Chapter 6
I screamed Olivia’s name across the water.
She heard me.
Her little face turned toward the dock.
“Maria!”
Victoria yanked her back.
Daniel grabbed a second boat’s cover and tore it off.
“I can drive,” he said.
I jumped in before he could tell me to stay.
The engine roared.
We shot across the lake, cold spray hitting my face.
Ahead of us, Grant’s boat cut through the mist toward the far shore.
Nathan’s voice crackled through Daniel’s radio.
“I’m coming from the south road.”
Detective Monroe shouted behind him, “Do not engage alone.”
Nobody listened.
Olivia was on that boat.
Victoria looked back and saw us.
Even from a distance, I saw her face twist.
She shouted at Grant.
The boat sped up.
Olivia stumbled.
My heart stopped.
“Slow down!” I screamed.
Daniel pushed harder.
We gained on them near the old fishing dock.
Grant turned too sharply.
The boat lurched.
Olivia fell to her knees.
Victoria reached for her, but not to comfort her.
To keep her from jumping.
I saw red.
When we hit the dock, I leapt before the boat stopped.
Pain shot up my leg, but I kept running.
Nathan’s SUV skidded onto the shore at the same time.
He jumped out and ran toward the dock.
“Olivia!”
Grant pulled a gun.
Detective Monroe shouted, “Drop it!”
Victoria dragged Olivia in front of her.
“Stay back!”
Everything froze.
Rain fell softly on the lake.
Olivia cried, “Daddy.”
Nathan stopped.
His hands lifted.
“Mother, let her go.”
Victoria’s face was wild now.
No veil.
No pearls.
No perfect mask.
“She belongs to this family.”
“She is not property.”
“She is the last clean piece of the Whitmore line.”
Nathan’s voice broke.
“She is a child.”
Victoria laughed.
“You never had the stomach to lead. Emily turned you soft. That maid turned you against blood.”
I stepped forward.
Victoria’s eyes snapped to me.
“You.”
“Yes,” I said. “Me.”
“The servant who ruined everything.”
“The servant who heard your victim breathing.”
Her mouth trembled.
Grant shouted, “Mother, stop talking.”
Detective Monroe’s body camera blinked red.
Victoria didn’t notice.
Nathan did.
So did I.
I kept speaking.
“Why did you do it?”
Victoria’s eyes burned.
“Because Emily was going to give the trust to outsiders.”
“To her daughter?”
“To you,” Victoria spat.
The dock went silent.
Me?
Nathan turned.
“What?”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“She changed the household foundation documents. Half the child welfare fund. Staff pensions. Scholarship money for domestic workers. She said people like Maria deserved protection from families like ours.”
My throat closed.
Emily had never told me.
Victoria continued.
“Then she found Robert’s accounts.”
Nathan stiffened.
“My father’s accounts?”
Grant’s face went gray.
“She was going to expose everything,” Victoria said. “Tax fraud. Bribes. Grant’s withdrawals. My signatures.”
Grant pointed the gun at her.
“Shut up.”
Olivia screamed.
Nathan moved.
Grant swung the gun toward him.
That was when I ran.
Not at Grant.
At Victoria.
I slammed into her side and wrapped both arms around Olivia.
We hit the dock hard.
A gunshot cracked above us.
Nathan tackled Grant.
Detective Monroe rushed in.
Daniel covered us.
Olivia sobbed against my chest.
Victoria crawled toward the edge of the dock.
“You ungrateful animal,” she hissed.
I held Olivia tighter.
Then Emily’s voice rang out behind us.
Weak.
Hoarse.
Alive.
“Get away from my daughter.”
Everyone turned.
Emily stood beside the ambulance at the road, wrapped in a hospital blanket, supported by a paramedic.
Nathan stared.
“Emily.”
She looked at Victoria.
“You tried to bury me.”
Victoria’s face collapsed.
For the first time, she looked truly afraid.
Detective Monroe cuffed Grant first.
Then Victoria.
As they were led away, Olivia reached for her mother.
Emily dropped to her knees on the wet grass and opened her arms.
May you like
My little girl ran to her.
And Nathan fell beside them, sobbing.
