Chapter 7 - THE WOMAN IN THE YELLOW ROOM
Nathaniel stared at the photograph.
The blonde woman was standing beside Lily.
Her face was turned slightly away.
But the shape of her shoulders.
The curve of her jaw.
The pale scar near her eyebrow.
He knew them.
He had spent five years studying photographs of Elizabeth.
Yet this woman looked younger.
Different.
Nathaniel enlarged the image.
The woman was wearing Elizabeth's old yellow scarf.
The same scarf she had worn during their last Christmas together.
Maria stepped closer.
“Who is she?”
Nathaniel couldn't answer.
Daniel did.
“Elizabeth.”
Silence.
Nathaniel shook his head.
“No.”
“She survived.”
“No.”
“I saw her after the accident.”
Nathaniel looked at him.
“You saw her?”
Daniel nodded.
“She was injured.”
“Where?”
“An abandoned farmhouse in Vermont.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she made me promise.”
Nathaniel's voice cracked.
“You all kept her from me.”
Daniel looked down.
“She believed you were being watched.”
“And now?”
“She believed you would eventually find the truth.”
Nathaniel looked at Lily.
The child was calm.
Too calm.
As if none of this surprised her.
He knelt.
“Lily.”
She looked at him.
“Where is the lady?”
“She went home.”
“Where is home?”
Lily pointed toward the window.
“Where the trees are.”
Nathaniel looked at Daniel.
Vermont.
The farmhouse.
He understood.
They left immediately.
Maria insisted on coming.
Lily stayed with her.
The drive north took hours.
Nobody spoke much.
Nathaniel held the photograph the entire way.
He kept staring at the woman.
If it really was Elizabeth, then five years of grief had been built on a lie.
But another thought frightened him more.
Why had Elizabeth never returned?
What had kept her away?
When they reached the farmhouse, it was empty.
The building was old.
Snow covered the roof.
The front door was unlocked.
Inside, Nathaniel found a small wooden table.
A child's drawing sat on it.
Two girls.
One woman.
And a man.
Underneath were four words.
We are still waiting.
Nathaniel picked it up.
A floorboard creaked.
He turned.
A woman stood in the doorway.
Older.
Thinner.
Her hair was darker.
A scar crossed one side of her face.
But her eyes—
Nathaniel knew those eyes.
“Elizabeth?”
She looked at him.
Neither moved.
Five years disappeared.
Nathaniel took one step forward.
She whispered his name.
“Nathan.”
His knees almost gave out.
He stopped several feet away.
“You're alive.”
Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.”
He wanted to run to her.
Instead, he stood there.
Because anger had arrived with the relief.
“You let me bury you.”
“I had no choice.”
“You let me believe Grace was dead.”
“I thought she was.”
Nathaniel froze.
“What?”
Elizabeth covered her face.
“I lost her.”
The room became silent.
“After the accident, she was taken.”
“By Richard?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Elizabeth's voice broke.
“I spent five years trying to find her.”
Nathaniel stared.
“Then who is in the photograph?”
“Not Grace.”
His heart sank.
“The girl in the photograph is Lily.”
Maria gasped.
Elizabeth looked at her.
“You kept her safe.”
Maria nodded through tears.
Nathaniel looked at the photograph again.
The woman beside Lily was Elizabeth.
But the child wasn't Grace.
It was Lily.
The image had been designed to make him believe his daughter was alive.
A cruel clue.
Or perhaps a warning.
Elizabeth stepped closer.
“I needed you to find the ring.”
“Why?”
“Because I knew you would trust evidence more than people.”
Nathaniel looked at the sapphire.
“What does the ring prove?”
Elizabeth took a breath.
“It proves I never planned to leave you.”
Nathaniel stared at her.
“The letter.”
“Yes.”
“You were going to finish it.”
“I was.”
“What happened?”
“I was interrupted.”
“By Richard?”
Elizabeth nodded.
“He found out I had discovered the ledger.”
“What ledger?”
“The one your father kept.”
Nathaniel remembered Warehouse 17.
“The names.”
“Yes.”
“Why does Richard want it?”
“Because it proves he ordered the accident.”
Nathaniel froze.
“The accident wasn't an accident?”
“No.”
Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears.
“He sabotaged the vehicle.”
Nathaniel felt sick.
“Then Grace…”
“She survived the crash.”
His heart jumped.
“Where is she?”
Elizabeth looked away.
“I don't know.”
“But you said she survived.”
“She did.”
“When?”
“After the crash.”
“Then what happened?”
Elizabeth whispered,
“Richard found her.”
Nathaniel's face went white.
“What did he do?”
“He didn't kill her.”
“Then where is she?”
Elizabeth looked at him.
“I don't know.”
Nathaniel's voice became desperate.
“You're her mother.”
“I know.”
“Then how can you not know?”
Elizabeth began crying.
“Because I was forced to choose.”
“What choice?”
“Your life or hers.”
Nathaniel stared.
Elizabeth explained that Richard had threatened to kill Nathaniel if she tried to bring Grace home.
She had agreed to disappear.
Richard promised Grace would remain unharmed.
Elizabeth had spent years trying to find a way back.
Then she found evidence that Richard had broken his promise.
Grace had been moved.
Again.
And again.
Until Elizabeth lost the trail.
Nathaniel looked at the floor.
“You should have told me.”
“I tried.”
“When?”
“Every time you received a message from an unknown number.”
Nathaniel froze.
The messages.
He had ignored most of them.
Some had been empty.
Some contained photographs.
He had assumed they were harassment.
Elizabeth whispered,
“I was trying to tell you I was alive.”
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
Then the door opened.
A teenage girl stood outside.
She had blonde hair.
Pale blue eyes.
And a small scar above her eyebrow.
Nathaniel stared.
The girl looked at Elizabeth.
Then at him.
“Mom?”
Elizabeth turned.
Her face changed.
“Grace.”
Nathaniel couldn't breathe.
The girl stepped inside.
She looked at him.
May you like
Then whispered,
“Dad?”
