Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Ryan ended the call immediately.
But it was too late.
She knew.
Claire knew.
I looked at my son.
“How?”
Ryan didn’t answer.
“How does she know?”
His silence was enough.
“Ryan.”
He closed his eyes.
“She has someone watching us.”
I felt a wave of anger.
“So while I was crying outside that house, she was already planning her next move?”
Ryan looked ashamed.
“I’m sorry.”
I turned away.
Not because I hated him.
Because I was trying not to break.
“I spent my whole life protecting you.”
“I know.”
“I worked two jobs after your father died.”
“I know.”
“I skipped vacations. I wore old clothes. I gave you everything.”
His eyes filled.
“I know, Mom.”
“And the moment I needed you…”
My voice cracked.
“You made me believe you didn’t want me.”
Ryan stepped closer.
“I did it because if Claire believed you were angry with me, she would stop watching you.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“She thought you would leave the house with nothing. She thought you were helpless.”
He paused.
“That was the only way I could move you away from her.”
I finally understood.
He wasn’t pushing me away.
He was hiding me.
But the pain was still real.
“Why didn’t you trust me enough to tell me?”
Ryan looked down.
“Because I knew exactly what you would do.”
“What?”
“You would confront her.”
I stayed silent.
Because he was right.
I would have.
Ryan gave a small sad smile.
“You always protected me.”
That evening, we stayed in a small rental house under another name.
Ryan checked every window.
Every door.
Every phone.
The son I raised was now protecting me from the world.
But something bothered me.
“Ryan?”
“Yes?”
“There is something you’re not telling me.”
He stopped.
I knew him.
I had known him since the day he was born.
“You’re afraid of something worse than Claire.”
His face changed.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he walked to the table.
He placed a document in front of me.
“What is this?”
“Claire wasn’t working alone.”
I opened the paper.
It was a contract.
A business agreement.
A signature.
Then I saw another name.
Someone I recognized.
Someone I never expected.
My hands went cold.
Because the person helping Claire was not a stranger.
It was someone who had been sitting at my family dinner table for years.
Ryan watched my reaction.
And whispered:
May you like
“Mom… Claire was only the beginning.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
