She Was Hired to Finish the Book—But the Last Chapter Was a Confession
CHAPTER 7
Mara returned to Vale House.
The manuscript was gone.
She searched the study.
Nothing.
The cabinet had been emptied.
Every notebook disappeared.
Only one page remained.
It was pinned to the desk.
The truth is not who killed June.
Mara read the sentence again.
Then the next line.
The truth is why I helped him hide it.
Mara stepped backward.
Someone had rewritten the story.
Or perhaps Celia had.
That night, Mara confronted Ethan.
“You took the manuscript.”
“No.”
“Then who did?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re lying.”
He stared at her.
“You’ve become obsessed.”
“Maybe.”
“You’re destroying your own life.”
Mara stepped closer.
“Tell me about Richard Mercer.”
Ethan went completely still.
“Who told you that name?”
“Your wife.”
He laughed quietly.
“Celia never met Richard.”
“She knew him.”
“No.”
Mara watched him.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to leave.”
He turned away.
Mara noticed a photograph on the desk.
Ethan and Celia.
Standing beside a teenage girl.
The girl was June.
But behind them stood Richard Mercer.
And beside Richard stood another woman.
Mara recognized her.
Margaret.
She had been part of the family for decades.
Mara returned upstairs.
She found Margaret in the kitchen.
“How long have you worked here?”
“Twenty-four years.”
“You knew June.”
Margaret’s hands trembled.
“Yes.”
“Is she alive?”
Silence.
Mara waited.
Finally Margaret whispered:
“Yes.”
Mara’s heart stopped.
“Where?”
Margaret looked toward the hallway.
“Not here.”
“Where is she?”
“Somewhere Ethan can’t find her.”
“Then why is Celia protecting him?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“Because Ethan isn’t the person you should fear.”
Mara felt a chill.
“Then who?”
Margaret whispered:
“Celia.”
