Chapter 3 - The Woman Who Was Never Supposed To Return
A woman stepped out of the elevator and whispered: "Sarah..."
Ethan Blackwood dropped the old photograph when he saw her face.
The woman placed a hospital record on the table.
Her name was written at the top: "Victoria Blackwood."
Ethan realized the person who disappeared two years ago had just returned with the truth.
I couldn't breathe.
For a moment, I convinced myself that I was imagining things.
That maybe the stress of seeing Ethan again had finally broken something inside my mind.
But she was standing there.
Right in front of me.
Alive.
Victoria Blackwood.
Ethan's younger sister.
The woman everyone believed had left New York two years ago.
The woman who was supposed to be living overseas.
The woman whose name had been mentioned in my nightmares more times than I could count.
Because Victoria wasn't just Ethan's sister.
She was the person who changed my entire life.
The woman who told Ethan I had betrayed him.
The woman who convinced him that I wasn't the person he thought I was.
And now she was standing in the same hotel lobby where everything started.
Leo looked at her.
Then he looked at Ethan.
Like he could feel the tension filling the room.
I held him tighter.
Ethan didn't move.
His eyes were locked on his sister.
"Victoria..."
His voice was barely recognizable.
The confidence he always carried was gone.
"What are you doing here?"
Victoria looked older.
Not physically.
But emotionally.
Her eyes looked exhausted.
Like she had spent two years running from something.
She looked at me.
Then at Leo.
And for the first time since she appeared...
I saw guilt.
Real guilt.
"I'm sorry."
Those two words shocked me more than anything else.
Because I had spent years waiting for an explanation.
I had imagined anger.
Denial.
Excuses.
But not an apology.
Ethan stepped forward.
"Sorry for what?"
Victoria looked down.
"Everything."
The hotel lobby became silent again.
Daniel moved closer to Ethan.
"She knows."
Ethan turned.
"What?"
Daniel looked at Victoria.
"She knows what happened."
Victoria closed her eyes.
"Daniel, don't."
Ethan's expression changed.
"You knew?"
His voice became colder.
"You knew what happened between me and Sarah?"
Victoria didn't answer.
And that silence was enough.
I felt my chest tighten.
Because silence was sometimes louder than words.
Ethan took another step.
"You knew she was pregnant?"
Victoria looked at Leo.
Her eyes filled with tears.
And that was when I knew.
She knew.
She knew about my son.
She knew Ethan had a child.
She knew all along.
My hands started shaking.
"How?"
My voice came out quieter than I expected.
Victoria looked at me.
"Sarah..."
"No."
I shook my head.
"Don't say my name like you didn't know."
The pain I had buried for years came back instantly.
"You knew I was alone."
Victoria looked away.
"You knew I was pregnant."
Her lips trembled.
"And you let him believe I betrayed him."
Ethan looked at his sister.
"Is that true?"
Victoria didn't answer.
"Victoria."
His voice became sharper.
"Is that true?"
She finally whispered:
"Yes."
The word destroyed the last piece of trust between them.
Ethan stepped backward.
Like she had physically pushed him.
"My own sister..."
Victoria started crying.
"I was trying to protect you."
I almost laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because it was impossible to believe.
"Protect him?"
I stared at her.
"You destroyed his family."
Victoria looked at me.
"I thought I was saving him from the truth."
Ethan's face hardened.
"What truth?"
Nobody spoke.
And that scared me.
Because whatever was coming...
It was bigger than a fake message.
Bigger than a stolen letter.
Bigger than a misunderstanding.
Victoria reached into her purse.
She pulled out a small envelope.
The same kind of envelope Daniel had shown us.
But this one was older.
Damaged.
She handed it to Ethan.
"I found this after I left."
Ethan looked at it.
"What is it?"
Victoria swallowed.
"The letter you never sent."
My heart stopped.
Ethan looked confused.
"What?"
Victoria looked at me.
"It wasn't just your letter that disappeared."
She looked down.
"Sarah's disappeared too."
I froze.
"My letter?"
Victoria nodded.
"The one you wrote after you found out you were pregnant."
I felt the world shift.
Because I remembered that letter.
I had written it the night I decided to tell Ethan everything.
I wrote every emotion.
Every fear.
Every hope.
Then I left it at his apartment.
Or at least...
I thought I did.
"I never found it."
Ethan looked at me.
"I thought you never wrote one."
I stared at him.
"I did."
Victoria opened the envelope.
Inside was a single page.
"My God..."
Daniel whispered.
Ethan took the paper.
His eyes moved across the words.
I watched every emotion cross his face.
Confusion.
Pain.
Regret.
Then anger.
"What is this?"
Victoria looked down.
"The truth."
Ethan looked at her.
"You knew about this letter."
"Yes."
"When?"
Victoria didn't answer.
"WHEN?"
The entire lobby turned silent.
Victoria finally spoke.
"The day Sarah was supposed to tell you about Leo."
I felt cold.
Because that was the day everything collapsed.
The day Ethan disappeared.
The day I lost him.
"What happened that day?"
Ethan asked.
Victoria looked at him.
And tears filled her eyes.
"I wasn't alone."
Nobody moved.
Daniel frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Victoria looked toward the hotel entrance.
"I was following someone's orders."
My stomach dropped.
Ethan's face changed.
"Whose?"
Victoria hesitated.
Then she whispered:
"Someone who wanted you away from Sarah."
Ethan stepped closer.
"Who?"
Victoria looked at Leo.
Then at me.
Then back at Ethan.
"I can't say here."
Daniel immediately became alert.
"Why?"
Victoria looked terrified.
"Because if that person knows I'm talking..."
She stopped.
The fear on her face said more than words.
Ethan grabbed the letter.
"You're going to tell me everything."
Victoria nodded slowly.
"But not here."
"Where?"
She looked at the elevator.
"My apartment."
Ethan stared at her.
"You still have your apartment?"
Victoria nodded.
"I never left New York."
That shocked him.
"But everyone said you moved away."
"I needed them to believe that."
The elevator doors opened again.
Victoria stepped inside.
Before she entered, she looked at me.
"Sarah."
I didn't answer.
She looked at Leo.
Then she said something that made my blood run cold.
"Your son was never the secret."
I froze.
"What?"
Victoria looked at Ethan.
"The secret was why someone needed him gone before he was even born."
The elevator doors started closing.
Ethan stepped forward.
"Victoria!"
She reached out and stopped the doors.
Her eyes were full of fear.
Then she looked directly at me.
"Sarah, before you come upstairs..."
She paused.
"You need to know who was in the room when Leo was born."
The doors opened halfway.
May you like
And Victoria whispered a name I hadn't heard in two and a half years...
"Because that person is standing behind you right now."
