Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN WHO RAISED USMemory is cruel.
It hides things until you finally know what they mean.
After seeing Victoria’s photograph beside Patricia’s, pieces of my childhood rearranged themselves.
Patricia teaching Sienna to swim.
Patricia brushing my hair.
Patricia taking us to school.
Patricia knowing every alarm code.
Every hiding place.
Every argument between our parents.
Every weakness.
She had kissed our scraped knees.
Read us bedtime stories.
And apparently tried to kill us.
“We need to leave now,” Agent Cho said.
Federal agents moved us into armored SUVs.
Margaret chose not to come.
She had already spent enough of her life inside our family disaster.
Before leaving, she hugged me.
It was the first time.
“You told the truth,” she whispered.
“Too late.”
“Late isn't the same as never.”
Then she looked toward Sienna.
“One day, I may want to talk to her.”
“I'll tell her.”
Margaret nodded.
“No cameras. No lawyers. Just us.”
“I understand.”
Our convoy drove inland to a government safe house.
For the first time since the party, I had clothes that covered me completely.
An agent had brought jeans and a sweatshirt from my bedroom.
Sienna sat opposite me in the SUV.
She had also changed.
No crown.
No diamonds.
No makeup.
She looked like an eighteen-year-old girl.
We had not looked equally young in years.
“Do you remember Patricia?” she asked.
“Too much.”
“She loved us.”
“Maybe.”
“No, Avery. She did.”
I looked at her.
Sienna continued.
“She slept on the floor beside my bed when I had pneumonia.”
“So?”
“People don't do that if they want you dead.”
“People are complicated.”
She stared out the window.
“What if Dad made her do everything?”
I thought about the cut brake line.
“Sam saw her.”
“He saw someone he thinks was her.”
“You're defending her?”
“No.”
Sienna shook her head.
“I need something from my childhood not to be fake.”
I understood.
At the safe house, Agent Cho separated Mom for questioning.
Maya joined us in a living room that smelled like old coffee and government furniture.
She looked exhausted.
“You can sleep,” I said.
“So can you.”
“I probably won't.”
“Neither will I.”
Sienna looked between us.
“This is weird.”
“What?”
“Our sister.”
Maya almost smiled.
“Half-sister.”
“Still weird.”
“Extremely.”
For several minutes, nobody spoke.
Then Sienna said, “Did you know about us growing up?”
“No.”
“When did you find out?”
“When Mom got sick.”
“Did she hate us?”
Maya hesitated.
“No.”
“Dad?”
“Yes.”
Fair enough.
Maya looked at me.
“She knew about you.”
I frowned.
“How?”
“After the crash.”
Maya pulled her knees toward her chest.
“She visited the hospital.”
“What?”
“Not your room.”
She glanced at Sienna.
“She stood outside.”
“Why?”
“I think she wanted to confess.”
“Confess what?”
“That she knew what Victoria was capable of.”
Sienna leaned forward.
“Why didn't she?”
“Your father saw her.”
Maya’s face hardened.
“He told her if she came near his family again, he'd have me taken from her.”
I stared at the floor.
Every adult had been afraid of Dad.
Until fear became complicity.
A television played silently in the corner.
Our party footage dominated every network.
One clip showed me dropping the robe.
Another showed Dad running.
A headline read:
BILLIONAIRE CEO DETAINED AFTER DAUGHTER'S BIRTHDAY REVELATION
Sienna muted the TV.
“This started because I wanted everyone to laugh at you.”
I didn't respond.
“If I hadn't—”
“Don't.”
She looked at me.
“Don't turn your cruelty into destiny.”
She flinched.
“You did something awful. That doesn't mean it was secretly good because other truths came out.”
Sienna nodded.
“You're right.”
That was new too.
The old Sienna would have fought.
An hour later, Agent Cho returned.
“We found Victoria’s rental car.”
“Where?”
“Parking garage near your estate.”
“Was she there?”
“No.”
Inside the car, agents found clothes, cash, multiple prepaid phones, and a laptop.
Cho looked at me.
“One phone contained your number.”
“So she sent the messages.”
“Probably.”
“What does she want?”
“We're trying to determine that.”
Maya asked, “Did you find anything about my mother?”
Cho hesitated.
“Yes.”
“What?”
“An audio recording.”
