Chapter 4 - THE WOMAN BEFORE ME
The next morning, Detective Bell took me to a private consultation room.
Emily sat beside me.
Daniel had been removed from the hospital grounds.
Samuel Cole had agreed to remain available to investigators.
But there was one problem.
The safety deposit box could not be opened without Daniel's authorization.
At least, that was what the bank claimed.
Bell placed a folder on the table.
“We've found something.”
Inside was a photograph.
A woman stood on the same porch as my house.
She had dark hair.
A little girl stood beside her.
The girl's hand was wrapped around the woman's fingers.
“Laura Bennett,” Bell said.
I stared at the little girl.
“How old?”
“About seven.”
I swallowed.
“She looks like me.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
I looked again.
The resemblance was undeniable.
Not the face.
The expression.
The way she stood.
The same slight tilt of the head.
Bell noticed.
“The little girl's name was Ava.”
“What happened to her?”
“She died six years ago.”
“How?”
Bell hesitated.
“Complications following an illness.”
“What illness?”
“We're still checking.”
Emily looked at him.
“Was it natural?”
Bell didn't answer immediately.
“That is what we're trying to determine.”
I stared at the photograph.
“Why did Daniel know her?”
Bell placed another photograph beside it.
Daniel.
Younger.
Standing outside a school.
Ava was visible in the background.
My hands became cold.
“When was this taken?”
“Seven years ago.”
The same year Daniel and I met.
I looked at Emily.
“I thought I met Daniel at the hospital.”
“You did.”
“But he already knew this family.”
Bell nodded.
“Apparently.”
The room went quiet.
Then my phone rang.
I almost ignored it.
The number was unfamiliar.
Bell reached for it.
“Don't answer.”
I stopped.
The call ended.
A message appeared.
One sentence.
Ask him why Ava was never allowed to become a Cole.
I stared at the screen.
Bell photographed it.
Emily's face hardened.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
But I had a terrible feeling.
We returned to the hospital room.
Daniel was waiting outside with an attorney.
His lawyer approached me.
“Mrs. Cole, my client would like to speak with you.”
“No.”
“Five minutes.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at me.
“I need to tell you something.”
I shook my head.
“You had months.”
“I was afraid.”
“So was I.”
He lowered his eyes.
“I know.”
I walked past him.
Then stopped.
“Who is Ava?”
His face changed.
The attorney looked at him.
Daniel whispered,
“Who told you?”
That was enough.
I turned around.
“Who was she?”
Daniel sat down.
“She was my sister.”
I stared.
“You told me you were an only child.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because my father erased her.”
Samuel had said the family believed in sons.
Now I understood.
“What happened to her?”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“She was born with a heart condition.”
I waited.
“My father refused treatment until a male heir was secured.”
I felt sick.
“She was seven.”
“I know.”
“You let him do that?”
“I was seventeen.”
“You were old enough to help.”
His eyes filled.
“I tried.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“I took her to a doctor.”
“And?”
“My father found out.”
Daniel's voice broke.
“He took her home.”
Emily whispered,
“Did she die?”
Daniel nodded.
“She died three days later.”
I couldn't speak.
Daniel looked at me.
“I spent my entire life believing that if I had been stronger, I could have saved her.”
“And then you married me.”
“Yes.”
“And when I became pregnant, you decided you needed a son.”
His eyes closed.
“I thought if I had a boy, my father would finally stop.”
I stared at him.
“You were trying to solve your childhood by controlling me.”
He looked ashamed.
“Yes.”
It was the first honest answer he had given me.
It didn't excuse anything.
But it explained the obsession.
Then I remembered the message.
“Ava was never allowed to become a Cole.”
Daniel nodded.
“She wasn't.”
“Why?”
“Because my father wanted a son.”
“And you repeated him.”
“Yes.”
I stood.
“Then you didn't break the cycle.”
“No.”
He looked at me.
“I became it.”
The words were devastating because they were true.
But there was still something missing.
I turned to Bell.
“What was in the safety deposit box?”
Daniel suddenly looked alarmed.
“Don't open it.”
Bell noticed.
“Why?”
“Because my father wasn't the only person who knows about it.”
“Who else?”
Daniel looked at me.
“Laura.”
“She died.”
“Yes.”
“Then who?”
Daniel whispered,
“My mother.”
I froze.
“Your mother knew?”
“She helped Laura hide the records.”
“And she is alive?”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked toward the hallway.
“She has been protecting me for years.”
Bell stood.
“Where is she?”
Daniel gave him an address.
Then he looked at me.
“Rachel.”
“What?”
“If you open that box, you'll understand everything.”
“Everything?”
He nodded.
“You'll understand why Laura died.”
“And why Ava died?”
“Yes.”
“And why you wanted a son?”
Daniel hesitated.
“No.”
I waited.
He whispered,
“You'll understand why someone wanted you pregnant before you ever met me.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
Daniel looked at Bell.
May you like
Then back at me.
“You were not the first woman chosen.”
