Chapter 6 - The Woman Bianca Wanted To Erase
The phone fell silent.
But nobody in the room did.
Everyone was staring at me.
The message remained on my screen.
“Ask Bianca who her first husband was.”
Six words.
Simple.
But they carried the weight of years.
I looked at Bianca.
For the first time since I had known her, she looked completely powerless.
Not angry.
Not confident.
Not in control.
Afraid.
Alexander noticed it too.
“First husband?”
His voice was low.
Almost a whisper.
Bianca looked at him.
“Alexander, don’t listen to this.”
But he did not move.
He did not look away.
“Answer me.”
She swallowed.
“I was young.”
“That’s not an answer.”
The room became painfully quiet.
Even Ewald stopped pretending.
Because whatever was coming next, everyone knew it would change everything.
I looked at Clara.
She lowered her eyes.
“You should know the whole truth now.”
Alexander turned toward her.
“You knew?”
Clara nodded.
“I knew pieces.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She looked at me.
“Because Helga was not ready.”
I almost interrupted.
But then I realized something.
She was right.
Three years ago, I was only trying to understand why my son was disappearing from my life.
I was not ready to discover how carefully someone had planned it.
Alexander turned back to Bianca.
“Who was he?”
Bianca said nothing.
“Who was your first husband?”
Her lips tightened.
Then she finally spoke.
“His name was Daniel.”
Nobody moved.
Alexander frowned.
“Daniel who?”
Bianca looked down.
“Daniel Weiss.”
Clara’s expression changed.
Because that name meant something.
Alexander noticed.
“Wait.”
He looked at Clara.
“Your last name is Weiss.”
Clara nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
The room became colder.
“Daniel was my brother.”
Alexander stared.
I felt my heart begin to race.
Because suddenly this was no longer about money.
No longer about an apartment.
No longer about a cruel daughter-in-law.
This was something much older.
Something that started before I even knew Bianca existed.
“What happened to him?” Alexander asked.
Clara looked at Bianca.
“He disappeared.”
Bianca immediately interrupted.
“That was years ago.”
Clara ignored her.
“He disappeared three months before Bianca married Alexander.”
Alexander looked shocked.
“You never told me you were married before.”
Bianca’s face changed.
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
I almost laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because some secrets were so large that people had to convince themselves they were small.
“You didn’t think it mattered?” Alexander repeated.
Bianca looked at him.
“I was starting a new life.”
Clara stepped forward.
“No.”
Her voice was firm.
“You were escaping the old one.”
Bianca glared.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know my brother left behind evidence.”
The word stopped everyone.
Evidence.
Alexander looked confused.
“Evidence of what?”
Clara looked at me.
Then at the folder.
“Of what Bianca was willing to do to get what she wanted.”
Bianca’s face turned pale.
“Stop.”
But Clara continued.
“Daniel discovered something before he disappeared.”
“What?”
Clara looked at Alexander.
“He discovered Bianca had been moving money from his accounts.”
The room exploded into silence.
Alexander looked at his wife.
“No.”
Bianca shook her head.
“That’s a lie.”
Clara reached into her bag.
She pulled out several documents.
“Bank records.”
She placed them on the table.
“Transfers.”
Another paper.
“Messages.”
Another.
“Promises made to people who helped her.”
Alexander picked them up.
His hands shook as he read.
I watched his face change.
The same way it changed when he heard the recording.
The same way it changed when he saw the apartment documents.
Piece by piece, the version of Bianca he knew was falling apart.
“Why?” he whispered.
Bianca looked at him.
“Alexander…”
“Why would you do this?”
She stepped closer.
“Because I had no choice.”
That sentence.
That was the sentence people used when they wanted sympathy after making choices.
“No choice?”
Alexander laughed bitterly.
“You had no choice but to lie?”
Bianca looked toward Ewald.
And for a moment, I saw the truth.
She was not alone.
She had never been alone.
Ewald looked uncomfortable.
Alexander saw that too.
“You knew.”
Ewald said nothing.
“You knew everything?”
“Watch your words.”
“No.”
Alexander placed the papers down.
“No more.”
His voice was stronger now.
“No more excuses.”
I looked at my son.
And for the first time that day, I saw him standing on his own.
Not as Bianca’s husband.
Not as the child I protected.
As a man finally facing the truth.
I reached for his arm.
“Alexander.”
He looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
Those two words broke something inside me.
Because I did not need him to apologize for everything.
I only needed him to understand.
“You were manipulated,” I said.
He shook his head.
“But I let it happen.”
I wanted to tell him he was wrong.
But I knew something.
Sometimes people needed to face their own choices before they could heal from them.
Clara picked up the old photograph again.
“There is still one thing you don’t know.”
Everyone looked at her.
“What?”
She turned the photograph over.
On the back was writing.
A date.
And a sentence.
I read it.
My hands froze.
Because it was written three years ago.
The exact time Alexander started pulling away from me.
“What does it say?” Alexander asked.
I handed it to him.
He read the words.
His expression changed.
The message was short.
But devastating.
“Once Helga is gone, Alexander will have no reason to question us.”
Nobody spoke.
Nobody needed to.
The plan was clear.
They did not just want distance.
They wanted silence.
They wanted me removed from the one person who might uncover the truth.
Alexander looked at Bianca.
“Who is ‘us’?”
Bianca did not answer.
“Who is us?”
Still nothing.
Then Ewald suddenly stood.
“We need to leave.”
Alexander turned.
“No.”
Ewald looked angry.
“This family discussion is over.”
Alexander stepped forward.
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“The discussion ends when I know everything.”
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then my phone vibrated again.
Another message.
Same unknown number.
I looked down.
This time there was a photo attached.
My breath stopped.
Because the picture showed my old apartment.
The one I sold.
The one Bianca’s father bought.
But the picture was not old.
It was taken recently.
Inside the apartment.
And on the table in the photo was the missing box.
The box I thought was gone forever.
Alexander saw it.
“Mom…”
I looked closer.
The box was open.
The contents were visible.
My husband’s letters.
My old documents.
And one envelope.
An envelope I had never seen before.
Because written across it were four words.
“For Alexander Only.”
Then another message appeared beneath the photo.
“Your son deserves to know what happened the night you sold your home.”
I looked toward the door.
Because suddenly I understood.
Someone had not only found my missing box.
Someone had brought it back.
May you like
And they were waiting for us to open it...
But before anyone could move, the lights in the house suddenly went out.
