Chapter 11 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE SCREEN
The woman on the courthouse screen looked at Vincent.
I heard his breath catch.
Leo reached for my hand.
“Mom?”
The woman blinked.
Her eyes moved toward the sound.
“Leo?”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Where are you?”
The picture trembled.
Someone stood behind her.
Only a shoulder appeared.
A gray coat.
A silver watch.
“Don't open the chapel vault,” she said.
“Tell me where you are,” Vincent demanded.
“There's no time.”
Her voice sounded wrong.
Not the words.
The rhythm.
She paused before Leo's name.
I had watched Isabella's home videos with him every Sunday.
She never paused before his name.
She said it like a song.
I leaned toward Evelyn.
“Ask her about Arthur.”
Evelyn frowned.
“Now?”
“Please.”
Vincent heard me.
He faced the screen.
“Isabella, what did you call Arthur when Leo was little?”
The woman's lips parted.
“His bear.”
Leo shook his head.
“No.”
I felt his fingers tighten.
“Mom called him Captain Arthur.”
The woman looked away.
A man's voice hissed from beyond the camera.
“Answer the question.”
Then the connection died.
Vincent stood perfectly still.
The judge called for the courtroom technician.
Evelyn requested preservation of the recording.
Nobody spoke until the screen turned black.
Then Leo whispered, “That wasn't Mom.”
Vincent knelt beside him.
“I know.”
“Are you mad?”
“At the people who frightened you.”
Leo searched his father's face.
“Not at me?”
“Never at you.”
I turned away.
The relief on Leo's face hurt more than his tears.
Evelyn approached us with the judge's order.
The transfer of the controlling shares would be temporarily frozen.
Leo would remain with Vincent.
The court would appoint an independent trustee.
No family member could move the assets.
Not Daniel.
Not Sabrina.
Not Vincent.
It wasn't the victory we'd hoped for.
But it gave Leo time.
And it took the money out of Sabrina's hands.
Outside, cameras crowded the courthouse steps.
Vincent placed his coat around Leo.
I walked on the other side.
Someone shouted that Isabella was alive.
Another called Vincent a liar.
Leo kept his eyes on the pavement.
At the car, Evelyn caught my arm.
“Emma, that question saved us.”
“How?”
“The woman gave an answer that contradicted the family's records.”
“Will that prove she's an impostor?”
“Not alone.”
She glanced toward Vincent.
“But it gives us grounds to challenge the testimony.”
I looked back at the courthouse.
The woman had worn Isabella's face.
Yet the scar was too dark.
And her voice had trembled when Leo spoke.
“Claire,” I said.
Evelyn nodded.
“It's possible.”
“Claire said she was being threatened.”
“We'll locate her.”
We drove to a safe apartment.
No one called it a safe house.
But the windows were reinforced.
Two guards stood in the hall.
And Vincent checked every lock himself.
Leo sat at the kitchen table with Arthur.
I made him toast.
He took two bites.
Then he asked a question that stopped me.
“If Mom is alive, why didn't she come home?”
Vincent stood in the doorway.
He heard every word.
I pulled out the chair beside Leo.
“We don't know if she is.”
“But the voice in the car.”
“Someone could have saved a recording.”
“And the lady at court?”
“She may have been pretending.”
Leo studied the bear.
“Then why does everybody want Mom to be alive?”
I couldn't answer that.
Vincent crossed the room.
“Because some people think they can control us with hope.”
Leo looked up.
“Can they?”
Vincent sat beside him.
“Not anymore.”
I watched them quietly.
A father learning to speak.
A son learning to trust.
Neither had been allowed to grieve honestly.
Daniel had stolen money.
Sabrina had stolen peace.
But the worst theft had been time.
That evening, Evelyn arrived with a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was the silver key.
And a photocopy of Isabella's drawing.
“The chapel property is owned by a separate foundation,” she said.
“Who controls it?” Vincent asked.
“Your father's former attorney.”
Vincent frowned.
“Samuel Voss?”
Evelyn nodded.
“He retired after your father's death.”
“Where is he?”
“That's the problem.”
She set down another document.
Samuel Voss had died six months earlier.
His replacement was listed as Sabrina Vale.
I felt the room shrink.
“How could she replace him?”
“An amendment filed after his death.”
Vincent read the signature.
“That's forged.”
“Probably,” Evelyn said.
“But we need the original.”
Leo climbed down from his chair.
He walked toward the drawing.
“Dad?”
Vincent looked up.
“The stars aren't at the lake house.”
“What?”
Leo pointed at the little blue house.
“Mom said the drawing was upside down.”
He turned the paper.
The yellow sun became a hanging lamp.
The blue square became a trapdoor.
And the stars were tiny marks across the ceiling.
Vincent stared.
“The chapel.”
Leo nodded.
“Grandpa painted stars there for Mom.”
Vincent stood.
“Then we're going tonight.”
Evelyn blocked his path.
“Not without a warrant.”
Vincent's jaw tightened.
“It's my father's chapel.”
“It's evidence now.”
He looked toward the window.
For once, he listened.
We spent the night waiting for the court's authorization.
I barely slept.
At three in the morning, my phone vibrated.
A message from Lily.
I'M SAFE. SOMEONE LEFT A PACKAGE FOR YOU.
I called her immediately.
She answered on the first ring.
“Emma?”
“Are you hurt?”
“No. The security lady is here.”
“What package?”
“A little blue box.”
My heart thudded.
“Don't open it.”
“I didn't.”
“Read the label.”
She paused.
Then said, “It says, For the girl who believed Leo.”
I closed my eyes.
“Anything else?”
“Yes.”
Her voice grew small.
“There's a photograph taped underneath.”
“Of what?”
“Mom.”
I gripped the phone.
Our mother had never met the Carusos.
She worked at a neighborhood pharmacy.
She hated rich people's scandals.
“Is she alone?” I asked.
“No.”
Lily hesitated.
“She's standing beside Isabella Caruso.”
The room seemed to tilt.
I asked Lily to send the picture.
When it arrived, I recognized the pharmacy counter.
The date printed in the corner was four years old.
Isabella stood beside my mother.
Between them lay a small blue teddy bear.
I stared until my eyes burned.
Then I noticed the handwriting on the box.
Not Isabella's.
My mother's.
May you like
And I understood something terrible.
My family had been connected to this secret long before I entered the Caruso mansion.