Maya stood.
“Play it.”
“I don't think—”
“Play it.”
He did.
Victoria’s voice:
You kept copies.
Claudia:
Of everything.
You think those files protect you?
They protect Maya.
Richard will never acknowledge her.
I don't want his name.
Then what do you want?
For him to stop.
A long silence.
Victoria laughed.
Men like Richard don't stop. They get stopped.
Claudia said:
Is that what you tried to do in Santa Barbara?
Nobody in the safe house breathed.
Victoria answered:
That was different.
There were children in the car.
They weren't supposed to be.
My blood went cold.
Santa Barbara.
Sienna grabbed my hand.
Claudia continued:
You cut the brakes knowing he was driving.
Elena changed plans.
So you nearly killed his family.
Victoria’s voice turned sharp.
I was trying to free him from her.
And when he chose her anyway?
Long silence.
Then Victoria said:
I learned my lesson.
The recording stopped.
Agent Cho said, “There are more files.”
I whispered, “Play them.”
The next recording was apparently made years later.
Claudia:
Leave the twins alone.
Victoria:
I'm the reason they're still alive.
What are you talking about?
Richard knows what Caleb recorded.
Maya stood so suddenly her chair scraped backward.
Victoria continued:
If he finds out that phone is in Sienna’s car, he'll do something stupid.
Claudia:
What did you do?
I made sure someone would follow her.
My throat closed.
Claudia:
Who?
Victoria:
The other twin.
Sienna whispered, “Avery.”
Victoria had called me.
She had deliberately sent me after Sienna.
Not to hurt me.
To save her.
That explained the message.
You weren't supposed to be in that car.
Victoria apparently wanted me nearby.
But she could not have predicted I would climb into a burning vehicle.
The recording continued.
Claudia said:
You used a child.
Victoria:
I gave her sister a chance to survive.
You should have called police.
Richard owns half the police department.
Then Claudia asked the question that changed the entire case.
Did you touch the brakes?
Silence.
Victoria said:
No.
Then who did?
Another long silence.
Victoria whispered:
Richard.
Sienna stood.
“No.”
Agent Cho paused the recording.
I looked at him.
“Sam said Victoria opened the hood.”
“He said someone resembling Victoria did.”
“But the reflection—”
“Could have been her.”
“Then why would she say Dad did it?”
Cho looked troubled.
“We need corroboration.”
Sienna suddenly pressed her hands against her head.
“I remember.”
I stood.
“What?”
Her breathing accelerated.
“The garage.”
She closed her eyes.
“I came downstairs.”
“What did you see?”
“Dad.”
Her voice became tiny.
“He was standing beside the car.”
“When?”
“Before he gave me the keys.”
“Doing what?”
“I don't know.”
She began shaking.
“He had grease on his hand.”
Agent Cho moved closer.
“What else?”
Sienna’s eyes opened.
“I asked where Patricia was.”
“What did he say?”
“He said she'd gone home.”
She looked terrified.
“But she hadn't.”
“How do you know?”
“Because when I drove away, I saw her.”
“Where?”
“In the mirror.”
“Doing what?”
“Running after us.”
Sienna started crying.
“Dad wasn't trying to protect me from the recording.”
Her voice cracked.
“He sent me away knowing the car would crash.”
I wanted to reject it.
Even after everything Dad had done.
Some part of me still wanted one final boundary.
A line he could not cross.
Agent Cho’s phone rang.
He listened for ten seconds.
Then looked at us.
“We recovered part of Caleb Morris’s phone.”
My heart hammered.
“Can you read it?”
“Some data.”
“What?”
“A draft text written eleven minutes before the crash.”
“To whom?”
“His father.”
Cho read:
Mr. Sterling knows I recorded you. He messed with the car. Sienna doesn't know. I'm getting out at the next light.
Sienna made a broken sound.
“He never got out.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
Then another agent entered.
“Cho.”
“What?”
“We found Victoria.”
“Where?”
The agent looked directly at me.
“She's outside.”
Everyone froze.
“How?”
“She walked up to the perimeter and surrendered.”
“Is she armed?”
“No.”
“What does she want?”
The agent’s expression was strange.
“She says she'll talk.”
“To me?”
“No.”
May you like
He looked at Sienna.
“She'll only talk to Avery.”
