Chapter 2: The Drawer Nobody Could Open
Damon stared at his father.
“What does my mother have to do with this?””
Calvin didn't answer immediately.
He walked to the desk, picked up his glasses from beneath the chair, and examined one cracked lens. His hands were steady, but his cheek had begun to swell.
Serena stood near the door, her torn dress gathered in one fist.
“I don't know what he's talking about,” she said.
Calvin looked at her.
“You recognized the drawer before you entered the room. You watched me every time I opened the desk. You asked about your mother-in-law's belongings three times in the last month.””
“I was curious!””
“Curiosity doesn't make a person destroy her own clothes and accuse an innocent man of assault.””
Serena's expression hardened.
“An innocent man? You grabbed me!””
“I stopped you from stealing a document.””
“You have no proof I was stealing anything.””
Calvin gestured toward the monitor.
“The camera recorded your hand on the drawer.””
“Then show the footage to the police,” Serena snapped.
The challenge hung in the air.
Damon stared at her.
Five minutes earlier, she had been sobbing into his chest, begging him to protect her. Now she stood with her chin raised, daring his father to call the authorities.
Calvin nodded slowly.
“Very well.””
Serena's confidence faltered.
“Calvin, don't be ridiculous.””
“You seem certain the police will believe your version of events. Let's give them the opportunity.””
She turned to Damon.
“Are you going to let him threaten me?””
Damon didn't move.
For the first time in their marriage, he didn't immediately rush to her defense.
“Why were you looking for something that belonged to my mother?””
Serena blinked rapidly.
“I told you. I wasn't.””
“The footage says otherwise.””
“The footage shows me looking at a desk. Looking isn't a crime!””
“Neither is asking your father-in-law a question,” Calvin said.
“Yet you chose to scream as though I'd tried to kill you.””
Serena's cheeks flushed.
“You don't know what it's like living in this house!””
Calvin's face became unreadable.
“Then tell us.””
She opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
Damon took one step toward her.
“Serena, what were you trying to find?””
She looked at him for a long moment. Then her eyes filled with tears again, although this time she didn't let them fall.
“Something your father took from me.””
Calvin frowned.
“From you?””
“Yes.””
“What could I possibly have taken from you?””
Serena looked down at the floor.
“My mother's letters.””
Silence.
Damon's anger shifted into confusion.
“Your mother's letters?””
“My mother died when I was twelve. Before she passed, she told me she'd written letters to someone in this family. She said they contained the truth about why she had spent years trying to contact the Blackwoods.””
Calvin's face changed so subtly that Damon might have missed it if he hadn't been watching.
“What was your mother's name?”” Calvin asked.
Serena lifted her eyes.
“Evelyn Hayes.””
The old man's fingers tightened around his glasses.
For the first time, he looked genuinely shaken.
Damon noticed.
“Dad?””
Calvin placed the glasses on the desk.
“Where did you hear that name?””
Serena let out a bitter laugh.
“My mother? You want to know where I heard my own mother's name?””
“Answer me.””
“From her diary. From the letters she left behind. From a photograph of her standing outside this house thirty years ago.””
Calvin slowly lowered himself into his chair.
Damon looked between them.
“What photograph?””
Serena reached into the small handbag she'd left beside the doorway and pulled out a folded piece of paper.
She hesitated before handing it to Damon.
It was a photograph, yellowed around the edges.
A young woman stood beside a black iron gate, one hand resting on a metal post. Behind her rose the unmistakable facade of the Blackwood mansion.
The woman had dark hair, high cheekbones, and a small crescent-shaped birthmark beneath her left eye.
Damon stared.
He had seen that face before.
Not in a photograph.
In the old family portrait hanging at the top of the staircase.
His mother, Eleanor Blackwood, had the same eyes.
The same smile.
And the same crescent-shaped mark.
Damon looked up.
“Who is this?””
“My mother,” Serena whispered.
“Evelyn Hayes.””
He turned the photograph over.
Three words had been written on the back in faded blue ink.
Ask Calvin why.
Damon's throat tightened.
“Dad, why is a woman who looks almost exactly like Mom standing outside our house?””
Calvin closed his eyes.
For a long moment, he seemed to age another decade.
When he finally spoke, his voice was barely audible.
