Chapter 5 - The Dead Wife’s Letters
Ethan slowly turned toward Maya.
“What letters?”
Maya’s mouth went dry.
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“Tell him.”
Maya looked at the floor.
That was enough.
Ethan’s voice changed.
“Maya.”
“Yes.”
“You have letters from Claire?”
“Yes.”
His late wife’s name filled the room like a ghost.
Claire Cole had died eighteen months earlier after a sudden car crash on a wet highway outside Greenwich.
Maya had been working for the family then.
She remembered Ethan standing in the hospital hallway holding Noah, who was only a few weeks old.
She remembered Vanessa appearing three months later.
Always helpful.
Always available.
Always dressed like she already belonged there.
Ethan stared at Maya.
“Why do you have my wife’s letters?”
“She gave them to me.”
“When?”
“Before she died.”
Vanessa laughed.
“Convenient again.”
Maya ignored her.
“She was afraid.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“Of what?”
Maya hesitated.
Claire had made her promise.
Not forever.
Only until she knew Noah was safe.
But now Noah had almost drowned.
Maya reached into the hidden lining of her suitcase.
Vanessa moved first.
“No!”
Everyone turned.
Maya pulled out a sealed envelope.
Ethan’s name was written across it in Claire’s handwriting.
His face collapsed for one second.
Maya handed it to him.
“Claire told me to give this to you if something happened that made me believe Noah was in danger.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“This is insane.”
Ethan tore open the envelope.
Inside were three pages.
His eyes moved quickly.
Then stopped.
“What does it say?” Randall asked.
Ethan didn’t answer.
Vanessa stepped toward him.
“Ethan, Claire was under incredible stress after giving birth.”
He looked up sharply.
“How do you know what’s in it?”
Vanessa froze.
Maya felt a chill.
Ethan lowered the paper.
“I didn’t read it out loud.”
“I’m guessing.”
“No.”
Vanessa’s lips parted.
Ethan walked toward her.
“You said she was under stress after giving birth.”
“That’s common knowledge.”
“Claire writes here that someone told her she was imagining things because of postpartum stress.”
Vanessa swallowed.
“So?”
“She never told anyone that.”
Maya whispered, “She told me.”
Ethan kept reading.
His breathing became uneven.
Then he reached the final paragraph.
“No.”
“What?” Maya asked.
Ethan read the sentence again.
His hand started shaking.
“What?” Maya repeated.
He looked toward Vanessa.
Claire’s letter contained one final warning.
If anything happens to me, don’t let Vanessa near my son.
Vanessa backed toward the door.
May you like
Ethan whispered, “Why did my wife write your name?”
Then every light in the house went out.
