Chapter Four The Woman Who Never Stopped Watching
The black sedan disappeared before sunrise.
No one inside the Harper house realized they had been under surveillance.
Inside, exhaustion hung over every room.
No one had slept.
Clara sat alone at the dining table, Sienna's diary open before her. She had read the final pages at least twenty times, searching for something she might have missed.
Every time she reached the altered entry, the same thought returned.
Someone wanted Julian to believe Audrey was guilty.
Richard walked in carrying an old cardboard box from the attic.
"I found these."
Inside were family photographs from years earlier.
Picnics.
Birthdays.
Graduation parties.
Then Clara stopped at one picture.
Three young women stood arm in arm.
Audrey.
Sienna.
And another girl with shoulder-length black hair.
The back of the photo read:
Emily Carson — Summer Volunteer Program
Clara frowned.
"I barely remember her."
Richard nodded slowly.
"She and Sienna were close."
"So why did she disappear after the accident?"
Neither of them had an answer.
Across town, Audrey checked into a small motel under George's suggestion.
She refused to return to her apartment.
She refused to remain in the Harper house.
Everything reminded her of Julian's cold voice.
"This marriage was your punishment."
She sat on the edge of the bed when her phone rang.
Unknown number.
Again.
This time she answered.
Silence.
Then a woman's calm voice.
"You should have listened."
Audrey's heart raced.
"Who are you?"
"You were never supposed to marry him."
"Who is this?"
"You survived once."
"But next time..."
The line went dead.
Audrey stared at the phone.
Her hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Back at the Harper house...
Julian finally left his room.
He hadn't shaved.
He hadn't eaten.
George handed him coffee.
"I have one question."
Julian nodded weakly.
"If revenge was your goal..."
"Why marry her?"
Julian stared into the cup.
"Because divorce wouldn't hurt enough."
George looked at him in disbelief.
"You planned this?"
"For years."
"I wanted her to love me first."
"So losing me would destroy her."
Even saying the words aloud made Julian sound like a stranger to himself.
George quietly stood.
"I don't recognize the man sitting in front of me."
May you like
For the first time...
Julian lowered his head in shame.
