Chapter 2 - The Door Between ThemDaniel closed Liam’s bedroom door.
“Show me.”
“I don’t have anything.”
“Liam.”
The boy crossed his arms.
Daniel looked exhausted.
Water still darkened the shoulders of his shirt. There was a faint streak of Sophia’s makeup near his collar.
That made Liam angrier.
“You always protect her.”
“She is your mother.”
“She lies about her face.”
Daniel’s expression tightened.
“That does not make someone a monster.”
“Then why does she hide it?”
Daniel sat on the edge of the desk.
“That is Sophia’s story to tell.”
Liam laughed bitterly.
“That’s what adults say when they’re lying.”
The sentence struck Daniel harder than the boy knew.
“Where is the envelope?”
Liam’s eyes flickered toward the desk drawer.
Daniel noticed.
He opened it.
Liam rushed forward.
“No!”
Daniel found the envelope beneath the comic books.
The moment he saw the handwriting, his face lost color.
He turned over the photograph.
ASK WHAT YOUR MOTHER DID.
“Who gave this to you?”
“I found it.”
“Where?”
Liam hesitated.
“In my backpack.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
Daniel studied him.
“Did anyone speak to you about it?”
“No.”
“Liam.”
“No!”
Downstairs, a door closed.
Sophia had returned from changing clothes.
Daniel lowered his voice.
“Someone wanted you to see this.”
“Maybe they wanted me to know the truth.”
“You don’t know the truth.”
“Then tell me!”
Daniel opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Liam’s eyes filled with tears.
“There. You can’t.”
Daniel looked away.
The silence proved everything in Liam’s mind.
“You’re scared of her too.”
“No.”
“She burned somebody.”
Daniel’s head snapped back toward him.
“What?”
“The newspaper says there was a fire.”
“That is not what it says.”
“She was there.”
“Yes.”
“She got burned.”
“Yes.”
“And nobody tells me why.”
Daniel gripped the envelope.
“Because you were two years old.”
Liam froze.
Daniel immediately regretted the words.
“What does me being two have to do with it?”
“Nothing.”
“You said it for a reason.”
Daniel stood.
“We’re stopping this conversation.”
Liam stepped backward.
“You’re lying.”
“Enough.”
“Did Mom start the fire?”
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
It was the first thing Daniel had said without hesitation.
Liam stared at him.
“Then what happened?”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I said enough.”
He left the room carrying the envelope.
Downstairs, Sophia stood in the darkened living room.
She had removed what remained of her makeup.
For the first time in years inside their own home, her scars were completely uncovered.
Daniel stopped when he saw her.
Sophia looked at the envelope.
“So he showed you.”
Daniel nodded.
“He says it appeared in his backpack.”
Sophia took the photographs out.
Her hands began trembling when she saw the SUV.
“I haven’t seen this picture in five years.”
“Neither have I.”
She turned over the photograph.
Her eyes fixed on the handwriting.
“Someone is doing this deliberately.”
Daniel walked to the bar and poured water instead of whiskey.
“Someone wants Liam to believe you caused the crash.”
Sophia laughed once, without humor.
“And our silence made it easy.”
“We agreed not to tell him until he was older.”
“No, Daniel. We agreed not to make a two-year-old relive a fire.”
“He had nightmares for eighteen months.”
“He’s seven now.”
“He’s still a child.”
“He pushed me into a pool because he thinks I’m a monster.”
Daniel looked down.
Sophia’s voice cracked.
“Our plan is working beautifully.”
“Sophia—”
“Why didn’t you tell him tonight?”
Daniel could not answer.
She understood immediately.
“You’re still protecting the Carter name.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Isn’t it?”
“My father handled the investigation.”
“Exactly.”
“And the official report found mechanical failure.”
Sophia stepped closer.
“The official report was written after your father’s attorneys spent three days inside the sheriff’s office.”
Daniel looked toward the windows.
“My father is dead.”
“But whatever he buried isn’t.”
Upstairs, neither of them noticed Liam sitting halfway down the staircase.
He could not hear every word.
But he heard enough.
The crash.
The investigation.
Your father buried it.
Then Sophia said something that made his blood turn cold.
“If Liam ever learns what really happened that night, he may never look at this family the same way again.”
Liam slowly backed up the stairs.
May you like
He did not hear Daniel’s reply.
“You mean he may finally understand what you did for him.”
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