Chapter 8 - The Daughter Who Was Supposed to Die
Juliette lowered the gun.
For the first time since Caroline had walked into her wedding, there was no hatred in her sister's face.
Only fear.
"The fire was meant for me?"
Rebecca Hale closed her eyes.
"Yes."
The word seemed to empty the room of air.
Caroline looked from Rebecca to Juliette, then to Holloway.
Nothing made sense anymore.
"You knew I was upstairs," Caroline said. "You started the fire anyway because you thought Juliette would die?"
"No."
Rebecca's voice broke.
"Then explain it."
Rebecca looked at Juliette.
"I thought Caroline would get out."
Caroline laughed bitterly.
"Through the door Eleanor locked?"
"I didn't know Eleanor had locked it."
"But you saw me sleeping."
"Yes."
"And then poured fuel downstairs."
"Because I thought someone would wake you."
"Who?"
Rebecca didn't answer.
Caroline stepped closer.
"WHO?"
"Douglas."
Everyone turned toward him.
Douglas's expression remained unreadable.
Rebecca continued.
"He was supposed to get Caroline out before the fire reached the second floor."
Caroline stared at the man who had raised her.
"Did you know?"
Douglas said nothing.
"Did you know Rebecca was going to burn the house?"
"Yes."
Juliette raised the gun again.
"You knew?"
Douglas looked at her.
"The plan was not what you think."
"Then what was it?"
Douglas slowly sat in one of the dining chairs.
For the first time, he seemed tired.
"The house contained evidence that could destroy all of us."
Marcus scoffed.
"That's your defense?"
"No."
Douglas looked at Rebecca.
"It's hers."
Rebecca's eyes filled with anger.
"You agreed."
"I agreed to destroy the archive."
"You chose the night."
"Because Adrian was being moved."
Caroline turned toward Adrian.
"You were there?"
Adrian nodded.
"I was being held beneath the property temporarily."
"Temporarily?"
"Holloway had discovered evidence that I was alive. Douglas knew he couldn't keep me there."
Holloway laughed quietly.
"You make yourself sound remarkably innocent."
Adrian glared at him.
"You were going to take the archive."
"I was going to expose you."
"You wanted the names."
"I wanted evidence."
"To blackmail half of California."
Holloway's jaw tightened.
Caroline slammed her palm onto the table.
"Enough!"
Everyone fell silent.
She pointed toward Rebecca.
"Why Juliette?"
Rebecca looked at Douglas.
Then at Adrian.
Finally she answered.
"Because Douglas told me Juliette had to disappear."
Juliette's face went blank.
"My father wanted me dead?"
"He's not your father," Rebecca whispered.
"HE RAISED ME!"
The scream tore through the room.
For a moment Caroline saw herself reflected in Juliette.
Blood didn't erase childhood.
Truth didn't erase birthdays, punishments, Christmas mornings, bedtime stories, disappointments.
Douglas had been their father because they had believed he was.
Perhaps that was why his betrayal hurt both of them so deeply.
Juliette aimed directly at Douglas's face.
"Did you want me dead?"
"No."
Rebecca stared at him.
"You said she had to disappear."
"Disappear is not die."
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
"You always did love technical distinctions."
Caroline frowned.
"What was supposed to happen to Juliette?"
Douglas answered.
"She was supposed to be declared dead."
Silence.
Caroline felt cold.
Exactly what had happened to her.
"You planned to fake Juliette's death."
"Yes."
"Why?"
Douglas looked at Adrian.
"Because she was his daughter."
Juliette turned toward Adrian.
He looked devastated.
Douglas continued.
"Vale Industries had a succession clause."
Adrian whispered, "Don't."
Caroline looked at him.
"What clause?"
Douglas answered before he could stop him.
"If Adrian died without legally recognized descendants, control of the company transferred to the Vale Foundation."
Marcus frowned.
"But Adrian didn't die."
"Publicly, he did."
Douglas nodded toward Juliette.
"If his biological daughter was discovered, she could challenge everything that happened after his disappearance."
Juliette stared at him.
"So you were going to erase me."
"I was trying to protect you."
She laughed.
"There's that word again."
Douglas's face hardened.
"You have no idea what Adrian's enemies would have done if they discovered who you were."
Adrian stepped toward Juliette.
