Chapter Thirteen: The Truth About Our Parents
606 Words
Maya
We didn't return to the dorm.
Lucas insisted that we go somewhere quiet.
He drove us to an old café several blocks from campus, one that was almost empty at that hour.
I sat across from Ethan while Lucas remained near the window, watching the street.
I couldn't stop thinking about the message.
Stop digging, or the girl gets hurt.
Someone knew about me.
Someone was watching us.
And I still had no idea why.
“Ethan,” I whispered.
He looked at me.
“What if this is because of me?”
“It isn't.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know enough.”
He reached across the table and took my hand.
“You didn't do anything wrong.”
I looked into his eyes.
“You're sure?”
“Yes.”
His answer came without hesitation.
For some reason, that made me feel safer.
Lucas returned to the table.
“I found something.”
He placed an old folder in front of us.
“Where did you get that?” Ethan asked.
“It belonged to Dad.”
Ethan opened it.
Inside were several documents and photographs.
I looked through them slowly.
Then I saw something that made me stop.
A photograph of my mother.
She was much younger.
Standing beside a man I recognized immediately.
Ethan's father.
My fingers began to shake.
“That can't be…”
Ethan took the photograph.
His eyes widened.
“They knew each other.”
Lucas nodded.
“More than that.”
I looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
He pulled out another document.
“It means your mother worked for our family twenty-two years ago.”
I stared at the page.
My mother had never told me that.
“What did she do?”
“Financial records,” Lucas said.
I looked at Ethan.
“Why would she work for your family?”
“That,” Lucas replied, “is what we're trying to find out.”
I turned another page.
There was a handwritten note.
The handwriting looked old and hurried.
I read it aloud.
“If anything happens to me, the truth is hidden where it all began.”
I looked up.
“What does that mean?”
Lucas shook his head.
“We don't know.”
Ethan took the note from me.
Then his eyes landed on the bottom corner.
“There.”
A small symbol had been drawn underneath the words.
A blue star.
I frowned.
“What's that?”
Lucas looked surprised.
“You've seen it before?”
“No.”
Ethan suddenly became quiet.
“What?”
He reached into his wallet and pulled out a small photograph.
It was a picture of him as a child.
Behind him was the same blue star.
I stared at it.
“Where was that taken?”
“My family's old house.”
Lucas looked at Ethan.
“We need to go there.”
Ethan nodded.
Then he turned to me.
“You don't have to come.”
I immediately shook my head.
“No.”
“Maya—”
“If my mother is part of this, I want answers too.”
He looked at me for a long moment.
Then he smiled.
“Okay.”
Lucas stood.
“We leave tonight.”
My heart raced.
Tonight.
I had no idea what we would find at the Carter family's old house.
But I knew one thing.
Whatever secret our parents had buried years ago...
We were about to uncover it.
And I was beginning to fear that the truth would change everything between Ethan and me.
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