Chapter Five: The Woman I Buried Twice
I forgot how to breathe.
My mother.
The woman standing at the bottom of the staircase was my mother.
At least, that was what my father had just called her.
But that was impossible.
My mother had died when I was eleven.
I remembered the hospital.
I remembered the flowers.
I remembered my father holding my hand while I cried.
I remembered the funeral.
I remembered standing beside her grave.
For twenty years, I had believed my mother was dead.
Now she was standing beneath me.
Alive.
Watching me.
I looked at my father.
"That's my mother?"
He nodded slowly.
I looked back down the staircase.
The woman had tears running down her face.
She looked older than the photographs I remembered, but I recognized her eyes.
Those eyes had stared back at me from every picture in our family album.
"Mom?"
Her lips trembled.
"Emily."
I took one step down.
Then another.
My father grabbed my arm.
"Don't."
I turned toward him.
"That's my mother."
"Yes."
"Then why did you tell me she was dead?"
His expression broke.
"Because I had no choice."
I stared at him.
"You both lied to me."
My mother's face twisted with pain.
"We were trying to protect you."
"From what?"
Neither answered.
Then Daniel stepped into the hallway.
His face was pale.
"Emily."
I turned toward him.
"You knew."
He stopped.
"You knew my mother was alive."
His silence answered me.
I felt something inside me collapse.
"How long?"
"Emily, please—"
"How long have you known?"
"Seven years."
I stared at him.
Seven years.
The entire length of our marriage.
My husband had known my mother was alive from the beginning.
He had watched me mourn her.
He had watched me visit her grave.
He had listened to me talk about her.
And all that time, he had known.
"Why?"
Daniel looked at my father.
Then at my mother.
Finally, he looked at me.
"Because your mother asked me to keep you safe."
I laughed.
It came out broken.
"Safe?"
My mother stepped forward.
"Emily, please listen."
"No."
She stopped.
"I've spent twenty years believing you were dead."
"I know."
"I cried for you."
"I know."
"I visited your grave."
"I know."
"And you were alive?"
Her eyes filled with tears.
"I was trying to keep you alive."
I shook my head.
"Then explain."
My father took a breath.
"Your mother discovered what Vanessa's family was doing."
"The money laundering?"
"More than that."
He looked toward Daniel.
"They were involved in something much larger."
I frowned.
"What?"
Daniel answered.
"Identity fraud."
I stared at him.
"What does that have to do with my mother?"
My father stepped closer.
"Your mother discovered that Vanessa's father had been using our family's businesses to move money for years. But she also discovered that he had been creating false identities."
I didn't understand.
"Whose identities?"
My mother spoke softly.
"People who were supposed to be dead."
A chill ran through me.
"Like you."
She nodded.
"They needed me to disappear."
"Why?"
"Because I found the records."
My father continued.
"Your mother discovered evidence that could have destroyed them."
"Then why didn't you go to the police?"
My mother looked away.
"Because the police weren't the only people involved."
My stomach dropped.
"You couldn't trust anyone."
"No."
I looked at Daniel.
"And you?"
He nodded.
"I was working undercover."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"I wasn't working for Vanessa's father."
"Then why did you marry her?"
"To get close to him."
I couldn't process it.
"You expect me to believe your entire affair was an investigation?"
Daniel's expression tightened.
"I did marry Vanessa."
"But why?"
"Because that was the only way I could access the family's private accounts."
I shook my head.
"Then why did you marry me?"
He looked directly at me.
"Because I fell in love with you."
My eyes burned.
"That's not enough."
"I know."
"Did you ever love Vanessa?"
He hesitated.
"No."
I believed him.
And somehow, that hurt too.
Because it meant that while I had spent years believing my husband was secretly in love with another woman, he had actually been keeping another secret entirely.
A much bigger one.
I turned to Vanessa.
"Then why couldn't you leave him alone?"
Vanessa's face hardened.
"Because I wasn't the one who wanted him."
"What?"
She looked at my mother.
"She was."
I stared at my mother.
"What does that mean?"
My mother closed her eyes.
"I asked Daniel to stay close to Vanessa."
