Chapter 8: The Last Person I Suspected
The police asked the same question three times.
“Who else knew about the storage unit?””
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
At least, that was what we thought.
The officer looked at his notes.
“The access happened two days before you opened it.””
Dad rubbed his face.
“That’s impossible.””
“Someone had the key.””
I looked at the table.
The key.
The letters.
My mother’s journal.
All the things that had survived for years.
Someone had gone searching.
“Was anything stolen?”” I asked.
The officer checked the inventory.
“Not everything.””
That confused me.
“What does that mean?””
“Some items were moved.””
Moved.
Not stolen.
Someone had been looking for something.
Dad and I returned home in silence.
Mia followed behind us.
She looked nervous.
“I know what you’re thinking.””
I looked at her.
“I’m not blaming you.””
“But you should.””
“No.””
I shook my head.
“Not this time.””
That was new.
For all of us.
Mia looked surprised.
“I don’t know what to do with you trusting me.””
I almost smiled.
“Neither do I.””
For the first time in months, there was a small moment where we felt like sisters.
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?””
A woman’s voice spoke.
“Aaliyah?””
“Yes?””
“My name is Evelyn.””
I froze.
“My aunt?””
Silence.
“Yes.””
I gripped the phone.
“How did you get my number?””
“Your father kept it from me.””
My eyes moved toward Dad.
“He had his reasons.””
“I’m sure he did.””
There was anger in her voice.
But also sadness.
“I need to tell you something.””
“What?””
“Your mother left another letter.””
My heart stopped.
“What?””
“She wrote one for you.””
I looked at Dad.
He heard enough to understand.
“She wrote many things before she died.””
“Where is it?””
Evelyn hesitated.
“That’s the problem.””
“What problem?””
“It was given to someone else.””
“Who?””
Her answer came quietly.
“Vanessa.””
The room went silent.
I stood up.
“Why would Vanessa have it?””
Evelyn sighed.
“Because your father wasn’t the only person your mother trusted.””
The call ended.
I looked at Dad.
He looked devastated.
“I didn’t know.””
I believed him.
But that didn’t make it less frightening.
Because Vanessa had spent years beside us.
She had helped raise me.
She had smiled at family dinners.
She had hugged me when I graduated.
And she had been hiding something.
We found her address through Dad’s old contacts.
She answered the door after three knocks.
When she saw me, she looked surprised.
“Aaliyah.””
“Where is my mother’s letter?””
Her face changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.””
Dad stepped forward.
“Vanessa.””
She looked at him.
“I told you I wanted to help Mia.””
“No.””
His voice was cold.
“You wanted to control everything.””
Her expression hardened.
“You have no idea what I sacrificed.””
I stared.
“What does that mean?””
She looked at me.
Then smiled sadly.
“You think your mother was perfect.””
I felt my heart sink.
“What are you saying?””
Vanessa disappeared into the house.
When she returned, she held an envelope.
Old.
Yellowed.
My name written across it.
My hands trembled.
“Why did you have this?””
She didn’t answer.
Dad stepped forward.
“Give it to her.””
Vanessa looked at me.
“I kept this because I thought one day you would understand.””
“Understand what?””
She handed me the letter.
“That your mother was afraid.””
I opened it.
The first line was in my mother’s handwriting.
My sweet Aaliyah, if you are reading this, then someone finally decided you were old enough to know the truth.
I read the next sentence.
And everything inside me froze.
The hardest decision I ever made was choosing who would raise you after I was gone.
I looked up.
Dad looked terrified.
Because he knew.
There was something in that letter neither of us had ever known.
And it was about the person who had raised me.
My father.
I turned the page.
May you like
And read the sentence that changed everything.
David is a good man, but there is something I never told him…
