Chapter 16: The Secret Vanessa Carried
The word echoed through my mind.
Vanessa.
For a moment, I forgot about the broken window.
I forgot about the blood on my father's shirt.
I forgot about the person who had just tried to kill us.
All I could hear was her name.
The woman I was supposed to marry.
The woman I once believed knew everything about me.
The woman who stood beside me in front of hundreds of people and watched my father get humiliated.
She had something my mother left behind.
Something everyone had been searching for.
"Vanessa?""
My voice came out barely above a whisper.
My father nodded weakly.
"She doesn't know what she has.""
I looked at him.
"Then how?""
He pressed his hand against his shoulder.
"Your mother trusted her.""
I shook my head.
"No.""
The answer came immediately.
Because it didn't make sense.
"Vanessa was a child.""
"Yes.""
"She couldn't have been involved.""
"She wasn't.""
My father looked at me.
"But her mother was.""
The pieces began moving again.
Diane.
The Whitmore family.
The missing evidence.
The secrets.
The wedding.
Everything.
I helped my father stand.
"We need to leave.""
He looked surprised.
"What?""
"Now.""
Another sound came from outside.
A car engine.
Whoever attacked us wasn't waiting around.
They knew they had failed.
And they might come back.
I helped my father into my car.
The entire drive to the hospital, neither of us spoke.
Not because there was nothing to say.
Because there was too much.
My father had almost died.
And even now, he was still protecting secrets.
When the doctors took him away, I sat in the waiting room alone.
For the first time in days, nobody was lying to me.
Nobody was explaining.
Nobody was controlling what I knew.
Just silence.
But silence had become dangerous.
My phone buzzed.
A message.
Vanessa.
Michael, we need to talk.
I stared at the screen.
The old version of me would have answered immediately.
The man who loved her.
The man who believed she was his future.
But that man didn't exist anymore.
Not after the wedding.
Not after the secrets.
Not after learning my mother had trusted her.
I replied.
Where are you?
The answer came quickly.
The old family house.
I knew exactly where she meant.
The Whitmore estate.
Twenty minutes later, I was standing outside the place where my life had started falling apart.
Vanessa opened the door before I knocked.
She looked like she hadn't slept.
Her eyes were red.
"Michael.""
I didn't say hello.
"What do you have?""
She froze.
"What?""
"What did my mother leave you?""
The color drained from her face.
For several seconds, she just stared.
Then she whispered:
"Your father told you.""
I felt something break inside.
"You knew?""
Vanessa looked away.
"Not everything.""
"Don't do that.""
I stepped inside.
"I'm done with half-truths.""
She closed the door.
"I found it when I was a teenager.""
"What?""
"A box.""
I stared.
"Where?""
"In my grandmother's house.""
My heart raced.
"What was inside?""
Vanessa swallowed.
"Letters.""
"From my mother?""
She nodded.
"And a necklace.""
I frowned.
"A necklace?""
"Your mother gave it to my grandmother before she died.""
I couldn't breathe.
"Why?""
"I don't know.""
"You never opened the letters?""
"I tried.""
"And?""
Vanessa looked at me.
"They were locked.""
"Locked?""
She nodded.
"The necklace was the key.""
My mind raced.
"Where is it?""
Her eyes filled.
"Michael...""
"Where is it?""
She walked toward a cabinet.
Then removed a small wooden box.
My heart pounded.
She placed it on the table.
"I was going to tell you.""
"When?""
She looked down.
"I don't know.""
The answer hurt.
"After the wedding?""
She flinched.
That was enough.
"You were going to marry me while hiding this?""
"I was scared.""
"Of what?""
She looked at me.
"Of losing you.""
The same words.
Everyone was afraid of losing me.
But nobody realized they were losing me because they refused to trust me.
"Open it.""
She hesitated.
Then unlocked the box.
Inside was a necklace.
Simple.
Old.
A small silver pendant.
I recognized it.
Not from memory.
From photographs.
My mother wore it everywhere.
Vanessa handed it to me.
"Your mother gave this to my grandmother because she knew the Whitmores were dangerous.""
I looked at her.
"Why would she trust your grandmother?""
Vanessa's face changed.
"Because my grandmother wasn't like the rest of them.""
"Who was she?""
"My father's mother.""
I frowned.
"Richard's mother?""
She nodded.
The family tree kept getting darker.
"My grandmother hated what Richard became.""
I looked at the pendant.
"What was inside?""
Vanessa shook her head.
"I don't know.""
"You had it all these years.""
"Yes.""
"And you never opened it?""
"I couldn't.""
"Why?""
She looked at me.
"Because your mother wrote one thing on the box.""
"What?""
Vanessa whispered:
"Only give this to Michael when he is ready to know everything.""
The room went quiet.
I looked at the box.
Then at Vanessa.
"You knew.""
She nodded.
"I knew something was wrong.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
Tears filled her eyes.
"Because my mother warned me not to.""
I stared.
"Diane?""
"Yes.""
"What did she say?""
Vanessa closed her eyes.
"She said if you ever found out the truth, the Whitmore family would fall apart.""
I looked at the necklace.
Then back at her.
"Maybe it should.""
She didn't argue.
And somehow, that hurt more.
I picked up the pendant.
Something was engraved on the back.
A date.
The night my mother died.
And underneath it...
Three initials.
A.B.
My heart stopped.
May you like
Arthur Bennett.
But why?
