Chapter 6 - SARAH’S LAST WARNING
Rebecca arrived at the Cole estate the following afternoon carrying a small blue box.Noah recognized her immediately.
“Aunt Becca?”
Rebecca dropped to her knees.
He ran into her arms.
The reunion destroyed Ethan.
Vanessa had told him Rebecca stopped contacting them.
Rebecca had been writing every month.
Birthday cards.
Holiday letters.
Photographs.
All intercepted.
Rebecca held Noah and cried into his hair.
“I never stopped loving you.”
Noah looked confused.
“Why didn’t you come?”
Rebecca looked at Ethan.
He saw guilt that did not belong to her.
“I thought your dad wanted distance.”
Ethan shook his head.
“I never did.”
Rebecca looked toward the staircase.
“She told me you did.”
Nobody needed to ask who.
They sat in Sarah’s old sunroom.
Ethan had rarely entered since her death.
The room still contained books she loved and an unfinished watercolor painting of the garden.
Rebecca placed the blue box on the table.
“Sarah gave this to me near the end.”
Ethan stared.
“Why didn’t you give it to me?”
“I tried.”
She wiped her eyes.
“The week after the funeral, Vanessa contacted me.”
Ethan went still.
“She said you were falling apart.”
Rebecca continued.
“She said you blamed Sarah’s family for making decisions about treatment.”
“I never said that.”
“I know that now.”
Rebecca looked ashamed.
“She told me giving you Sarah’s final letter might push you over the edge.”
Ethan looked toward Noah.
The child sat nearby with Elena, drawing.
“So you kept it.”
“For a while.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Then I mailed it.”
“When?”
“About eleven months after Sarah died.”
Vanessa had moved into Ethan’s home ten months after Sarah died.
The timing chilled him.
Rebecca pushed the box forward.
“I kept a photocopy.”
Ethan opened it.
Inside lay a folded sheet of paper.
Sarah’s handwriting.
He had not seen it in years.
His vision blurred.
He unfolded the letter.
Ethan,
If you are reading this, I probably ran out of courage or time.
There is something I should have told you earlier.
A woman named Vanessa Mercer contacted me twice.
Ethan stopped.
His hands trembled.
Rebecca touched his shoulder.
“Keep reading.”
Sarah described Vanessa attending charity events connected to Ethan’s company.
At first the encounters seemed accidental.
Then Vanessa sent Sarah messages.
Photographs.
Comments about Ethan.
Claims that Ethan deserved a wife who understood ambition.
Sarah initially dismissed her.
Then Vanessa began mentioning private details.
Ethan’s travel schedule.
Restaurants he visited.
Information about Noah.
The letter continued.
I do not know whether she is dangerous or simply obsessed. I know this sounds dramatic, and I hate writing it. But if anything happens to me, please keep her away from Noah.
Ethan stopped reading.
The room became silent.
His lungs refused to work normally.
He read the final paragraph.
Noah is the best thing we ever made. Whatever happens to me, make sure he grows up knowing love is never supposed to make him afraid.
Ethan lowered the paper.
He covered his face.
For years, grief had been painful.
Now it became rage mixed with unbearable regret.
Sarah had warned him.
And later, unknowingly, he had married the person she feared.
Rebecca sat beside him.
“You didn’t know.”
“I should have.”
“How?”
“I should have known.”
Rebecca shook her head.
“She manipulated everyone.”
“I brought her into his house.”
“That part is true.”
Ethan looked at her.
Rebecca did not soften it.
“You made a mistake.”
He swallowed.
“But what matters now is what you do after learning the truth.”
That sentence stayed with him.
Later, Noah found Ethan sitting alone in the garden.
The same garden.
Workers had repaired the flower stand.
The dog bowl was gone.
Yet Ethan could still see where everything happened.
Noah approached slowly.
“Dad?”
Ethan looked up.
“Hey.”
Noah held the repaired airplane.
“Can we fly it?”
Ethan almost said later.
His old instinct.
Calls.
Documents.
Attorneys.
Then he remembered Sarah’s letter.
Love is never supposed to make him afraid.
Ethan stood.
“Absolutely.”
They walked to the center of the lawn.
Noah handed him the airplane.
Ethan threw it gently.
It sailed through the air.
The repaired wing held.
Noah laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh since the party.
Ethan felt something unclench inside him.
They threw it again.
And again.
For fifteen minutes, there were no lawyers.
No Vanessa.
No trust.
Just a father and son.
Then a black SUV stopped outside the gates.
Security called Ethan.
“There’s a woman asking to see you.”
“Name?”
“Gloria Mercer.”
Ethan stiffened.
“No.”
“She says it’s about Vanessa.”
Ethan looked at Noah.
“Take him inside.”
Elena did.
Ethan walked toward the front gate.
Gloria stood outside.
She looked different.
No expensive hat.
No champagne.
No smug smile.
Her eyes were swollen.
“I need to talk to you.”
Ethan kept the gate closed.
“You assaulted me in front of my son.”
Gloria looked down.
“I know.”
“You laughed while she abused him.”
“I know.”
“Then there’s nothing to discuss.”
Gloria looked up.
“There is if you want to stop Vanessa.”
Ethan studied her.
“Why would you help me?”
Gloria’s face trembled.
“Because she lied to me too.”
Ethan said nothing.
Gloria stepped closer to the gate.
“I thought she was punishing a spoiled child.”
Ethan’s eyes hardened.
“That doesn’t excuse you.”
“I know.”
For once, Gloria did not argue.
“She told me Noah hit her.”
“He didn’t.”
“I know that now.”
She took a small key from her purse.
“Vanessa stored documents at my house.”
Ethan looked at the key.
“What documents?”
“I never opened the box.”
“Why now?”
Gloria’s voice broke.
“Because last night she told me if I testified against her, she would tell police the entire plan was mine.”
Ethan stared.
Gloria laughed bitterly.
“My daughter is willing to sacrifice me.”
“You were willing to sacrifice Noah.”
The words landed.
Gloria lowered her head.
“Yes.”
A long silence followed.
Then she held the key through the bars.
“I can’t undo what I did.”
“No.”
“But maybe I can help stop what she’s doing.”
Ethan took the key.
“Where?”
“My basement.”
“What’s inside?”
Gloria looked at him.
“I think it’s the original trust file.”
Ethan’s pulse quickened.
“And something else.”
“What?”
May you like
Gloria swallowed.
“A recording Vanessa made the night Sarah died.”
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