Chapter 4: The Mother Who Never Left
Rose couldn’t hear anything after those words.
Your mother didn’t die twenty-two years ago.
The sentence repeated in her mind like a broken recording.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Her mother was alive.
The woman she had spent her childhood mourning.
The woman whose photograph sat beside her bed until she was sixteen.
The woman whose perfume she barely remembered.
The woman her father claimed had been taken away by a cruel accident.
Alive.
Rose stared at the older woman standing in front of her.
“Who are you?””
The woman wiped tears from her face.
“My name is Margaret Hale.””
Rose’s eyes narrowed.
“And you knew my mother?””
Margaret nodded slowly.
“I was her closest friend.””
The forest seemed suddenly too small.
Too many strangers.
Too many secrets.
Too many people who knew pieces of Rose’s life while she knew nothing.
“Where is she?”” Rose asked.
Nobody answered.
That was the first warning.
Her stomach twisted.
“Where is my mother?””
Margaret looked away.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Rose.””
“No.””
Her voice cracked.
“No, don’t do that.””
She looked at him.
“Don’t say my name like you’re about to tell me another horrible truth.””
Gabriel stopped.
For once, he had no words.
Rose turned toward Margaret.
“Where is she?””
The older woman’s hands trembled.
“She’s been hiding.””
“From who?””
Margaret looked at Victor.
Then Gabriel.
“From everyone.””
Rose laughed quietly.
A painful sound.
“That doesn’t make sense.””
“It will.””
“No, it won’t.””
She shook her head.
“I spent my entire life believing my mother abandoned me.””
Her voice broke.
“I thought she died.””
Margaret’s eyes filled with guilt.
“She wanted to come back.””
“Then why didn’t she?””
Silence.
Rose looked around.
Nobody wanted to answer.
And that scared her more than anything.
Finally, Gabriel spoke.
“Because she believed someone would kill you if they knew she was alive.””
Rose turned toward him.
“You expect me to believe that?””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
His eyes met hers.
“Because I saw what they did to her.””
The anger in Rose’s chest slowed.
Only for a second.
“What did they do?””
Gabriel looked at the ground.
A rare crack appeared in the man everyone feared.
“Twenty-two years ago, Eleanor Whitmore discovered that your father was involved with people who wanted control over the city’s shipping routes.””
Victor laughed.
“Such a polite way to say it.””
Gabriel ignored him.
“She found evidence.””
“The documents,” Rose whispered.
“Yes.””
“She tried to expose him.””
“Yes.””
“And?””
Gabriel’s jaw tightened.
“And Richard found out.””
The silence that followed was heavier than any confession.
Rose looked at Victor.
“You said my father tried to kill her.””
Victor nodded.
“He did.””
Her fingers curled.
“But she survived.””
“Yes.””
“How?””
Margaret answered softly.
“Because Gabriel found her.””
Rose froze.
She looked at him.
“You?””
Gabriel nodded.
“I found her after the accident.””
“Accident.””
The word tasted bitter.
“You mean the accident my father caused?””
Gabriel didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Rose felt sick.
“So you knew everything.””
“I knew enough.””
“And you watched me grow up?””
His silence was devastating.
“You were there?””
“No.””
“Were you?””
Gabriel looked away.
That was the answer.
Rose stepped back.
“You knew me.””
“Rose—”
“You knew who I was.””
“Yes.””
“And you still agreed to marry me.””
His face tightened.
“I agreed because I believed it was the only way to keep you alive.””
She stared at him.
“You married me to protect me?””
“Yes.””
“But you never told me.””
“No.””
“Why?””
Gabriel’s voice became quieter.
“Because your mother asked me not to.””
Rose stopped.
“My mother?””
“She believed if you knew the truth, you would search for her.””
“And?””
Gabriel looked at her.
“And the people who wanted her dead would know exactly where to find you.””
The explanation should have comforted her.
It didn’t.
Because every answer created three more questions.
Rose looked toward Victor.
“What about him?””
Victor smiled.
“I was the reason your mother survived.””
Gabriel’s expression darkened.
“Don’t.””
Rose noticed.
The warning.
The anger.
The history.
“What does that mean?””
Victor looked at Gabriel.
“Tell her.””
Gabriel said nothing.
Victor continued.
“I was the man your mother trusted before she trusted Gabriel.””
Rose felt a strange tension between them.
Like two men fighting over a memory neither wanted to lose.
“Were you involved?”” Rose asked.
Victor’s smile faded.
“Involved?””
“With my mother’s disappearance.””
The forest went silent.
Victor looked genuinely offended.
“I saved her life.””
“Then why did she hide from you?””
That question landed.
Victor’s expression changed.
For a brief moment, Rose saw something real.
Pain.
Then it disappeared.
“Because she didn’t understand.””
“Understand what?””
“That protecting someone sometimes means letting them hate you.””
Rose frowned.
The words sounded familiar.
Too familiar.
Because Gabriel had said the same thing.
Everyone kept claiming they were protecting her.
Everyone kept hurting her.
And everyone expected gratitude.
“I want to see her.””
Margaret stepped forward.
“Rose…”
“No.””
Rose looked at all of them.
“I don’t want another explanation.””
Her voice shook.
“I don’t want another story.””
She looked at Gabriel.
“I want my mother.””
Gabriel nodded slowly.
“Then we’ll take you to her.””
Rose studied him.
“You’ll take me?””
“Yes.””
“You’re not going to stop me?””
A shadow crossed his face.
“No.””
“Why?””
Because she expected another lie.
Another hidden reason.
Instead, Gabriel said something she never expected.
“Because she’s been waiting for you longer than I have.””
The honesty caught her off guard.
Before Rose could answer, a sudden sound cut through the trees.
A gunshot.
Everyone moved instantly.
Gabriel grabbed Rose and pulled her behind him.
Adrian disappeared into the darkness.
Victor pushed Margaret down.
The guards raised their weapons.
Rose’s heart slammed against her ribs.
Another gunshot echoed.
Then another.
Someone was attacking.
Not warning.
Not threatening.
Attacking.
“Who are they?”” Rose whispered.
Gabriel looked toward the trees.
His expression became cold.
“The people who don’t want you to find your mother.””
More footsteps.
More vehicles.
The forest filled with shadows.
Gabriel reached for Rose’s hand.
She almost pulled away.
Almost.
Then she saw his face.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Determination.
“Stay close to me.””
Rose looked at their joined hands.
A few hours ago, she had escaped from this man.
Now she was standing behind him.
She hated that it felt safer.
A man shouted from the darkness.
“Moretti!””
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed.
A figure stepped into view.
A man Rose didn’t recognize.
But everyone else did.
Victor whispered:
“No.””
Margaret covered her mouth.
Adrian’s face went pale.
Gabriel’s grip tightened around Rose’s hand.
Because the man walking toward them was carrying something.
A small leather bag.
Old.
Worn.
Familiar.
Rose saw Gabriel’s reaction.
“What is that?””
Nobody answered.
The stranger smiled.
“Hello, Gabriel.””
Then he looked at Rose.
“Your mother wanted you to have this.””
Rose stared at the bag.
“Who are you?””
The man smiled.
“I’m the last person who saw Eleanor Whitmore alive.””
A cold silence followed.
Then he added:
“And I’m the reason she never came home.””
The forest went completely still.
Because inside that small leather bag was the answer to twenty-two years of lies.
May you like
And everyone there knew one thing.
Whoever opened it first would change Rose’s entire life forever.
