Chapter 53
The door opened to what looked like a small command center.
A large table covered with papers and photographs. One wall displayed a timeline with photos, documents, and red string connecting
I recognized myself in many of the pictures at law school, outside Morgan & Wright, even at Le Blanc during my
my waitressing days,
various points.
“What is this?” I whispered, though I already knew
“Everything I could find about what happened after you ran away. Caspian said quietly. “About Robert. About Rachel. About what they might have done to
you
I approached the wall, taking in the meticulous documentation of a life I thought I’d kept hidden.::
ve been watching me. All this time.”
“Not watching,” he corrected. “Searching. Trying to understand what happened. Why you ran.”
The timeline began with newspaper clippings about a domestic disturbance at my childhood address, followed by documentation of Robert’s drinking⠀⠀ problems, police reports, and Rachel’s psychiatric evaluations.
At the far end, more recent additions caught my eye–surveillance photos of Rachel meeting with Victoria, bank records showing transfers between Palmer Enterprises and shell companies linked to Rachel.
“You knew,” I breathed. “Before Rachel shot you. Before I took your case. You already knew they were connected.”
Caspian nodded. ‘I suspected. Couldn’t prove it. Needed your legal expertise.”
“Is that why you specifically requested me as your attorney?” I asked coldly. “Was all of this just to build a case against Palmer?”
His voice was firm.
“I requested you |
□ because you were
were the best person for the job. And because I needed to protect you from what was coming.”
“Why keep this secret? I demanded.
“Would you have believed me?”
The challenged. “if I’d told you I’d spent six years collecting evidence about your stepfather and stepsister, would you have trusted me? Or would you have run
My eyes caught on a photograph of my mother’s hospital report.
“Your mother was hospitalized three times after you left, Caspian said quietly.
Robert a drinking got worse. His violence escalated. Rachel enabled him.“
es about this room,” 1 realued. “How?”
she knows, we have a serious security breach
lone or obsession? Meanwhile, I’ve found something equally interesting about you, little lawyer
podin erport 1 d thunght destroyed i
- from the night Id hit Robert.
sitable, with falar witness statements from Kachel, neighbors, ØYER
mother
Chapter 53
My phone rang–Isolde
“Turn on the news,” she said, her voice tight with panic. “Victoria’s pushed up her press conference. She’s live right now. And Rachel’s with her.”
“That’s impossible,” I said, suddenly cold. “Rachel’s institutionalized.“
“Not arrymore.” Isolde replied grimly. “She’s standing right next to Victoria at the podium. And they’re talking about you. Both of you.”
We watched in horror as Victoria, looking pale but determined, stood before a forest of microphones.
Beside her, looking remarkably composed in a designer suit, stood Rachel Miller–my stepsister, supposed psychiatric patient, the woman who had shot Caspian and threatened my life repeatedly.
knew the truth about
“Ladies and gentlemen, Victoria was saying, her voice steady, “what I’m about to share will shock you. But the public deserves to know Caspian Drake and his attorney, Sage Winters.”
Rachel stepped forward, her smile chilling in its normalcy. “And the truth, as they say, will set us all free.”
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