Chapter 3 - GRACE’S LETTER
My hands shook when I opened it.
Michael,
If you are reading this, then Sophie has shown you because something no longer feels safe.
I know you. You will want proof before you believe fear.
Please do the opposite.
Believe the fear first.
I stopped reading.
Grace knew me too well.
That her silence around Allison was grief.
That her stomachaches before dinner were normal.
That her sudden habit of sleeping with the closet light on meant nothing.
Grace continued.
There is one person I do not want making decisions for Sophie if I am gone.
Caroline.
My throat tightened.
I read faster.
She loves you, but she has always believed family means control. She asked me twice whether Sophie’s inheritance could be “managed” if you remarried. I told her no.
Do not let her turn grief into leverage.
I lowered the letter.
Sophie sat beside me.
“Is Mommy mad?”
“No.”
“Is she mad at me?”
I pulled her into my arms.
“Never.”
Allison stood in the doorway.
Her face had changed.
“What are you reading?”
I folded the letter.
“Something Grace left me.”
Allison’s jaw tightened.
“Of course she did.”
I looked up.
“What does that mean?”
“Nothing.”
“No. Say it.”
She stared at the floor.
“This whole house still belongs to her.”
“This was her home.”
“And I am your wife.”
“That does not make you Sophie’s replacement mother.”
Allison flinched.
Then Sophie whispered, “Aunt Caroline says Mommy made Daddy sad.”
Allison shut her eyes.
I stood.
“What has Caroline been telling her?”
Allison did not answer.
My phone buzzed.
Security notification.
BACK DOOR OPENED — 11:42 PM.
I looked at the camera feed.
Caroline was standing in the kitchen.
Again.
This time she was not alone.
May you like
She was carrying a banker’s box labeled:
SOPHIE — TRUST.
