By noon, Mara was back at the hotel.
Daniel had wanted her to hide.
She refused.
Lena had disappeared through another exit before Victor's men entered the clinic. No one knew where she had gone.
That uncertainty haunted Mara.
But the name Evelyn Whitmore haunted her more.
Daniel sat across from her in the hotel room.
He had not spoken for nearly ten minutes.
Mara placed her mother's letter on the table.
“You said your mother didn't know.”
Daniel looked at it.
“I said I didn't know what she knew.”
“That's different.”
“Yes.”
“Did she give me the photograph?”
“I don't know.”
“But you think she did.”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“My mother has protected me my entire life.”
“From your father?”
“Sometimes.”
“From what else?”
He didn't answer.
Mara stood.
“We're going back.”
Daniel looked at her.
“To the wedding?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because everyone who knows the truth was there.”
“That doesn't mean they'll tell us.”
“They don't have to.”
Mara picked up the photograph.
“They only have to react.”
The ballroom was being cleaned when they arrived.
The musicians were gone.
The flowers had been removed from the tables.
Workers carried stacks of plates through the service doors.
Clara stood alone near the head table.
She looked smaller without the wedding crowd around her.
When she saw Mara, she went pale.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where is my mother?”
Clara's eyes moved between them.
“You shouldn't be here.”
Mara placed the photograph on the table.
Clara stared at it.
“Where did you get that?”
“You know where.”
Clara looked at Daniel.
He said nothing.
Mara asked, “Who gave this to you?”
Clara's lips parted.
Then closed.
“Answer me.”
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
Clara laughed softly.
“You think you understand what happened tonight?”
“No.”
“That makes two of us.”
Mara noticed Clara's hands.
They were shaking.
“Did Victor tell you to confront me?”
Clara looked down.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“He said you had something that belonged to him.”
“The key?”
Clara nodded.
“What is he afraid I'll open?”
Clara looked toward the ballroom doors.
“The room where your mother left the truth.”
Mara felt her pulse quicken.
“My mother left something here?”
Clara shook her head.
“Not here.”
“Then where?”
“I don't know.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“Clara.”
She looked at him.
“I never wanted this.”
“You married me.”
“I was told you were dangerous.”
“You knew I wasn't.”
“I knew what Victor told me.”
Mara watched them.
There was history between them that she had never seen.
Not love.
Something uglier.
Fear.
“Where is Evelyn?” Mara asked.
Clara's eyes filled with tears.
“She went to Bellmere.”
Mara looked at Daniel.
“Why?”
Clara whispered, “Because she found out you were going to the cellar.”
Daniel went still.
Mara understood.
“She knew.”
Clara nodded.
“She always knew.”
They left the ballroom.
At the car, Daniel stopped.
“My mother has been protecting Sophie.”
Mara looked at him.
“Or hiding her.”
“I don't know.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it's true.”
Mara turned toward the street.
“Then we're going to find out.”
They drove to Bellmere.
The house was empty.
The basement door stood open.
Inside, the hidden room had been disturbed.
Files covered the floor.
Drawers had been pulled out.
Someone had searched the place recently.
Mara walked to the desk.
The notebook was gone.
So was the photograph of Sophie.
Daniel looked around.
“She was here.”
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know?”
He pointed toward the floor.
A small silver bracelet lay beside the desk.
Mara picked it up.
“Whose?”
“My mother's.”
A sound came from the corridor.
They turned.
Evelyn Whitmore stood in the doorway.
She looked tired.
Older than she had at the wedding.
There was dirt on the hem of her coat.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Mother.”
Evelyn looked at him.
Then at Mara.
“I hoped you wouldn't come.”
Mara held up the bracelet.
“You left this.”
Evelyn nodded.
“I did.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted you to know I was here.”
Daniel's voice hardened.
“Where is Sophie?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“She is safe.”
“Where?”
“I can't tell you.”
“You don't get to decide that anymore.”
Evelyn looked at Mara.
“She is the reason your mother died.”
Mara's expression changed.
“What?”
Evelyn's voice trembled.
“Your mother tried to get Sophie out of the country.”
Daniel stared.
“She was helping her.”
“Yes.”
“Then why did Father—”
“Because Victor believed Sophie had the journal.”
Mara stepped forward.
