Chapter 14 - CAROLINE’S JOURNAL
“I took it from her office months ago,” Allison said.
“Why?”
“Because I stopped trusting her.”
“And you never told me?”
“I was ashamed of what I had already done.”
The journal was not a diary.
It was strategy.
Names.
Dates.
Property values.
Trust language.
Weaknesses.
Mine.
Allison’s.
Diane’s.
Even Sophie’s.
Beside my name:
GUILT.
Beside Allison’s:
NEEDS TO BE CHOSEN.
Beside Sophie’s:
ATTACHED TO DEAD MOTHER.
I stared at the page.
Caroline reduced everyone she loved to a lever.
Then we reached an entry dated four months before I met Allison.
Find Michael someone who wants family badly enough to follow guidance.
I looked up.
“Allison?”
She was crying.
“I met Caroline first.”
My chest tightened.
“What?”
“At a charity committee.”
“When?”
“Five months before I met you.”
I stood.
“You said we met by accident at the hospital fundraiser.”
“I know.”
“Did Caroline introduce us?”
“No. She made sure we were both invited.”
I laughed once.
The room felt suddenly smaller.
“Was our marriage planned?”
“No.”
“Was meeting me planned?”
Allison whispered, “Yes.”
I walked to the window.
Everything rearranged itself.
The fundraiser.
Caroline encouraging me to date again.
Allison seeming to understand grief.
The fast engagement.
Caroline constantly advising her how to “help” Sophie move on.
Allison said, “I did fall in love with you.”
“That doesn’t erase how it started.”
“I know.”
I turned.
“Did you know about the trust then?”
“No.”
“When did you learn?”
“After we got engaged.”
“From Caroline?”
“Yes.”
“And you stayed.”
“Yes.”
That answer hurt because it was honest.
Then Rachel found one final entry near the back of the journal.
If Allison fails, use Emily.
I frowned.
“Who is Emily?”
Allison went completely still.
“You don’t know?”
“No.”
Her face drained.
“Michael… Emily was Grace’s younger sister.”
May you like
I stared at her.
Grace had never told me she had a sister.
