CHAPTER 10 — The Truth About Rebecca
CHAPTER 10 — The Truth About Rebecca
Rebecca Whitmore had always believed she was smarter than everyone else.
She believed she understood people.
Their weaknesses.
Their fears.
Their desires.
That was how she survived.
She didn't force people to obey her.
She made them believe they needed her.
For two years, Alexander needed her.
That was enough.
But now something had changed.
Alexander no longer looked at her with gratitude.
He looked at her with questions.
And questions were dangerous.
Because questions eventually became answers.
The message on her phone remained open.
The evidence from the accident is ready.
Rebecca stared at those words for a long time.
Then she deleted the message.
Not because she wasn't afraid.
Because she was.
But Rebecca Whitmore had spent her entire life learning one rule.
Never let anyone see fear.
She walked into her closet.
Behind a row of expensive dresses was a small safe.
Inside were things nobody knew existed.
A second phone.
Old documents.
A flash drive.
And a photograph.
The photograph was two years old.
Claire's car.
Before the accident.
Rebecca touched the picture.
For a moment...
she remembered everything.
Two years earlier.
Before Claire disappeared.
Before Lily stopped calling her a stranger.
Before Alexander looked at her like a threat.
Rebecca had not hated Claire at first.
That was the truth nobody knew.
She had admired her.
Claire Bennett was everything Rebecca was not.
Warm.
Loved.
Genuine.
People trusted Claire without being afraid of her.
And that was what Rebecca wanted.
Not the money.
Not the house.
Not even Alexander.
She wanted the life Claire had.
Rebecca remembered the first time she realized she wanted to replace her.
It was at Lily's fifth birthday.
Everyone surrounded Claire.
Everyone laughed with Claire.
Lily ran into Claire's arms.
Alexander watched them like they were the entire world.
Rebecca stood in the corner.
Invisible.
That night, she cried.
Not because she was jealous.
Because she believed she deserved what Claire had.
That was always Rebecca's greatest flaw.
She never thought she was taking.
She thought she was correcting an unfair world.
Back in the present...
The front door opened.
Alexander entered the room.
Rebecca quickly closed the safe.
Too late.
He noticed.
"What are you hiding?"
Her expression remained calm.
"Nothing."
Alexander stared.
A month ago, he would have believed her.
Now he saw the pattern.
"Rebecca."
She sighed.
"You're really going to do this?"
"Do what?"
"Treat me like a criminal."
Alexander's face hardened.
"I don't know what to treat you like anymore."
The sentence hurt.
And Rebecca hated him for saying it.
"You trusted me for two years."
"I was wrong."
The answer came too quickly.
Rebecca went silent.
Because that was the first time Alexander admitted it.
"I saved this family."
Rebecca whispered.
"No."
Alexander looked at her.
"You controlled it."
For the first time...
Rebecca had no immediate response.
Then she changed tactics.
"Do you know what Claire will do?"
Alexander frowned.
"She will make you feel guilty."
A pause.
"She will make you remember every moment you weren't there."
Alexander looked away.
Because she was right about one thing.
He did feel guilty.
But guilt was no longer enough to control him.
"You lied about Claire."
Rebecca shook her head.
"I protected you."
"From what?"
Silence.
Alexander stepped closer.
"From knowing your wife was alive?"
Rebecca's eyes moved.
Only slightly.
But he saw.
"You knew."
The room became cold.
"I knew what?"
"You knew she survived."
Rebecca laughed.
A little too loudly.
"That's insane."
But Alexander was no longer looking for a confession.
He was watching her reaction.
And he had his answer.
That night, Daniel Hayes arrived at the Bennett mansion.
Claire met him in the study.
Alexander joined them.
Lily was safely upstairs with Evelyn.
No more secrets.
Not anymore.
Daniel placed a thick folder on the table.
"This is everything."
Claire looked at it.
"Everything?"
"Everything I found."
He opened the file.
Photos.
Bank records.
Phone logs.
Alexander looked through them.
Then stopped.
"What is this?"
Daniel pointed.
"A payment."
The name on the document made the room silent.
Whitmore Consulting Group.
Claire felt cold.
"Rebecca's family?"
Daniel nodded.
"Money was transferred three days before the accident."
"To who?"
A pause.
"To the mechanic who inspected your car."
Alexander stood.
"No."
The word came out like a denial.
Because accepting it meant accepting something unbearable.
Someone he trusted tried to kill his wife.
Claire looked at the evidence.
Her voice was quiet.
"She wanted me gone."
Daniel nodded.
"But there's more."
He pulled out another document.
"This came from a private server."
Alexander read it.
His face changed.
It was an email.
From Rebecca.
Two years earlier.
I need this handled before Claire finds out.
Below it was a reply.
A name.
A name Alexander recognized.
His own brother.
Michael Bennett.
Nobody spoke.
Claire looked at Alexander.
"Your brother knew?"
Alexander's face turned pale.
"I don't understand."
Then footsteps came from the doorway.
Everyone turned.
Michael stood there.
He had heard everything.
"I can explain."
Alexander stared at him.
"You knew?"
Michael said nothing.
That silence was an answer.
Claire felt the world shift.
Because Rebecca was not the only person who wanted her erased.
Upstairs...
Lily woke from a nightmare.
She sat up crying.
But this time...
someone heard.
Not Rebecca.
Not Evelyn.
Claire.
Claire rushed into the room.
"My baby?"
Lily looked up.
And without hesitation...
she reached for her.
"Mommy."
Claire held her tightly.
And for the first time in two years...
Lily said the word without fear.
But downstairs...
the truth was unfolding.
And Rebecca Whitmore's perfect world was collapsing.
Because the woman she tried to erase...
was not only alive.
She was about to expose everyone who helped bury her.
Rebecca stood outside the study door.
Listening.
Watching.
Then she slowly smiled.
A dangerous smile.
Because if everyone was going to fall...
May you like
she would make sure they fell with her.
END OF CHAPTER 10