"I would never have allowed anyone to hurt you."
She swung the gun toward him.
"Don't."
Adrian stopped.
"You don't get to become my father tonight."
The words hit him visibly.
Juliette's voice trembled.
"You don't get twenty-seven years back because someone finally opened a file."
Caroline watched Adrian lower his eyes.
Juliette turned toward Rebecca.
"And you?"
Rebecca swallowed.
"What about me?"
"If I was supposed to disappear, where were you going to take me?"
Rebecca hesitated.
"Switzerland."
Juliette almost smiled.
"You had a passport?"
"Yes."
"A new identity?"
"Yes."
"Money?"
"Yes."
"You planned all of it?"
Rebecca nodded.
Juliette's eyes moved to Douglas.
"You knew?"
"Yes."
"And Caroline?"
Douglas didn't answer.
Juliette understood first.
"Oh God."
Caroline looked at her.
"What?"
Juliette slowly lowered the weapon.
"The wrong daughter died."
Nobody spoke.
Caroline's heart began pounding.
Rebecca shook her head.
"No."
Juliette looked at her.
"You planned to fake my death."
"Yes."
"You started a fire."
"Yes."
"There needed to be a body."
Rebecca's face collapsed.
"No."
Caroline felt nausea rising.
"Laura."
Lillian made a sound behind them.
Her brother Adrian reached for her.
She pushed him away.
"Don't touch me."
Caroline looked at Rebecca.
"Was Laura supposed to be the body?"
Rebecca began crying.
"Not like that."
"What does that mean?"
"Laura was already dying."
Lillian stared at her.
"What?"
Rebecca looked toward Lillian.
"She had pancreatic cancer."
"You're lying."
"She had weeks."
"I spoke to her two days before the fire!"
"She didn't tell you."
Lillian turned toward Adrian.
"Did you know?"
Adrian didn't answer.
Lillian stepped backward.
"You knew."
"Lily—"
"You knew our sister was dying?"
"She made me promise."
Lillian slapped him.
The sound cracked through the room.
Adrian accepted it without moving.
Rebecca continued.
"Laura volunteered."
Caroline felt sick.
"To die in a fire?"
"No! To help fake Juliette's death."
"How?"
"Sedatives. Dental records. Personal effects. The fire was supposed to begin after everyone else had left."
Marcus stared at Douglas.
"But Caroline remained upstairs."
Douglas nodded.
"Because Eleanor changed the plan."
Rebecca turned on him.
"You changed it first."
Douglas's eyes hardened.
Rebecca pointed toward Caroline.
"You told Eleanor Holloway had discovered Caroline's identity."
Holloway looked at Douglas.
"What?"
For the first time all night, he seemed genuinely surprised.
Rebecca faced him.
"Douglas told Eleanor you knew Caroline was your daughter."
Holloway's face went pale.
"I didn't."
"I know that now."
Caroline looked between them.
"So Eleanor locked me upstairs."
Rebecca nodded.
"She panicked. She thought Holloway was coming for you."
Holloway whispered, "I was coming for Adrian."
Rebecca closed her eyes.
"Twenty-seven years."
Holloway stared at her.
"You hid my daughter from me for twenty-seven years."
"I was afraid."
"Of me?"
"Of what Douglas could make you become."
Holloway laughed bitterly.
"And look how well that worked."
Caroline felt nothing when he looked at her.
Not yet.
Maybe never.
Biology couldn't manufacture love.
Holloway seemed to understand.
He looked away first.
Marcus picked up the flash drive.
"There's enough here."
"For what?" Douglas asked.
"Conspiracy. Kidnapping. Fraud. Murder."
"Murder?"
"Eleanor."
Douglas's face became strangely calm.
"You still believe the recording."
"We watched you inject her."
"You watched me inject her."
"She died."
"Yes."
Marcus stared.
Douglas looked at Caroline.
"But not from what was in the syringe."
Caroline's blood chilled.
"What did you give her?"
"Morphine."
"You killed her."
"No."
Douglas's eyes filled with something Caroline couldn't identify.
"Eleanor killed herself."
Adrian shook his head.
"Liar."
Douglas reached into his pocket.
Marcus aimed immediately.
"Slow."
Douglas removed a small key.
He placed it on the table.
