Chapter 10 - THE HOUSE WITHOUT FEAR
Six months passed.
The Carter mansion felt different.
The security cameras remained.
The locked doors remained.
But the fear was gone.
Lily returned to school.
She still attended counseling.
Sometimes she woke from nightmares.
Whenever that happened, Ethan sat beside her.
Vanessa did too.
One night, Lily asked,
“Are you and Mom going to stay together?”
Ethan looked at Vanessa.
Neither answered immediately.
Then Vanessa smiled.
“We're trying.”
Lily smiled.
“Good.”
She hugged them both.
Later, Ethan and Vanessa sat on the balcony.
The city glittered below.
“I thought I'd lost everything,” Ethan said.
Vanessa looked at him.
“You almost did.”
“I know.”
He handed her a small box.
She opened it.
Inside was her old wedding ring.
“You kept it?”
“I couldn't throw it away.”
She looked at him.
“This isn't a proposal.”
“I know.”
“Then what is it?”
“A promise.”
He held her hand.
“I don't want to erase what happened.”
“Neither do I.”
“I want us to remember it and still choose each other.”
Vanessa smiled through tears.
“I can live with that.”
Inside the house, Lily called for them.
They stood together.
Then the doorbell rang.
Ethan frowned.
No one was expected.
A security guard appeared.
“There is a package.”
Ethan opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Rebecca.
Standing beside another man.
On the back was written:
You caught one liar. You never found the others.
Ethan's expression hardened.
Vanessa looked at the photograph.
“Who is that?”
Marcus entered the room.
The moment he saw it, he stopped.
“I know him.”
“Who?”
May you like
Marcus swallowed.
“The man who helped Rebecca disappear me.”
