?”
He smiled.
“To correct your mistake.”
I almost laughed.
“You were reopening the route behind my back.”
He stared.
Silence.
Another letter gave me the next piece.
Marcus says enough capos are tired of William becoming cautious.
He thinks if the river route opens quietly and succeeds, William will be forced to accept it.
If it fails, Marcus says Vivian takes the blame.
I looked up.
Marcus stopped smiling.
“You planned to blame my wife.”
“No.”
“Her key.”
Nothing.
“Her access.”
Nothing.
“If the route was discovered, Vivian becomes the one who opened it.”
Marcus's jaw tightened.
Isabella interrupted.
“She knew.”
I turned.
“Knew what?”
“That Marcus planned to use her.”
Marcus looked at Isabella.
Even he hadn't expected that.
Isabella smiled bitterly.
“She threatened to tell you.”
There.
The lake house.
Closer now.
“What happened after she threatened you?”
Isabella stared.
Then smiled.
“I reminded her Charlotte was sleeping upstairs.”
Silence.
My entire body went still.
“You threatened my child.”
“No.”
She lifted her chin.
“I reminded Vivian that mothers should think before creating problems their children have to live with.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
Too late.
Again.
I stepped closer.
“What did Vivian do?”
Isabella's smile faded.
“She stopped talking.”
Of course she did.
Because they had learned exactly what worked.
Not fear for herself.
Charlotte.
Then Emma entered holding Bunny.
“Boss.”
I turned.
She had repaired nothing.
Good.
Inside the torn seam, beneath the remaining letters, Emma had found something harder.
A small scorched metal button.
Stamped with the emblem of the lake house staff entrance.
I looked at Isabella.
Her face went white.
Emma whispered:
“Charlotte said Mommy put it inside Bunny after the fire.”
Impossible.
May you like
Vivian died in that fire.
Unless she had lived long enough to hide one final thing before she died.
