Chapter 7
I read the entry.
My heart was pounding.
*Robert doesn't know I found out. About the affair. About the money. He thinks I'm going to divorce him and leave him with nothing. But I have a plan. I'm going to confront him tonight. I'm going to give him a choice. Leave quietly and I'll give him enough money to start over. Or stay and fight and I'll expose everything. I'm scared. But I have to do this. For Cara. She deserves better than a father like him. I just hope I'm making the right choice.*
That was the last entry.
She'd died that night.
Poisoned by her husband.
I flipped through the rest of the journal.
Elaine Bennett had been a remarkable woman.
Loving.
Brave.
Smart.
She'd written about Cara's childhood.
Her first steps.
Her first words.
Her love of stars.
She'd written about her fears for her daughter.
*I worry sometimes. About the disease. My mother had it. Her mother had it. What if Cara gets it too? I want so much more for her. A long life. Love. Children. Happiness. I'd give anything to see her grow old.*
Tears ran down my face.
Elaine Bennett had wanted the same things for Cara that I wanted for Lily.
And she'd been murdered before she could see any of it.
But there was something else in the journal.
Tucked between the pages.
A letter.
Addressed to Cara.
Written the day Elaine died.
*My dearest Cara,*
*If you're reading this, something terrible has happened to me. And I need you to be strong. I need you to know that I love you more than anything in this world. And I need you to promise me something. Don't let your father's evil define you. Don't let it make you hard. Don't let it make you run from love. Live your life. Love deeply. Have children. Be happy. That's the best revenge you could ever give him. And know that I'm always with you. Among the stars. Watching over you. Forever.*
*Love always,*
*Mom*
I held the letter.
Elaine Bennett's last words to her daughter.
Cara had never seen this.
She'd never known her mother had written her a letter.
She'd never known her mother had encouraged her to love.
To live.
To be happy.
I thought about Cara running away.
About her fear.
About her belief that she was protecting me by leaving.
If she'd read this letter… would things have been different?
Would she have stayed?
Would we have had ten years together?
I would never know.
But I could make sure Lily knew about her grandmother.
About the brave woman who'd tried to stand up to evil.
The next day, I showed everything to Maya.
She cried when she read Elaine's letter.
"Cara never knew," she whispered. "She always wondered if her mother loved her. If she would have been proud of her."
"She would have been very proud," I said.
Maya nodded.
"There's something else I need to tell you," she said. "Something Cara made me promise not to say until after the will was settled."
"What is it?"
"Cara knew about the will," she said. "She knew about the conditions. Her father's lawyer contacted her months ago. Told her what was in the will. Told her what she'd have to do to make sure Lily got the money."
I stared at her.
"She knew?"
"She knew," Maya said. "And that's why she came back when she did. She was running out of time. She had to marry you before she died. Or Lily would get nothing."
I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach.
Our marriage.
Those five perfect days.
Had they just been part of a plan?
Had she come back just for the money?
"No," Maya said, seeing my face. "That's not what I mean. She loved you, Ethan. With everything she had. The will just… forced her hand. Made her stop waiting. Made her finally come to you. She wanted to marry you anyway. She wanted to spend her last days with you anyway. The money was just… a bonus. For Lily."
I thought about those five days.
The way she'd looked at me.
The way she'd held me.
The way she'd laughed.
That had been real.
Hadn't it?
"She loved you," Maya said again. "More than anything. The money was for Lily. But the marriage… that was for her. For both of you."
I wanted to believe her.
I needed to believe her.
That night, I went through Cara's journals again.
Looking for answers.
And I found an entry dated a week before she came to see me.
*The lawyer called. The will is real. If I don't marry Ethan before I die, Lily gets nothing. 4.2 million dollars. It would set her up for life. I could die knowing she'd be taken care of. But I'm scared. What if Ethan hates me? What if he says no? What if he can't forgive me for leaving? I have to try. For Lily. But also for me. I want to be his wife. Even if it's only for a few days. I want to know what it feels like. Before I go.*
And then, written in the margin, in smaller letters:
*I still love him. I never stopped.*
I closed the journal.
I believed her.
The money had been a factor.
But it hadn't been the reason.
The reason was love.
And fear.
And hope.
And I was okay with that.
Because those five days had been real to me.
They'd been the happiest of my life.
And nothing could take that away.
May you like
The next morning, I got another call from the lawyer.
"There's a problem," he said. "Robert Bennett's former mistress is contesting the will. She claims she's entitled to half the estate. And she says she has proof that Robert was not of sound mind when he wrote it."