“She didn't.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
Evelyn looked directly at her.
“You.”
Mara felt the room go silent.
“I told you,” Evelyn continued, “your mother left the journal with you.”
“I don't have it.”
Evelyn gave a sad smile.
“You have carried it for twelve years.”
Mara shook her head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“What are you talking about?”
Evelyn reached into her coat.
She removed a small leather-bound book.
Mara recognized it immediately.
Her mother's journal.
She stared at it.
“I thought it was destroyed.”
“Victor thought so too.”
Mara reached for it.
Evelyn pulled it back.
“First you need to understand something.”
“What?”
“Your mother didn't die because she tried to save Sophie.”
Mara waited.
“She died because she succeeded.”
Daniel looked at his mother.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“Your mother got Sophie out.”
Mara's breath caught.
“She survived the crash.”
Daniel stared.
“My father said—”
“Your father lied.”
“Where is Sophie?”
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
Then at Mara.
“She has been living under another name for twelve years.”
Mara's heart hammered.
“Where?”
Evelyn handed her the journal.
“Closer than you think.”
Mara opened it.
The first pages contained names.
Payments.
Dates.
Then she reached the final page.
There was a photograph tucked inside.
Mara pulled it free.
It showed a woman standing behind a counter in a small bakery.
She looked older.
Her hair was lighter.
But Mara recognized the eyes.
Sophie.
Alive.
Daniel covered his mouth.
Mara looked at the photograph again.
On the back was an address.
A bakery downtown.
Daniel whispered, “Why didn't you tell me?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“Because Victor would have killed her.”
“He nearly killed Mara.”
“I know.”
“You knew what he was doing to her?”
“I knew he was looking for the key.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“And Clara?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Clara was never the one controlling this.”
Mara looked up.
“Who was?”
Evelyn didn't answer.
Instead, she looked toward the basement entrance.
A car door slammed outside.
Everyone froze.
Evelyn's face drained of color.
“He found us.”
Daniel moved toward the stairs.
“Who?”
Evelyn whispered, “Victor.”
Mara closed the journal.
Daniel reached for her hand.
This time, she let him.
They moved toward the hidden passage.
Evelyn stayed behind.
Mara turned.
“Come with us.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“If I leave now, he will follow.”
“You can't stay.”
“I have spent twelve years running from him.”
She smiled faintly.
“Perhaps it's time I stopped.”
A man's voice echoed from above.
“Evelyn.”
Daniel went rigid.
Victor had arrived.
Evelyn looked at her son.
“There is one thing I never told you.”
Daniel stared at her.
“What?”
She looked at Mara.
“Your father didn't order the accident.”
Mara froze.
“Then who did?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“I did.”
The words struck harder than any scream could have.
Daniel stepped backward.
“No.”
“I thought I could stop him.”
“You killed her?”
“I caused the crash.”
Mara's face went numb.
Evelyn continued.
“I thought it would look like an accident. I thought I could get your mother out before Victor found her.”
Daniel whispered, “But she died.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was too late.”
Footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Victor's voice came again.
“Evelyn.”
Mara clutched the journal.
Daniel looked at his mother as though he no longer knew her.
Evelyn pointed toward the hidden passage.
“Go.”
Mara hesitated.
Evelyn's voice became firm.
“Find Sophie.”
Daniel shook his head.
“I'm not leaving you.”
“You have spent your entire life trying to save people after the damage was done.”
She looked at him.
“Save someone while you still can.”
Victor reached the bottom of the stairs.
Mara and Daniel disappeared into the passage.
Behind them, Evelyn stood alone in the hidden room.
The final sound Mara heard before the panel closed was Victor saying her name.
Then the door slammed shut.
Mara looked at Daniel in the darkness.
He was crying silently.
She opened the journal.
The final page contained one more sentence.
If Mara ever learns the truth, tell her Sophie was not the only child I saved.
Mara's eyes moved to Daniel.
He stared back.
Neither understood the meaning.
Yet.
Click Here to continue read next: PART5: The Sentence in the Journal Revealed a Second Child, Sending Mara and Daniel Into a Past Neither of Them Had Ever Been Allowed to See
She Left the Wedding With Blood on Her Lip, but the Stain on Her Dress Was the Least Dangerous Thing Behind Her
Part 4 of 16
