Chapter 7: The Woman Who Came Back from the Dead
Nobody moved after the call ended.
Marcus sat motionless in the chair, holding his phone against his ear as if Catherine might suddenly call again.
Ethan stood beside the coffee table, staring at the hospital discharge papers.
Olivia was crying.
And I was trying to understand how a woman who had supposedly been dead for seven years had just called her husband.
Marcus finally lowered his phone.
"Olivia.""
His sister looked up.
"Marcus, please.""
"Don't.""
He stood slowly.
"Seven years ago, you told me Catherine died in the hospital. You stood beside me at her funeral. You helped me choose her headstone. You watched me bury an empty coffin, apparently.""
Olivia shook her head.
"I didn't know about the empty coffin.""
"Then what did you know?""
She wiped her cheeks.
"I knew Daniel had arranged for Catherine to be transferred. I knew she was alive when I saw her. But he told me she was seriously ill and needed specialized care.""
Marcus's expression hardened.
"And you believed him?""
"He showed me medical documents.""
"Did you ever visit her?""
Olivia hesitated.
That hesitation answered everything.
Marcus stepped closer.
"Did you ever visit my wife?""
"No.""
"Not once in seven years?""
Olivia began crying harder.
"I was told she didn't want visitors.""
Ethan picked up the hospital document.
"Who told you that?""
"Daniel.""
"Of course.""
Ethan threw the paper onto the table.
"Everything comes back to Daniel.""
Olivia looked at him.
"There's something you need to understand. Your mother was terrified of him.""
Ethan's eyes filled.
"Then why didn't you save her?""
Olivia couldn't answer.
Marcus turned toward me.
"Vanessa, call Rebecca.""
I reached for my phone.
But before I could dial, another message appeared.
*Unknown Number: Catherine is waiting for you. Don't let Marcus come alone.*
I stared at the screen.
Marcus noticed.
"What is it?""
I handed him the phone.
He read the message.
"Who sent this?""
"I don't know.""
He immediately called the number.
It was disconnected.
Ethan looked at the screen.
"Maybe it's Catherine.""
Marcus shook his head.
"No. She's not asking us to come. Someone is trying to control where we go.""
Olivia stood abruptly.
"I know the facility.""
Everyone turned toward her.
"What facility?"" Marcus asked.
"The place Daniel mentioned. Seven years ago, he told me Catherine had been moved to a private care center outside Albany.""
"Why didn't you tell me?""
"Because I thought she was dead.""
Marcus grabbed his jacket.
"Then we're going there.""
Ethan stepped forward.
"I'm coming.""
Marcus looked at him.
"You're not staying behind.""
For a moment, father and son stared at each other.
Then Ethan nodded.
I picked up my handbag.
Marcus turned toward me.
"You're not coming.""
I stiffened.
"Excuse me?""
"You're staying here.""
"Marcus, Catherine may know something about the financial records. I need to explain—"
He cut me off.
"You've explained enough.""
I lowered my voice.
"After everything we've been through, you're leaving me here?""
He looked at me with exhausted eyes.
"Vanessa, I don't know who you are anymore.""
Then he walked out.
Ethan followed.
Olivia hesitated at the doorway.
She turned toward me.
For a moment, I thought she might apologize.
Instead, she said, "You should have left this family alone.""
The door closed.
I stood in the living room, listening to their car disappear down the driveway.
Then I took out my phone.
I called Daniel.
No answer.
I tried again.
Still nothing.
Finally, I sent a message.
*I know Catherine is alive. Tell me where she is.*
Three minutes later, my phone rang.
An unknown number.
I answered.
"Hello?""
A familiar voice whispered.
"Vanessa, you need to listen carefully.""
It was Daniel.
"Where are you?""
"That doesn't matter.""
"Where is Catherine?""
"You're asking the wrong question.""
I clenched my jaw.
"Then tell me the right one.""
He paused.
"Why did Marcus believe Catherine was dead?""
I looked toward the front door.
"Because you told him she died.""
"I didn't tell him that.""
"What?""
"I arranged her transfer. I never told Marcus she died.""
I felt my stomach tighten.
"Olivia said—"
"Olivia has been lying to you.""
"Why?""
Daniel exhaled.
