Chapter 6 - The Woman With My Mother’s Voice
Noah pushed my parents behind a storage wall and motioned for silence.
The basement door opened.
The fake mother descended first.
Without the tray. Without the sweetness.
Just that red mouth and those cold eyes.
Behind her came the fake father.
And behind them—
Lydia.
Perfect blonde hair. Cream sweater. Polished smile.
She looked exactly the same as she had at Christmas dinner last year.
That was the worst part.
Some monsters don’t need disguises.
“Ella,” Lydia said, sounding almost disappointed, “I was hoping you’d stay confused a little longer.”
I stepped out before Noah could stop me.
Lydia’s eyes flicked to mine and sharpened.
“She can see,” she said.
The fake mother laughed softly.
“I told you.”
So much for survival.
The act was over.
Lydia folded her arms.
“You’ve made this harder than it had to be.”
“You kidnapped my parents.”
“I protected a family asset,” she corrected. “There’s a difference.”
The fake father shut the basement door behind them.
Noah moved slightly to my left, positioning himself between me and the staircase.
Lydia saw him and smiled without warmth.
“And there’s the loyal husband. I misjudged you, Noah. I thought debt would make you practical.”
I turned toward him sharply.
Debt.
Noah didn’t look at me.
He looked at Lydia.
“How much did you pay the crash mechanic?”
She smiled.
“Not enough to kill her. Only enough to blind her.”
I stopped breathing.
Lydia tilted her head.
“Oh, come on, Ella. Don’t look so wounded. Blindness was supposed to make this elegant. You sign through dependency, the board shifts quietly, and everyone keeps the Mercer name.”
Then she took one step closer.
“But you had to wake up.”
Noah lunged first.
The fake father crashed into him. The fake mother grabbed my wrist. I slammed my shoulder into her and we both hit a shelf of cleaning supplies. My mother screamed from behind the wall. My father charged the fake woman harder than I had ever seen him move in his life.
For two glorious seconds, chaos belonged to us.
Then Lydia pulled a gun from her handbag.
Everything stopped.
“Enough.”
Her voice echoed against the stone.
Noah froze.
The fake father pinned him to the floor.
May you like
Lydia pointed the gun at me.
“You should have stayed blind.”
