Chapter 7 - Willow chose to disappear
I didn't believe him.
Not because it was impossible.
Because believing it hurt too much.
“My daughter would never let her mother grieve herself to death.”
Brad looked away.
“She didn't know Gloria would die.”
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“And said nothing.”
“Yes.”
I stood.
He stayed seated.
“Get out.”
“Henry—”
“GET OUT.”
Then he said:
“Willow recorded something for you.”
I stopped.
Brad reached into his coat.
Phone.
Video.
Willow.
Hospital bed.
Head partially bandaged.
Weak.
Alive.
Seven years younger.
“Dad…”
My knees nearly failed.
“I know you won't understand.”
She struggled to focus.
“Adrian found me.”
Then she explained.
Years earlier, before Brad, Willow had briefly dated Adrian Vale.
She became pregnant.
When she discovered Adrian was involved in laundering charity money through political organizations, she left.
She hid Noah's existence.
Dr. Keene helped.
Gloria knew.
I didn't.
Why?
Because Willow said I would confront Adrian.
She was right.
Then she married Brad.
Ivy came later.
Years passed.
Adrian discovered Noah.
Willow decided to testify against him.
The night she supposedly died, her car was forced off Route 9.
She survived.
The other vehicle did not.
A woman inside burned beyond immediate recognition.
Dr. Keene and Brad made a decision.
They identified the dead woman as Willow.
At Willow's request.
Why?
To convince Adrian the threat was gone.
“What happened to the real dead woman?” I whispered.
Brad closed his eyes.
“That's where everything went wrong.”
They didn't know her identity at first.
Later they discovered she was one of Adrian's operatives.
If authorities reopened identification, Willow's survival could become exposed.
So the lie remained.
Months became years.
Willow's brain injury complicated everything.
Memory gaps.
Paranoia.
Seizures.
Periods when she believed Ivy was someone named Lily.
That's what Ivy meant.
Sometimes.
My anger shifted shape.
Still there.
But no longer simple.
“Why never tell me?”
“Willow told me not to.”
“Seven years?”
Brad looked ashamed.
“Then money became involved.”
There it was.
Finally.
“I started taking your money.”
“For her care?”
“At first.”
“At first.”
He couldn't look at me.
I understood.
He had started as protector.
Then discovered secrecy paid well.
Alexandra paid him to control information.
I paid him to care for Ivy.
He took both.
“How much did you steal?”
Brad whispered:
“I don't know.”
That answer disgusted me more than a number.
Then he looked at me.
“But Henry, if you expose me right now, Willow dies.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian Vale isn't dead.”
I stared.
“He disappeared eleven years ago.”
Brad shook his head.
“No.”
May you like
“He's been living under another name.”
“And he knows you started following me.”
