Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN MY MOTHER BECAME
“Because he knows what I survived.”
I read the words again.
My hands were shaking.
Margaret took the photograph from me.
“Your mother is alive.”
The world seemed to stop.
“She survived Harbor 19.”
“Barely.”
“Where is she?”
Margaret looked at Ethan.
He nodded.
“She is at a private rehabilitation center outside Milwaukee.”
I stared at him.
“You knew?”
“Not until tonight.”
“Then how?”
“Brian traced the photograph.”
I turned to Margaret.
“Why didn't she come for me?”
“She tried.”
“When?”
“Several times.”
“Then why didn't I know?”
“Your father intercepted every attempt.”
The anger that had lived quietly inside me for twenty-two years finally rose.
“I hate him.”
Margaret touched my hand.
“You're allowed.”
We drove to the rehabilitation center.
Ethan insisted on coming.
This time I didn't argue.
The building was quiet.
A nurse led us down a corridor.
Then she opened a door.
My mother was sitting beside a window.
Older.
Thinner.
Gray streaks in her hair.
But her eyes were the same.
She looked at me.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered:
“Jane.”
I broke.
I crossed the room and fell into her arms.
She held me like she had been waiting twenty-two years to do it.
“My baby.”
I cried against her shoulder.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Because your father wanted you to believe it.”
She pulled back.
“I thought if he believed you had no reason to search for me, he would leave you alone.”
I looked at her.
“He didn't.”
“No.”
She touched my face.
“He used you to control the alliance.”
I looked toward Ethan.
My mother noticed him.
Her expression softened.
“You kept your promise.”
Ethan nodded.
“I tried.”
“You did more than try.”
I looked between them.
“You knew each other?”
My mother smiled faintly.
“He was a boy when I met him.”
Ethan looked almost embarrassed.
“He hated his father.”
“He had reason.”
My mother reached for the necklace around my neck.
“You still have it.”
“Yes.”
She opened the pendant.
Inside was another photograph.
A tiny image of me as a baby.
My mother smiled.
“I put that there before Harbor 19.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted you to carry proof that you were loved.”
My eyes filled.
Then I noticed another object on the bedside table.
A silver rosary.
I recognized it.
My father used to hold it when he told me my mother was dead.
I stared.
“Why do you have that?”
My mother's expression changed.
“Because he left it here.”
“Who?”
“Your father.”
I froze.
“He came to see you?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
Ethan's posture changed.
“What did he want?”
My mother looked at him.
“He wanted the truth.”
“What truth?”
“He finally realized Samuel Russo had betrayed him.”
I frowned.
“My father worked with Russo.”
“He did.”
“But Russo turned on him.”
My mother nodded.
“He discovered that your father was planning to give Russo control of the shipping routes.”
I stared.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To get enough money to leave the country.”
The revelation stunned me.
“He was going to abandon everything?”
“He was going to abandon everyone.”
My mother sighed.
“But then he learned what Russo intended to do with the routes.”
“What?”
“Use them to bring children into the country illegally.”
I felt sick.
My mother continued.
“Your father changed his mind.”
Ethan looked at her.
“But not before Russo discovered the betrayal.”
My mother nodded.
“That's when he came after me.”
I understood.
The family war had never been as simple as good and evil.
My father had made terrible choices.
Then, at the end, he had tried to undo some of them.
He had failed.
My mother reached for my hand.
“There is something I need you to understand about Ethan.”
I looked at him.
“He didn't marry you because I asked.”
Ethan's eyes lowered.
“He married you because he believed he could keep you safe.”
My mother smiled sadly.
“And then he fell in love with you.”
I looked at Ethan.
He didn't deny it.
I whispered:
“When?”
His voice was barely audible.
“Before I realized it.”
My mother closed her eyes.
“Then tell her.”
Ethan looked at me.
“I love you.”
The words I'd secretly wanted to hear for months suddenly hurt.
Because they came after everything else.
I swallowed.
“I don't know if I can believe you.”
“I understand.”
“I don't know if I can forgive you.”
“I understand.”
“But I want to.”
His eyes lifted.
That was all I could give him.
For now.
Then the door opened.
Brian rushed inside.
“Boss.”
Ethan turned.
“What happened?”
“Russo found the center.”
My mother's face went pale.
“How?”
Brian shook his head.
“We don't know.”
Ethan moved immediately.
“Get her out.”
My mother grabbed my hand.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She pointed to the rosary.
“There's something inside.”
Ethan took it carefully.
The beads separated at the clasp.
Inside was a tiny metal key.
Engraved on it were three letters.
S-19.
My mother whispered:
“Your father left that for you.”
I stared.
“What does it open?”
She looked toward Ethan.
“The place where he hid the evidence that can destroy Russo.”
A loud crash came from downstairs.
Brian reached for his weapon.
Ethan stepped in front of me.
Then my mother said:
“Jane, listen to me.”
I turned.
“Whatever happens tonight, don't let Ethan take you home.”
“Why?”
“Because Russo already knows where the Carter estate is.”
Ethan's face went still.
May you like
My mother finished:
“And someone inside Ethan's house is working for him.”
