Chapter 12 - Erasing the Ghost|
The truth crashed over me like a tidal wave, crushing the breath right out of my lungs.
Every piece of my confusing childhood instantly clicked into place with horrifying precision.
The reason Vivian had treated Natalie with such dark, calculated hatred wasn't just random cruelty. Natalie was the living, breathing physical image of Sarah Miller. Every time Vivian looked at my sister, she saw the ghost of the woman my father had actually loved—the woman whose life and family Vivian had usurped.
And me?
I had been an infant when Sarah died. I had no memories of my real mother. Vivian had raised me from birth, moulding me into her golden trophy, using me as a shield to prove to the world—and to my father—that she was the 'true' matriarch of the family.
“You erased her...” I whispered, looking up from the photograph to stare at the trembling woman in front of me. “You burned her photos. You threw away her things. You forced Natalie into therapy so she would sound crazy if she ever spoke her name!”
“I built this family!” Vivian suddenly shrieked, her voice cracking into a terrifying, unhinged pitch. “I saved your father! He was a broken, useless wreck after that woman died! I raised you, Daniel! I fed you! I changed your diapers! I gave you a life!”
“You stole a life!” Natalie roared back, stepping right into Vivian’s face, her eyes flashing with pure rage. “You abused me for fifteen years because I looked like her! You told Dad I was insane so he would ignore me! And now you’re doing the exact same thing to Emma because she threatened your control over Daniel!”
Vivian pulled herself up, trying desperately to summon her old, imperious authority.
“Emma is a weak, incompetent girl!” Vivian spat, pointing a trembling finger toward the staircase. “She doesn't deserve my son! She doesn't deserve this family! She was going to ruin everything I built!”
“What did you whisper to her?” I asked quietly.
The hallway went completely silent.
Vivian blinked, a sudden flicker of caution crossing her dark eyes.
May you like
“What?” she muttered.
“I watched the camera feed, Vivian,” I said, taking two slow steps toward her, my voice dropping into a tone of absolute, lethal promise. “I saw you grab her wrist. I saw her face change. I read her lips. She said, 'You said you'd never tell him.' What lie did you use to blackmail my wife?”