“Because Eleanor and Evelyn were sisters.””
Serena's handbag slipped from her fingers.
Damon stared at him.
“My mother had a sister?””
“Yes.””
“Why have I never heard about her?””
“Because your mother asked me to keep the truth from you.””
Damon shook his head.
“No. That makes no sense. I grew up looking at her photographs. I knew every story about her childhood.””
“Then you knew the stories she wanted you to know.””
Damon slammed the photograph onto the desk.
“You expect me to believe my mother had a sister, that her sister tried to contact this family, and that you hid it from me for my entire life?””
“I expect you to understand that some truths can destroy people.””
Calvin's gaze shifted toward Serena.
“And some people will do anything to uncover them.””
Serena stepped forward.
“Then open the drawer.””
Calvin's head snapped toward her.
“No.””
“Those letters belong to my mother!””
“And you don't know what's inside them.””
“That's exactly why I need to see them!””
Damon raised his hand.
“Both of you, stop.””
Neither listened.
Serena planted both palms on the desk.
“You've kept my mother's story locked away for decades. You let me marry your son without telling me you knew her. You sat at our wedding and smiled at me as if I were a stranger.””
Calvin's face tightened.
“I never knew who you were until six months ago.””
The words landed like a gunshot.
Damon slowly turned toward him.
“Six months ago?””
Calvin looked away.
Serena went pale.
“You said you didn't recognize my name.””
“I didn't,” Calvin replied.
“Not until I saw the photograph your mother left behind.””
Damon felt the floor shift beneath him.
“What photograph?””
Calvin reached into the desk's top compartment and withdrew a small envelope. It was worn, its edges soft from years of handling.
He placed it on the desk but kept one hand over it.
“Six months ago, I received an anonymous package. Inside was this photograph, along with a note claiming that Evelyn Hayes had a daughter.””
He looked at Serena.
“I didn't believe it at first. I thought someone was attempting to blackmail the family. Then I saw your face at dinner one evening, and I realized the resemblance wasn't a coincidence.””
Serena's lips parted.
“You knew who I was?””
“I suspected.””
“And you said nothing?””
“I wanted to verify the story before involving you.””
She laughed, but the sound broke halfway through.
“You wanted to decide whether I was worth the truth.””
“No. I wanted to know why your mother had spent thirty years trying to reach us.””
Damon stared at the envelope.
“Then why didn't you tell me?””
“Because I had already made one promise to your mother.””
Calvin's eyes shone.
“And I wasn't going to break it until I knew what had happened to Evelyn.””
Serena suddenly reached across the desk.
Calvin grabbed the envelope and pulled it back.
“Don't!””
Her face twisted.
“Give it to me!””
“No.””
“It's mine!””
“Your mother's letter is inside. The rest of the contents are not yours to take.””
Serena lunged again.
Damon caught her arm.
“Stop!””
She twisted free.
“You don't understand! If he opens that drawer, everything will be gone!””
Calvin went very still.
Damon slowly released his wife's arm.
“What do you mean, gone?””
Serena looked at the locked drawer.
Then at the envelope.
Then at Damon.
For the first time, her fear seemed real.
“Because someone else has been searching for it,” she whispered.
Calvin's face turned ashen.
“Who?””
Serena's eyes filled with tears.
“I don't know his name. But he found me three weeks ago. He knew about my mother.
He knew about the letters. And he told me that if I didn't find what was inside that drawer, someone I loved would pay for it.””
Damon stepped closer.
“Who threatened you?””
She shook her head.
“He said he was watching the house.””
Calvin slowly rose from his chair.
“Damon, lock the doors.””
“Dad, what—”
“Now!””
The old man's sudden urgency silenced him.
Damon hurried toward the study door and turned the key.
When he returned, Calvin was staring at the security monitor.
The footage had been paused on a frame showing Serena looking toward the locked drawer.
But Calvin wasn't looking at Serena.
He was looking at the reflection in the study window.
A dark figure stood outside, partially concealed by the garden hedges.
Damon leaned closer.
“Who's that?””
Calvin's hand began to tremble.
“I don't know.””
Then the monitor flickered.
A new notification appeared across the screen.
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*EXTERNAL CAMERA DISCONNECTED.*
And somewhere on the ground floor, a door slammed shut.
