Chapter One A Name From the Past
Richard closed the bedroom door behind him.
Neither husband nor wife remained inside.
Only Julian sat on the edge of the untouched bed, staring at the white rose petals scattered across the blanket.
Clara stood across from him.
Neither spoke for nearly a minute.
Finally she whispered.
"Who is Sienna?"
Julian's jaw tightened.
"You already know."
"I know no one by that name."
"You've forgotten."
"I haven't forgotten anything."
He laughed.
A bitter, broken laugh.
"You forgot because she wasn't your daughter."
The sentence struck Clara harder than any slap.
Julian slowly reached inside his jacket pocket and removed an old photograph.
Its edges were faded from years of being carried.
He handed it to his mother.
Clara studied the picture.
Three teenagers stood beside a river.
Julian.
Audrey.
And another young woman with bright auburn hair.
The girl smiled directly at the camera.
Her hand rested gently on Julian's shoulder.
On the back of the photograph someone had written:
"Friends forever."
Clara frowned.
"I've never seen this."
"You never wanted to."
Julian stood and walked toward the window.
"The summer before college... we were inseparable."
"Sienna loved everyone."
"Especially Audrey."
"They were like sisters."
His voice softened.
"Until Audrey destroyed everything."
Across the hall Audrey sat wrapped in a blanket while George quietly poured her a cup of tea.
She couldn't stop shaking.
Every time footsteps echoed in the hallway, she flinched.
Clara entered carefully.
"My dear..."
Audrey looked away.
"I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"For believing this marriage was real."
Clara knelt beside her.
"What happened tonight?"
Audrey swallowed hard.
"He never touched me."
Clara blinked.
"What?"
"He didn't hurt me physically."
"Then why were you screaming?"
Audrey closed her eyes.
"Because what he said..."
"...was worse."
An hour earlier...
Julian had locked the bedroom door.
He removed his wedding jacket.
Then quietly placed a thick envelope onto the bed.
"Open it."
Audrey smiled nervously.
"What is it?"
"Our wedding gift."
Inside the envelope were photographs.
Hospital records.
Police reports.
Newspaper clippings.
Every page carried the same name.
SIENNA PARKER
Across the final page someone had written in black ink.
"This is your fault."
Julian watched Audrey's face lose all color.
"You remember now."
She whispered.
"No..."
"You killed her."
Present time.
Clara felt cold despite the summer heat.
Killed?
Audrey looked horrified.
"I didn't."
"I've never hurt Sienna."
"Then why didn't you tell him?"
"Because..."
She stopped.
Tears spilled down her cheeks.
"Because someone wanted him to believe I did."
Clara's heartbeat quickened.
Someone.
Not Audrey.
Someone else.
May you like
For the first time that night...
She wondered whether her own son had become someone else's weapon.
