Chapter 3: The Woman in the Safe
Ethan reached for the photo.
I moved it away.
“Don’t.”
He swallowed. “Megan, listen—”
“No. You listen.”
Lily sat upstairs with the neighbor I trusted most. She was safe. She would not hear this.
I looked at Marlene.
“You came into my home using a fake name. You manipulated my child. You pretended to be sick. You searched my house.”
Marlene’s eyes hardened.
“You have no idea what Ethan promised me.”
I almost laughed.
“There it is.”
Ethan turned on her. “Shut up.”
But she was done protecting him.
“He said Lily’s trust would fix everything,” Marlene snapped. “He said you were selfish. He said that bracelet belonged to his family.”
“It belonged to Lily’s late father’s family,” I said. “Not yours.”
Ethan’s face twisted.
“You act like I’m some monster,” he said. “I’ve raised her.”
“No,” I said. “You lived near her money.”
The doorbell rang.
Ethan looked relieved.
He thought it was someone he could manipulate.
It wasn’t.
My lawyer entered with two officers.
Behind them stood a woman I had never met before.
Older. Thin. Gray-haired. Wearing a plain brown coat.
Ethan stared at her like he had seen a ghost.
“Hello, son,” she said softly.
Real Doris.
His actual mother.
Alive.
Not frail from dementia.
Hidden in a care facility Ethan had stopped paying for six months earlier.
Marlene backed away.
I stared at Ethan.
“You told me she was living with us,” I whispered.
His lips parted, but no words came out.
The real Doris looked at me with tears in her eyes.
“He took my identification,” she said. “He told people I was unstable. Then he disappeared.”
The officers stepped forward.
May you like
Ethan tried to run.
He didn’t get past the kitchen doorway.
