Chapter 7 - The Person Who Sat Beside Me All Along
The front door opened.
Nobody spoke.
Not because we didn't hear it.
Because everyone recognized the sound.
The slow movement of the lock.
The quiet footsteps.
The familiar voice calling from the hallway.
"June?"
My entire body froze.
I knew that voice.
I had heard it hundreds of times.
At birthday parties.
At family dinners.
During phone calls when I needed someone to talk to.
My mother-in-law.
Linda.
My husband's mother.
Lucy called her Grandma Linda.
She was the woman who brought cookies every Sunday.
The woman who sat beside me in the hospital when Lucy was born.
The woman who cried with me after my mother passed away.
The woman who always said:
"You are like a daughter to me."
And now she was standing in my house.
The same house connected to every secret I had just uncovered.
Daniel looked at me.
He didn't need to say anything.
The expression on his face told me.
He knew.
I walked out of the hidden room slowly.
Linda stood in the hallway holding a small handbag.
She smiled when she saw me.
But the smile disappeared when she noticed everyone behind me.
Robert.
Tessa.
Daniel.
And the open hidden door.
Her face changed.
Only for a second.
But I saw it.
Fear.
"June..."
Her voice became softer.
"What are you doing?"
I stared at her.
The question almost made me laugh.
What was I doing?
I wanted to ask her the same thing.
For years, I had invited her into my life.
Into my home.
Into my daughter's life.
I had trusted her more than some of my own relatives.
And now I was standing there realizing I didn't know who she really was.
I held my mother's letter in my hand.
"Why are you here?"
Linda looked around.
"I came to check on you."
I looked at her.
"Today?"
She hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Because Linda was always prepared.
She always knew what to say.
She always knew how to make people feel comfortable.
But now she was searching for an answer.
And I noticed.
"How did you know something happened?"
Nobody moved.
Linda looked at me.
"What?"
"You heard me."
She swallowed.
"I don't know what you mean."
I stepped closer.
"You walked into my house five minutes after I found the hidden room."
Her expression tightened.
"I was worried."
"Worried about what?"
Silence.
A terrible silence.
Then Daniel walked out behind me.
Linda saw him.
And for the first time, her expression completely changed.
"You."
Daniel stared at her.
"I thought you left."
My stomach dropped.
"You know each other?"
Neither of them answered.
I looked between them.
"Someone explain."
Daniel took a breath.
"Linda was involved."
The room became silent.
Linda shook her head.
"No."
Daniel looked at her.
"You can't keep doing this."
My father sat down slowly.
Tessa looked confused.
"What is happening?"
Daniel looked at me.
"Your mother wasn't warning you about one person."
I frowned.
"What?"
"There were two."
My heart sank.
Two.
I looked at Linda.
The woman who had hugged my daughter.
The woman who had comforted me.
The woman who had spent years telling me I deserved happiness.
"Why?"
My voice cracked.
"Why would you do this?"
Linda's eyes filled with tears.
And for a moment...
just a moment...
I almost felt sorry for her.
Then I remembered Lucy standing outside with a ruined dress.
I remembered my father watching.
I remembered Tessa staying silent.
I remembered all the secrets.
And I realized something.
People who betray you don't always look like villains.
Sometimes they look like family.
Linda sat down.
"I never wanted you hurt."
I stared at her.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
My voice became colder.
"My father said he was protecting me."
"Tessa said she didn't mean for it to happen."
"And now you're saying you never wanted me hurt."
I shook my head.
"But I was hurt."
Nobody spoke.
"I was the only person who didn't know."
Linda looked down.
"I was trying to fix it."
"Fix what?"
She looked at Robert.
Then at me.
"The agreement."
My eyes narrowed.
"You helped create it."
She didn't answer.
That was enough.
I turned away.
Because hearing her admit it would hurt more than hearing a stranger say it.
Daniel placed another document on the table.
"I found this three years ago."
I looked at him.
"Why didn't you show me?"
His expression changed.
"Because I was trying to confirm everything first."
I stared at him.
"Everyone was always trying to protect me."
I pointed around the room.
"And somehow, everyone protecting me meant lying to me."
Nobody argued.
Because it was true.
Daniel opened the document.
"This was the original property transfer."
I looked down.
The names were there.
My mother's.
My father's.
Linda's.
And another signature.
A signature I didn't recognize.
"Who is that?"
Daniel looked at me.
"The person who started everything."
I felt a chill.
"Who?"
Before he answered, my phone rang.
Everyone looked at it.
Unknown number.
I stared at the screen.
Something inside me told me not to answer.
But I did.
"Hello?"
For several seconds, there was only silence.
Then a woman's voice spoke.
"June."
I froze.
Because I knew that voice.
Not from today.
Not from the past few years.
From somewhere deeper.
Somewhere buried.
"Who is this?"
The woman took a shaky breath.
"I've been trying to reach you for years."
My hand tightened around the phone.
"Tell me your name."
The woman whispered:
"You don't remember me."
My heart started racing.
"What are you talking about?"
A pause.
Then:
"I was there the night your mother died."
The entire room froze.
I looked at Daniel.
Then my father.
Nobody moved.
Nobody breathed.
The woman continued.
"Your mother didn't die because of her illness."
My knees almost gave out.
"What?"
My father's face changed instantly.
"No."
The woman heard him.
And she whispered:
"Robert is there, isn't he?"
I stared at my father.
The woman continued.
"He knows what really happened."
My father stepped toward the phone.
"June, hang up."
I moved away from him.
For the first time in my life...
I ignored my father.
The woman spoke again.
"Your mother left one final message."
My hand shook.
"What message?"
A long silence.
Then she said:
"The person you trusted most was the reason she disappeared."
The call ended.
I stood there.
Unable to move.
Unable to understand.
Then my phone vibrated again.
A new message appeared.
One photo.
One sentence.
I opened it.
And the picture showed my mother...
May you like
alive...
standing outside my house the same day she was supposedly gone.
