Chapter 8: The Woman Who Came Back From The Dead
The phone continued ringing.
Nobody moved.
The sound echoed through the abandoned house.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Lucien finally walked toward the stairs.
Theron blocked him.
"Who is calling?""
Lucien stared at him.
"Move.""
"No.""
Something flashed in Lucien's eyes.
Anger.
Fear.
Both.
"Theron.""
"No.""
The word surprised everyone.
Because Theron had spent his entire life stepping aside when Lucien used that tone.
Not anymore.
"You don't get to command me.""
Lucien looked at him.
And for the first time, Theron saw something unfamiliar.
Uncertainty.
The phone stopped.
Then a second later, Theron's own phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
"Who is this?""
A woman's voice replied.
"Theron.""
His entire body froze.
He knew that voice.
He had heard it only in old recordings.
Old family videos.
A voice he had spent years trying not to forget.
"Mom?""
Everyone went still.
Even Lucien.
The voice on the phone trembled.
"My son.""
Theron's hand shook.
"No.""
He stepped backward.
"This isn't possible.""
Adrian covered his mouth.
Corisande looked confused.
Lucien looked terrified.
The voice continued.
"I know what your father told you.""
Theron's eyes moved to Lucien.
"What happened to you?""
A pause.
Then:
"I survived.""
The room seemed to disappear.
His mother was alive.
After all these years.
After all the grief.
After all the lies.
"Where are you?""
"I can't tell you yet.""
Theron's anger exploded.
"Can't tell me?""
His voice broke.
"You let me believe you were dead.""
"I know.""
"Do you know what that did to me?""
Silence.
Then his mother's voice softened.
"I know.""
Theron closed his eyes.
Part of him was furious.
Another part was the child who had waited years for this exact moment.
"Why?""
"Because if Lucien knew I was alive, he would have killed us both.""
Theron looked at his father.
Lucien's face had gone completely pale.
"Us?""
A pause.
Then:
"Elara.""
Theron felt the ground shift again.
His sister was alive too.
"Where are you?""
"I will send someone.""
"No.""
He looked at Eirlys.
"I need answers.""
"You need to protect your daughter.""
The call ended.
Theron stood frozen.
Then his phone received a message.
An address.
And one photograph.
A woman standing beside a young adult.
His mother.
And Elara.
Alive.
Marcus arrived twenty minutes later with police.
But Theron barely noticed.
His entire world had changed.
Again.
At the mansion, they reviewed everything.
The documents.
The payments.
The hidden accounts.
The old photographs.
Everything pointed to one conclusion.
Lucien had spent decades controlling the Viremont family through fear.
But he had failed.
Because the people he tried to erase were returning.
That night, Theron went to Eirlys's room.
She was awake.
"Can't sleep?""
She shook her head.
"Is Mommy bad?""
The question surprised him.
He sat beside her.
"I don't know.""
Eirlys looked at him.
"She was scared.""
Theron frowned.
"What do you mean?""
"Mommy was scared of Grandpa.""
He listened carefully.
"Why?""
Eirlys hugged her rabbit.
"She said Grandpa told her if she didn't help him, he would make me disappear.""
Theron's heart tightened.
"Did she say anything else?""
She thought.
Then nodded.
"She said she was sorry.""
A tear slipped down his daughter's cheek.
"She said she wanted to be brave.""
Theron didn't know what to do with that.
Because Corisande had hurt his daughter.
But she had also been trapped.
Manipulated.
Used.
The next morning, Theron met the woman who had been dead for fifteen years.
His mother stood outside a small private residence.
Older.
Changed.
But unmistakable.
For several seconds, neither moved.
Then she whispered:
"My little boy.""
Theron hated that his eyes filled.
He hated that after everything, a part of him still wanted his mother.
He stepped forward.
Then stopped.
"Why?""
Her face broke.
"I was trying to protect you.""
"You left me.""
"I know.""
"You let me hate a dead man instead of knowing the truth.""
She cried quietly.
"I had no choice.""
Theron looked past her.
A young woman stood near the doorway.
Around his age.
Dark hair.
Familiar eyes.
Elara.
His sister.
The person Lucien had erased from history.
His mother touched Theron's arm.
"Your father has been searching for us.""
Theron looked at her.
"He knows you're alive.""
Her expression changed.
"Then we are already too late.""
"Why?""
She looked toward the road.
Because across the street, a black car had stopped.
The window lowered.
Inside was Lucien.
May you like
Watching them.
And smiling.
