AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Lucy isn’t my daughter.
But she looks so much like Ava she has to be my granddaughter.
And that means Ava is alive.
And my only child, who I sacrificed everything for in order to protect her has deceived me for the last twenty-six years.
Chapter35
Lucy
After leaving Cora’s office, I decide to take a walk on the beach to clear my head. I’m seriously considering accepting Cora’s offer to research Arcania when I should be packing instead.
Am I tempting fate by staying here until the end of the week?
Any sane person would run a mile after what happened last night, not to mention all the other weird stuff that’s been going on. And I can’t imagine sleeping in that room again.
But what if I don’t have to? Researching the history of the wellness retreat will give me carte blanche to other rooms, the grounds, the tunnels…It’s a perfect cover to find answers about Mom, yet I can’t shake the feeling that it’s too good to be true.
I’d been right to question Cora about hiring someone local rather than me. Someone older who may have connections to Arcania in the past. Though I had been questioning her and it may be a simple case of being in the right place at the right time.
I never used to be this skeptical, but discovering Mom had hidden a side of her from me has made me question everything.
I follow a winding path down to the beach and when I hit the sand, I slip off my sneakers. There’s no one on the beach bar a distant figure that’s approaching at a rapid pace; a jogger. I trudge toward the water’s edge, close enough to feel the sea spray on my face, but far enough away the ocean can’t touch me.
Did Mom once frolic in these waves despite her fear of water? Did she roam this shoreline in search of shells? Did she stare out to sea, wishing she could escape? Countless questions I’ll never know the answer to and if I stay, maybe I would?
As the jogger nears me, I see it’s Spencer. He’s running like he has a dozen demons on his tail and is waving his arms at me as if he’s guiding a jet pilot onto a carrier.
“Spencer, hey. You’re back—”
“You have… to leave…” He’s gasping for air, his hands braced above his knees as he drags in deep breaths.
Not this again. What is it with this guy and his constant warnings?
“Spencer, unless you give me a legitimate reason why you think I should leave Arcania, I’m not listening to any more of your senseless warnings.”
He coughs, violent heaves that shake his chest, before he slowly straightens. I know I’m not going to like what he has to say by his somber expression.
“You have to leave because Cora killed your mother and you may be next.”
Chapter36
Cora
THEN
I watchLucy push her book trolley toward the last shelf. Despite the urge to run after her, grab her, and ask what the hell is going on, I don’t move. I can’t. My feet are rooted to the floor as I ponder the implications of discovering the daughter I loved more than life itself faked her own death to get away from me.
That’s the kicker in all this.
Why did Ava run when she didn’t have to?
I ran away from my mother because she didn’t have a maternal bone in her body and I bore the brunt of that when she couldn’t see what was right in front of her face: her sleazy boyfriends coming onto me. I wanted her protection, or at least the knowledge that I could trust her enough to go to her if things got really bad.
I got nothing. So I left and didn’t look back. I married a man wrong for me in a blatant attempt for security, to protect my daughter in a way my mother hadn’t protected me, and I’d stuck with him for fear I’d end up alone and poor.
But I’m not my mother. I never made Ava feel unsupported. I would’ve done anything to protect her and her unborn child, and I had. I’d killed Harlan for her. It may have been a rash, impulsive decision born of rage, but I’d done it for my baby.
