Chapter 174

Zoe's POV

It took me a while to grasp what Aunt Julie was saying. Xavier and Aunt Julie waited patiently, though I could sense their anxiety as they watched me for a reaction.

"What's in it?" I finally whispered, my voice so soft it felt like speaking louder might summon my mother's ghost. It had been so long since I’d seen a photo of her that her face had faded from my memories. Even the memories themselves were slipping away with time.

After my mother’s death, my father had made sure nothing remained to remind us of her. I couldn’t remember ever talking to him about her or how she died.

"Her trauma is suppressing the memories," a doctor had told my father when he took me to see one after her death.

"I have no idea. Your mother locked it up before you came to this house," Aunt Julie answered in the same hushed tone, understanding how fragile I must be feeling.

"Why?" I asked, then clarified, "Why didn’t I know about this before?"

"Because your mother made Joe promise to