Chapter 85: The Clue

The cabin was still, save for the crackling of the fire. Ava sat with Mikey curled in her arms, the boy’s little head resting against her shoulder. Oliver learned by the door, his hand close to the pistol on his belt. Tension filled the air, thick and suffocating.

I stared down at the crumpled photo in my hand. The missing piece of the puzzle was finally surfacing—someone from Mom’s past she’d tried desperately to forget.

Dominic Vale.

The name hit me like a punch to the gut. My fingers trembled as I traced the edges of the torn photograph, where part of a man’s shoulder was just visible. He’d been there once—standing next to Natalie in the same picture she kept hidden for years.

A memory stirred, vague and distant. Dominic was a ghost from a life Natalie had buried before she became our mother—a part of her existence she never wanted us to know. But now, with Natalie gone, Dominic had re-emerged, determined to unravel everything she’d built.

I could feel the walls closing in. "