"Why?"
"Because she was our connection to the organization."
I felt dizzy.
"So the woman I thought was your mistress was actually part of an investigation?"
Daniel nodded.
"Yes."
"Then why didn't you tell me?"
"Because the people we were investigating knew about you."
He stepped closer.
"They knew you were my weakness."
I stared at him.
"You made me think you were cheating on me."
"I had no choice."
"You could have told me!"
"If I had, you would have been in danger."
I turned away.
My entire life had become a maze of lies.
Every memory had been rewritten.
Every conversation.
Every secret.
Every explanation.
I didn't know what was real anymore.
Then my father spoke.
"There's one thing you still don't know."
I looked at him.
"What?"
He hesitated.
"Your father's death wasn't the only thing we faked."
I frowned.
"What else?"
He looked at my mother.
She nodded.
Then my father said:
"Your father's grave is empty because the body buried there wasn't his."
My stomach dropped.
"What?"
"We couldn't bury him publicly."
"Then whose body was it?"
My mother whispered:
"Someone who had already died."
I stepped backward.
"So my father never died?"
My father shook his head.
"Not then."
"When did he die?"
Silence.
My mother began crying.
"Two years ago."
I stared at her.
"How?"
She looked at Daniel.
He lowered his head.
"I was there."
My heart pounded.
"What happened?"
Daniel's eyes met mine.
"He was killed."
"By who?"
No one answered.
Then a sound came from downstairs.
Glass breaking.
Everyone froze.
My father immediately moved toward the hallway.
"Stay here."
"Who is downstairs?"
He didn't answer.
Daniel stepped in front of me.
"Emily, don't move."
Another crash.
Then footsteps.
Someone was coming upstairs.
My mother grabbed my hand.
"We have to go."
"Where?"
"There's another exit."
We moved toward the bedroom.
The footsteps grew louder.
Then a man's voice called from below.
"You can't hide forever."
I recognized the voice.
My blood went cold.
It belonged to Vanessa's father.
But he was supposed to be dead.
My father pushed open a hidden door behind an old wardrobe.
"Go."
We hurried through.
The passage was narrow and dark.
My mother held my hand.
Daniel followed behind us.
Then we heard a gunshot from the house.
I screamed.
My father pushed us forward.
"Don't stop!"
We reached another room and locked the door.
Everyone was breathing heavily.
I looked at Daniel.
"What is happening?"
He shook his head.
"I don't know."
My mother suddenly looked toward me.
"Emily, give me your phone."
"Why?"
"Because they can track you."
I handed it over.
She removed the battery.
Then she looked at Daniel.
"Did you bring it?"
He nodded.
"Bring what?"
Daniel reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small black flash drive.
My father's expression changed.
"Where did you get that?"
Daniel looked at him.
"From Vanessa."
My mother stepped backward.
"She gave it to you?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Daniel looked at me.
"Because she said it was time Emily knew the truth."
I stared at the flash drive.
"What truth?"
Daniel held it out to me.
"Everything."
I took it.
Before I could ask anything else, my phone—despite having its battery removed—buzzed.
Everyone froze.
I stared at it.
The screen lit up.
One new message.
There was no number.
No name.
Only a photograph.
I opened it.
My heart stopped.
The photograph showed me as a child.
Standing between my mother and father.
But there was someone else in the picture.
A little girl.
She looked about my age.
She was holding my mother's hand.
I stared at the photograph.
"Who is that?"
My mother began crying.
My father closed his eyes.
Daniel looked at me with an expression I had never seen before.
Fear.
I zoomed in.
The little girl had the same eyes as me.
The same dark hair.
The same small birthmark beneath her left eye.
I looked at my mother.
"Who is she?"
She whispered:
"Your sister."
I couldn't speak.
My mother reached for me.
"Emily, there is something about your birth that we never told you."
Then the door behind us began to shake.
Someone was trying to break it down.
My father shouted:
"We're out of time!"
My mother looked at me through her tears.
"Your sister is alive."
The door splintered.
And then she said the words that made my entire world collapse again.
"She's Vanessa."