"There's another safe in the blue room."
Caroline frowned.
"We opened it."
"You opened Eleanor's safe."
He pushed the key toward her.
"Not mine."
"What is inside?"
"The rest of her recording."
Caroline stared at him.
"You edited it?"
"No."
"Eleanor did."
"Why?"
Douglas's voice softened.
"Because she knew one of you would eventually come looking."
Caroline didn't touch the key.
Then Juliette suddenly collapsed.
Adrian caught her before she hit the floor.
"Juliette!"
Her gun clattered across the marble.
Caroline rushed toward her.
Blood was spreading beneath Juliette's wedding dress.
Not someone else's blood.
Hers.
"She's been shot."
Rebecca dropped beside her.
"When?"
Juliette struggled to breathe.
"Holloway's man."
Holloway stared at her.
"I didn't order anyone to shoot you."
Juliette laughed weakly.
"Then you don't control your people anymore."
Caroline pressed both hands against the wound.
"Call an ambulance!"
Marcus reached for his phone.
No signal.
"The system is blocking communications."
Rebecca looked at Holloway.
"Medical room downstairs."
Adrian lifted Juliette.
"I know where."
They moved.
Caroline ran beside him.
Juliette opened her eyes.
"Caroline."
"I'm here."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't."
"For the wedding."
Caroline almost laughed.
"You're apologizing for the wedding?"
"For everything."
"You can apologize after you survive."
Juliette gripped her wrist.
"There's something you don't know."
"Save your strength."
"No."
Her fingers tightened.
"About the fire."
Caroline looked down at her.
"What?"
Juliette's lips trembled.
"I was there."
"I know."
"No."
Juliette coughed.
"I was in your room."
Caroline stopped walking.
"What?"
"Before Rebecca came."
Adrian shouted for them to keep moving.
But Caroline barely heard him.
Juliette whispered:
"I unlocked your door."
Caroline stared.
"But Eleanor locked it again."
"No."
Juliette's eyes filled with tears.
"Eleanor never locked you in."
Caroline felt the world shift.
"Then who did?"
Juliette closed her eyes.
"I did."
Caroline's hand went cold.
"You?"
"I heard Rebecca and Douglas talking about replacing me with Laura's body. I thought they were going to kill me."
"So you locked me inside?"
Juliette began sobbing.
"I switched our bracelets."
Caroline stared at her.
"What bracelets?"
"The identification bracelets Rebecca had prepared."
Juliette's breathing became weaker.
"One for me. One for the body."
Adrian carried her toward the staircase.
Caroline followed mechanically.
Juliette looked at her.
"I thought if they found you..."
She couldn't finish.
Caroline could.
"They would think I was you."
Juliette cried harder.
"I was fifteen. I was terrified."
Caroline remembered smoke.
The locked door.
Her sister's voice.
The years of nightmares.
"You used me."
"I'm sorry."
"You left me to die."
"I came back!"
"After the fire started."
"I came back!"
Juliette screamed, then cried out from the wound.
Adrian nearly lost his grip.
"Stop talking."
They reached the underground medical room.
Adrian placed Juliette on the bed.
Rebecca began cutting away the blood-soaked fabric.
Caroline stood motionless.
Her sister had locked the door.
Rebecca had lit the fire.
Douglas had planned the deception.
Eleanor had known pieces of it.
Every person Caroline had trusted had contributed to the night that destroyed her.
Marcus appeared at the doorway.
His face was pale.
"Caroline."
She didn't respond.
"Caroline."
"What?"
He held the burner phone.
It had regained a signal.
A message had arrived.
Not from Holloway.
Not from Douglas.
A photograph filled the screen.
Evelyn Shaw lay unconscious on the floor of the blue room.
The files were gone.
Beneath the photograph was a message:
**YOU HAVE THIRTY MINUTES TO BRING ME CAROLINE MERCER.**
Caroline looked at Marcus.
"Who sent it?"
He turned the phone toward her.
The sender had included a name.
Caroline read it twice.
Then looked across the medical room at Adrian Vale.
Adrian saw her expression.
"What?"
Caroline showed him the screen.
For the first time since they found him, genuine terror appeared on his face.
The message was signed:
**THOMAS VANCE.**
Marcus's supposedly dead father.