Chapter 10 — The Secret of Claire Carter
Chapter 10 — The Secret of Claire Carter
The words from Charles Harrison hung in the air.
“She isn’t where you think she is.”
Emily felt like the entire world had shifted beneath her feet.
For five years, she had mourned her mother.
She had stood beside Claire Carter’s grave.
She had held onto every memory.
Every photograph.
Every small thing her mother had left behind.
And now, in one impossible night, everything she believed was being questioned.
“My mother is dead.”
Emily’s voice was quiet.
Almost a whisper.
Charles looked at her.
“I know what you were told.”
“No.”
Emily shook her head.
“I saw her.”
Nobody spoke.
“I was there when they buried her.”
Michael looked uncomfortable.
Vanessa looked away.
That reaction made Emily’s heart race.
“You all knew.”
No one answered.
“You all knew something was wrong.”
Emily looked at each of them.
“You let me believe my mother was gone.”
Vanessa stepped forward.
“Emily…”
“No.”
Emily stopped her.
“I want the truth.”
Her voice became stronger.
“Not another secret. Not another excuse.”
Charles sighed.
“There are things about Claire that even Daniel didn’t want you to know.”
Emily stared at him.
“Then why did he leave me that letter?”
Charles looked at the paper in her hand.
“Because he knew eventually someone would have to tell you.”
Michael walked toward the table near the fireplace.
“There is something we need to show you.”
Emily didn’t move.
“What?”
Michael opened the old folder he had recovered from the mansion.
Inside was another photograph.
He handed it to her.
Emily looked down.
Her breath stopped.
It was Claire.
But this time, Claire wasn’t young.
She wasn’t the woman Emily remembered from childhood.
The photograph showed Claire standing outside a building.
A building Emily recognized.
A private medical facility.
The date on the picture was only two years ago.
Emily looked up.
“That’s impossible.”
Michael nodded.
“Yes.”
“Where was this taken?”
Michael hesitated.
“Switzerland.”
Emily stared.
“My mother was in Switzerland?”
“Yes.”
“Alive?”
Nobody answered.
But their silence was enough.
Emily stepped back.
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You’re telling me my mother faked her death?”
Vanessa spoke softly.
“She didn’t have a choice.”
Emily turned toward her.
“You always say that.”
Vanessa looked down.
“Because it’s true.”
Emily’s anger grew.
“Everyone keeps saying they were protecting me.”
She pointed around the room.
“But nobody protected me from losing my mother.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with regret.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Emily’s voice broke.
“Do you know what it feels like to sit alone after losing the only person who raised you?”
Vanessa didn’t answer.
Because she knew she couldn’t.
Michael stepped in.
“Emily, Claire wanted to come back.”
Emily looked at him.
“Then why didn’t she?”
Michael’s expression became serious.
“Because someone was watching her.”
A cold silence filled the room.
“Who?”
Michael looked at Charles.
Charles closed his eyes.
“The same person who wanted Daniel gone.”
Emily clenched her fists.
“Who is it?”
Nobody answered.
Then a sound came from upstairs.
A phone ringing.
Everyone froze.
The mansion had no electricity.
No one should have been upstairs.
Michael immediately looked toward the staircase.
“Stay here.”
Emily ignored him.
“No.”
She walked forward.
“I’m done being told where I can and cannot go.”
Vanessa followed her.
Together, they climbed the stairs.
For the first time, Emily noticed something strange.
Vanessa wasn’t acting like an enemy anymore.
She was acting like someone who had been afraid for years.
At the top of the stairs was an old bedroom.
The door was slightly open.
Inside, an old phone sat on a desk.
Still ringing.
Emily slowly walked closer.
She picked up the receiver.
“Hello?”
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a voice spoke.
A voice she had not heard in years.
A voice she thought she would never hear again.
“Emily?”
Her entire body froze.
The phone nearly slipped from her hand.
“Mom?”
A quiet sob came through the line.
“Yes.”
Emily covered her mouth.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Mom…”
Claire’s voice trembled.
“I’m sorry.”
Emily couldn’t speak.
All the anger.
All the pain.
All the questions.
Everything came rushing back.
“Why?”
Her voice broke.
“Why did you leave me?”
There was silence.
Then Claire answered:
“Because I wasn’t leaving you.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“Then what happened?”
Claire took a shaky breath.
“Your father found out who betrayed him.”
Emily looked toward Vanessa and Michael.
“Who?”
Claire became quiet.
Too quiet.
Then she whispered:
“Emily, listen carefully.”
Her tone changed.
Fear.
Real fear.
“The person who destroyed our family…”
A pause.
“Is the person standing closest to you right now.”
Emily slowly turned around.
Her eyes moved from Vanessa…
To Michael…
To Charles.
Nobody spoke.
Claire continued through the phone:
“Don’t trust anyone in that house.”
The call suddenly ended.
Emily stood frozen.
Then the phone rang again.
But this time…
It wasn’t Claire.
It was a message.
A video file appeared on the screen.
Sent from an unknown number.
Emily pressed play.
The video showed a room.
A dark room.
A person sitting in a chair.
Then the camera moved closer.
Emily stopped breathing.
Because the person in the video…
Was Daniel Harrison.
Her father.
Older.
Alive.
And he looked directly into the camera.
“Emily…”
His voice shook.
“If you’re watching this…”
He paused.
“Then they failed to keep me hidden.”
The video continued.
And Daniel said the words that changed everything:
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“Your mother is not the only one who survived.”
To be continued…
