She Was Hired to Finish the Book—But the Last Chapter Was a Confession
CHAPTER 10
Mara returned to Boston.
Ethan was waiting.
“You saw her.”
It wasn’t a question.
Mara’s heart raced.
“Who?”
“Celia.”
Mara said nothing.
Ethan smiled.
“She’s very convincing.”
“You knew.”
“I always knew.”
“Then why let me investigate?”
“Because I needed to know what she had told you.”
Mara stepped backward.
“What do you want?”
“The manuscript.”
“It’s gone.”
“I know.”
“You have it.”
“No.”
Ethan looked toward the lake.
“Celia hid it.”
“Where?”
He smiled.
“She trusted you.”
Mara understood.
The manuscript had never been stolen.
It had been hidden.
Celia had expected Mara to find it.
Mara returned to the study.
She reread the remaining page.
The truth is not who killed June.
She noticed the first letters of each paragraph.
They formed a word.
FLOOR.
Mara pulled up the wooden panel.
Underneath was a sealed metal box.
Inside was the original manuscript.
And an audio recorder.
Mara pressed play.
Celia’s voice filled the room.
“If you’re hearing this, Ethan failed.”
Then another voice.
Ethan.
Angry.
“You should have let the girl disappear.”
Celia replied:
“She’s your daughter.”
Mara froze.
Another voice.
Richard.
“No. She’s mine.”
Then a gunshot.
The recording continued.
Ethan’s voice:
“Nobody will ever know.”
Mara’s hands shook.
The truth was worse than she imagined.
June wasn’t Richard’s daughter.
She was Ethan’s.
Celia had lied.
Richard had believed she was his.
The affair had never happened.
Celia had invented it to manipulate everyone.
Mara listened further.
Celia confessed everything.
She had staged June’s disappearance because she wanted revenge against Ethan.
She had caused the accident to escape him.
She had manipulated Richard into helping her.
And she had spent years writing fictionalized versions of the truth.
But one thing remained unclear.
Who fired the gun?
The recording ended before the answer.
Then Mara heard footsteps.
She turned.
Ethan stood in the doorway.
