AllFreeNovel
Share Us
s real specific.”
“What do you want, Ravinia?” she asked tiredly.
“Answers! Who’s Janet?”
Catherine blinked. “What?”
“Who’s Janet?” Ravinia grabbed up the journal from the floor, quickly thumbed to the first entry she’d seen, and read, “‘Janet deserves what she gets. You know she took him on purpose. It’s a game with her, but I’m the better player. He’s mine now, and I can feel the baby already.’” She looked up at her aunt. A flush had crept up Catherine’s neck. “And then it says, ‘You can’t keep him. I’ll have him, too. J.’s husband and father.’”
“You took that journal from my room,” Catherine accused angrily.
“Yes, I did. Because you won’t tell us anything. And last night, when I found you in the snow, I wasn’t going to wait anymore. None of us can afford to wait anymore.”
“How did you get in my room?”
“What baby was Mary feeling?” Ravinia asked. “Which one of us?”
“I don’t know.”
“Does Isadora know?” Ravinia asked. “What else is in here?” She lifted the journal up, as if Catherine could see it. “If I spend enough time, I’ll figure it out, but it would be nice to have some help.”
Catherine’s blank gaze flew toward her. “You’re holding the journal?”
“Yes! I’ve been reading it all night! It’s right here.”
Catherine’s eyes flooded with water. It made Ravinia feel bad, but she held her ground. Eventually, Catherine looked away, staring straight ahead, her hands folded over one another, the fingers of one hand squeezing the other. “You had no right.”
“If you would be honest, I wouldn’t have to resort to stealing. Now, who the hell is Janet?”
“Janet Bancroft was Mary’s nemesis. They went through school together, and Mary hated her.”
“Is she the ‘J.’ in the journal?”
“Yes,” Catherine said tautly.
“Why did Mary hate her?”
“Because Janet was beautiful and boys liked her. This is all so silly. They were high school classmates, and it was a silly jealousy.”
“What happened to Janet?”
“She got married. Then I heard she was divorced. I don’t know. It’s ancient history, and it has nothing to do with us.”
“You’re lying,” Ravinia asserted. She’d looked into Catherine’s heart, and for just a moment she’d sensed her fear. Fear that Ravinia would learn something she shouldn’t.
“I am not lying,” Catherine insisted with her old spunk.
“Then you’re not telling me the whole truth. What is this about J.’s husband and father? Who are they?”
“I don’t owe you any more explanations.”
“That’s where you’re wrong! Things are falling apart, Aunt Catherine. Don’t you get it? This fake world you’ve created is over. It didn’t really save us from Justice, and it’s not saving us now. Be honest for once in your screwed-up life!”
“Janet is Janet Bancroft. Declan Bancroft’s daughter and the ex-wife of Preston St. Cloud. Mary wanted them both, but she only got Preston,” she said in a rush of fury. “She took Preston away from his wife and son, and that’s why Janet divorced him.”
Ravinia’s mind whirled. “What happened to Declan?” Ravinia said.
“What do you mean?”
