Chapter 9
Sarah was alive.
That was the first thing that mattered.
She was weak, furious, and locked inside an upstairs room at the old farmhouse.
Rebecca sat outside the door crying.
Grant had taken the only car.
When she saw Lily, Sarah collapsed to her knees.
Lily ran.
I looked away for a moment.
Some reunions do not belong to spectators.
Owen and Noah were carried upstairs by Marco.
Sarah gathered all three children against her.
Then she looked at me.
I saw my mother again.
Not perfectly.
Enough.
“You came.”
My throat tightened.
“You sent for me.”
A sad smile.
“I’ve been doing that for months.”
Fair.
I deserved it.
Rebecca stood against the wall.
“I didn’t know Grant would take the money.”
Sarah looked at her.
“You knew the babies were hungry.”
Rebecca started crying.
“He said if I kept helping you, Vincent would stop paying for Mom’s care.”
There it was.
Another pressure point.
Grant threatened food.
Vincent threatened Rebecca’s mother’s support.
Everybody passed fear downward until it landed on children.
Sarah looked at me.
“Don’t let her pretend she had no choice.”
I nodded.
“I won’t.”
Rebecca cried harder.
“I was scared.”
Sarah’s voice stayed quiet.
“So was Lily.”
That ended the argument.
I looked around the room.
Mattress.
Water.
No phone.
Window painted shut.
“Who locked you in?”
“Grant.”
“Why?”
“He wanted the original card.”
I frowned.
“The one Lily brought me is a copy?”
Sarah nodded.
Of course.
She was smarter than everyone chasing her.
“Where’s the original?”
She looked at Vincent.
Then at me.
“Somewhere he can’t reach.”
Vincent’s face changed.
Sarah smiled for the first time.
May you like
“Your father wasn’t the only Mercer who left secrets behind.”
And suddenly I understood there was still something on that original card Vincent feared more than Sarah’s existence.