"Because she was the one who signed Catherine into that facility.""
I froze.
"She told me you signed the papers.""
"She signed them using Marcus's authorization.""
I remembered the hospital document.
The signature.
The discharge record.
I swallowed.
"Why would she do that?""
"Because Catherine was going to expose something Olivia had done.""
"What?""
Daniel's voice dropped.
"Seven years ago, the night Catherine was hospitalized, she discovered that Olivia had been transferring money from Marcus's company.""
I stared at the table.
The missing funds.
The altered documents.
The secret accounts.
"You're saying Olivia stole the money?""
"Not all of it. But she was involved.""
"Then why did you tell me to trust you?""
"Because I thought I could control the situation.""
I laughed bitterly.
"Control it? You used me!""
"Vanessa, we don't have time for this.""
"Did you use me to get access to Marcus's money?""
He didn't answer.
That silence told me enough.
Then Daniel said something that made my blood run cold.
"There's one thing you don't know about your marriage.""
I gripped the phone.
"What?""
"Marcus didn't choose you by accident.""
My stomach tightened.
"What are you talking about?""
"Catherine knew you before you met Marcus.""
I stopped breathing.
"That's impossible.""
"She knew your mother. They worked together years ago.""
I shook my head.
"My mother never mentioned Catherine.""
"Because she was afraid.""
"Afraid of what?""
Daniel paused.
Then he whispered:
"Vanessa, you weren't the first woman Marcus married after Catherine disappeared.""
I frowned.
"What?""
"There was another woman.""
"Who?""
"Her name was Laura. She died six months before you met Marcus.""
My heart began pounding.
"What happened to her?""
Daniel's voice became almost inaudible.
"She discovered the same thing Catherine discovered.""
The call disconnected.
I stared at the phone.
Then I heard a noise upstairs.
A door closing.
I slowly looked toward the staircase.
"Hello?""
No answer.
I picked up a heavy brass candleholder from the console table and walked upstairs.
The bedroom door was open.
My wardrobe had been disturbed.
Drawers were pulled out.
Clothes lay scattered across the floor.
Someone had been searching for something.
I rushed toward the bedside table.
The photograph was gone.
The one showing Catherine and Daniel.
I checked my handbag.
My passport was still there.
My jewelry was untouched.
Only the photograph had disappeared.
Then I noticed something beneath the pillow.
A folded piece of paper.
I opened it.
The handwriting was unfamiliar.
*You were never supposed to become Marcus's wife.*
Beneath the sentence was a second line.
*Laura was your sister.*
My knees nearly gave way.
I read it again.
Laura.
The woman Daniel had just mentioned.
My sister?
I had never known I had a sister.
My mother had told me I was an only child.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message arrived with an attached photograph.
It showed two little girls standing beside a woman in a hospital gown.
One of the girls was me.
The other had the same eyes.
The same smile.
The same small birthmark beneath her left ear.
And beneath the photograph was a message.
*Ask your mother why she gave one daughter away.*
I sat on the edge of the bed.
For the first time that night, I wasn't thinking about money, Marcus, or the police.
I was thinking about a woman I had never met.
A sister who might have died because she discovered the same secret I had stumbled into.
Then another message appeared.
*Laura didn't die in an accident.*
And beneath it:
*She was murdered.*
Meanwhile, hundreds of miles away, Marcus's car pulled into the parking lot of a private residential facility.
Ethan looked at the building.
"This place looks abandoned.""
Olivia stared through the windshield.
"It wasn't like this seven years ago.""
Marcus stepped out.
A security guard approached them.
"Can I help you?""
Marcus showed him Catherine's old photograph.
"I'm looking for this woman.""
The guard studied it.
Then he looked uncomfortable.
"She doesn't live here anymore.""
Marcus's heart dropped.
"Where is she?""
The guard hesitated.
Then he said:
"She left three months ago.""
Marcus stared at him.
"Three months?""
"Yes, sir.""
Ethan stepped closer.
"Who signed her out?""
The guard checked his records.
Then he looked up.
"Her daughter.""
Marcus frowned.
"Catherine doesn't have a daughter.""
The guard turned the screen toward him.
May you like
A name appeared beneath the transfer authorization.
*VANESSA COLE.*
