Chapter 5 - THE HOUSE BY THE LAKE
Daniel refused to let Emily go alone.
They drove through the night.
No security.
No press.
No Eleanor.
Emily had changed into jeans and one of Daniel’s sweaters.
The ruined wedding dress remained in the hotel.
But the jade pendant stayed around her neck.
Margaret’s address led them to an old house beside a lake.
No lights.
No cars.
Daniel parked fifty yards away.
“This feels wrong.”
Emily looked at him.
“My entire life feels wrong.”
They entered through an unlocked side door.
“Margaret?” Emily called.
Nothing.
A lamp suddenly clicked on.
Emily jumped.
An old tape recorder sat on a table.
Daniel approached it.
A note had been placed beside the machine.
PRESS PLAY.
He did.
Margaret’s voice filled the room.
“If you are hearing this, Eleanor probably already told you I’m dangerous.”
Emily and Daniel exchanged looks.
Margaret continued.
“She always was good at making herself the victim.”
Emily’s jaw tightened.
“Twenty-five years ago, my sister had everything. The marriage. The money. The child. The future.”
The tape crackled.
“I had nothing.”
Daniel whispered, “Jealousy.”
The voice continued.
“But this wasn’t about jealousy. Not at first.”
Emily moved closer.
“Richard Whitmore came to me with proof that Eleanor was planning to leave him.”
Daniel frowned.
“Why would she?”
“Because Richard was violent.”
Emily looked at him.
The tape answered.
“He controlled her money. Her friends. Her schedule. Eventually, Eleanor planned to take Madeline and disappear.”
Emily’s throat tightened.
“Richard refused to lose his heir.”
Daniel whispered, “Emily.”
Margaret continued.
“So he created another.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
“He learned that Rachel Lawson was pregnant. The father was never publicly named.”
The tape paused.
“Richard was the father.”
Daniel staggered backward.
Emily grabbed his arm.
“No.”
Daniel stared at the recorder.
Margaret’s voice continued.
“Yes, Daniel. Richard Whitmore was your biological father.”
Daniel’s face emptied.
“He slept with a seventeen-year-old maid?”
Emily whispered.
“He got her pregnant.”
The recording continued.
“Richard wanted Rachel silent and the baby available. When Madeline became sick, he saw an opportunity.”
Daniel’s hands curled into fists.
Margaret said, “He planned to take Rachel’s baby and eventually remove Eleanor’s daughter from the family line.”
Emily whispered, “Remove?”
The tape crackled.
“But I changed his plan.”
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
Daniel froze.
Emily looked toward the staircase.
Someone was in the house.
Daniel whispered, “Stay behind me.”
A shadow moved above.
Then a woman’s voice called down.
“You always did think you could protect her, Daniel.”
Margaret appeared at the top of the stairs.
Older.
Thin.
Perfectly calm.
And holding a gun.
Emily stared at her.
“Did you kidnap me?”
Margaret smiled sadly.
“No.”
May you like
She raised the gun.
“I saved you.”
