Chapter 5 - The Web of Secrets
Eliam stood frozen among the shattered glass, his face completely drained of color. The relaxed, confident corporate executive vanished, replaced by a man cornered by a phantom.
"What did you say?" his voice came out hoarse, barely louder than a whisper.
"I went to your office this morning to drop off your medication," I said, standing up and closing the distance between us until only the broken glass separated us. "They told me you took a week of leave. Then I followed you to the red-brick clinic. And I saw you, Eliam. I saw you with Clara."
The name hit him like a physical blow. His shoulders sagged, his breath rattling in his chest. "Evelyn... listen to me. Please."
"She died six years ago!" I screamed, the composure I had maintained all afternoon fracturing into raw, jagged grief. "We buried her! I spent years in therapy trying not to blame myself for her death! And you knew she was alive? You’ve been meeting her? Paying for clinic rooms behind my back?"
"Clara isn't the patient," Eliam whispered, raising his hands in a placating gesture, his eyes pleading. "Evelyn, you don't understand the danger you're putting yourself in by digging into this."
"Don't give me that patronizing garbage!" I yelled, tears finally spilling hot and angry down my cheeks. "Who is in that room, Eliam? And why did my sister fake her own death?"
Eliam took a slow, agonizing breath. He walked carefully around the debris and pulled a small leather-bound key from inside the lining of his wallet. He held it out to me with a trembling hand.
"The safety deposit box at First National Bank," he said quietly. "Box 412. The key is registered under my name, but the contents belong to your sister. Everything is in there. Clara made me swear on my life that I would never tell you unless the threat had passed. But it hasn’t passed, Evelyn. In fact, it just got worse."
"What threat?" I demanded, clenching the key in my fist until the edges dug into my palm.
May you like
"Six years ago, Clara didn't drive off that bridge by accident," Eliam said, his eyes filled with sorrow and fear. "Someone forced her off. And the person who tried to kill her... is someone inside your own family."
***
