Chapter 3: The Voice From The Dead
The phone hit the floor.
The sound echoed through the mansion.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Grace stared at the receiver hanging by its twisted cord.
A voice.
A woman’s voice.
A voice claiming to belong to someone who had been dead for years.
Emily Harrington.
Leo’s mother.
Daniel’s wife.
The woman whose funeral Grace had attended.
The woman whose photograph still stood beside the fireplace.
The woman who was supposed to be gone forever.
“No,” Daniel whispered.
His face had lost all color.
“No, that’s impossible.””
Grace couldn’t take her eyes off the phone.
The line was still open.
A faint sound came through the receiver.
Breathing.
Someone was still there.
Grace slowly reached down and picked it up.
“Hello?””
Silence.
Then the same voice returned.
“Grace?””
Her knees almost gave out.
Because now she recognized it.
Not from memory.
Not from seeing photographs.
From a recording.
Years ago, Emily had recorded a message for Leo before she died.
Grace had heard that voice dozens of times.
Soft.
Warm.
Gentle.
“Who is this?”” Grace asked.
The woman on the other end breathed shakily.
“I don’t have much time.””
Grace’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“Where are you?””
“I can’t tell you that.””
“Then tell me how you know my name.””
A pause.
Then:
“Because Emily trusted you.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“Give me the phone.””
Grace covered the receiver.
“It says it’s Emily.””
Daniel looked horrified.
“I heard.””
He reached for the phone.
The woman’s voice suddenly became urgent.
“Don’t let him take the phone.””
Grace froze.
Daniel stopped.
“How did you know?”” Grace whispered.
The woman didn’t answer.
Instead, she said:
“Go to Emily’s room.””
Grace looked toward the staircase.
Emily’s old room.
Nobody had entered it since the funeral.
Daniel shook his head.
“No.””
The woman continued.
“There’s something behind the painting.””
Grace’s heart raced.
“What painting?””
“The one of the blue garden.””
Grace remembered it.
A large painting above the fireplace in Emily’s room.
A painting Daniel never allowed anyone to move.
“How do you know about that?”” Grace asked.
The woman’s voice softened.
“Because I was there the night Emily hid it.””
The line crackled.
Then she whispered:
“Please, Grace. Before Vivian finds out.””
The call ended.
Grace slowly lowered the phone.
Nobody spoke.
Then Daniel walked away.
“No.””
His voice was barely audible.
“No, this is a mistake.””
Grace followed him.
“Daniel.””
“Emily is dead.””
“I know.””
“Then someone is pretending to be her.””
Grace looked at him.
“Maybe.””
The word bothered her.
Because she didn’t believe it.
Not completely.
Daniel turned around.
“Grace, listen to me. Whoever this person is, they know things. They know about Emily. They know about this house.””
He lowered his voice.
“That makes them dangerous.””
Before Grace could answer, a small sound came from the stairs.
A quiet cough.
They both turned.
Vivian stood there.
Watching.
Grace felt her stomach drop.
“How long have you been standing there?”” Daniel asked.
Vivian slowly walked down.
Her face was calm.
Too calm.
“I heard the phone ring.””
Nobody spoke.
Then Vivian looked at Grace.
“Who was it?””
Grace studied her.
A few hours ago, she would have said Vivian looked concerned.
Now she saw something else.
Calculation.
“I don’t know.””
Vivian smiled faintly.
“That’s strange.””
“Why?””
“Because you look like someone who just learned something.””
Daniel stepped between them.
“Vivian, not now.””
But Vivian ignored him.
“Was it about Emily?””
The room went silent.
Grace watched Daniel.
He looked at Vivian sharply.
“How did you know?””
Vivian’s expression changed.
Only slightly.
But enough.
“I guessed.””
“No,” Daniel said.
His voice was cold.
“You didn’t.””
Vivian looked away.
“I know Emily left unfinished business.””
Grace stared.
“What unfinished business?””
Vivian sighed.
“Grace, you need to understand something.””
She walked toward the fireplace.
“Emily was not the person everyone thought she was.””
Daniel’s face hardened.
“Stop.””
But Vivian continued.
“She had secrets.””
Grace looked at the family photos on the wall.
Emily smiling.
Holding baby Leo.
Happy.
“She was a mother,” Grace said.
Vivian turned.
“She was a woman.””
The words were sharp.
“Women have secrets.””
Daniel stepped forward.
“You’re done.””
Vivian looked at him.
For a moment, there was something between them.
Something Grace didn’t understand.
Fear.
Not anger.
Fear.
Then Vivian smiled.
“Fine.””
She walked away.
But before leaving, she looked directly at Grace.
“You should really ask yourself why Emily trusted you.””
Grace watched her disappear.
A strange feeling settled in her chest.
Not fear.
Recognition.
Because Vivian’s words sounded almost identical to the woman on the phone.
Emily trusted you.
Why?
Grace had never asked that question.
Not once.
Because she had always thought she knew her place.
She was the nanny.
The employee.
The person who helped raise Leo.
But Emily had always treated her differently.
Not like staff.
Like family.
Grace walked upstairs.
Daniel followed.
“Where are you going?””
“To Emily’s room.””
Daniel stopped.
“Grace.””
“She told me to look behind the painting.””
“You believe that?””
Grace looked at him.
“I believe someone wants us to find something.””
The hallway was dark.
Emily’s old room was at the end.
Daniel unlocked the door.
The key was still hidden inside his desk drawer.
The door opened with a soft creak.
Dust covered everything.
The room smelled like old perfume and forgotten memories.
Grace stepped inside.
The bed was made exactly how Emily left it.
A book rested on the nightstand.
A sweater hung over the chair.
It felt less like entering an abandoned room.
More like walking into a moment frozen in time.
Daniel turned on the light.
The painting was above the fireplace.
A blue garden.
A woman sitting beneath a tree.
Grace walked closer.
“Behind this?””
Daniel nodded.
“I never understood why Emily loved this painting.””
Grace examined the frame.
There were no obvious signs.
No hidden switches.
No secret compartments.
Then she noticed something.
A small scratch on the wall.
Near the bottom corner.
She pushed the frame gently.
Nothing happened.
She pushed harder.
A click.
Daniel stepped forward.
“What was that?””
Grace moved the painting aside.
Behind it was a small opening in the wall.
Inside was an envelope.
Yellowed.
Old.
With a name written across it.
*For Grace.*
Her breath caught.
Daniel looked stunned.
“She wrote your name.””
Grace reached for the envelope.
Her hands shook.
Before she opened it, something fell from behind the paper.
A photograph.
Grace picked it up.
And the world stopped.
The picture showed Emily.
Holding baby Leo.
Standing beside another woman.
A woman Grace had never seen before.
But the woman looked exactly like the voice from the phone.
May you like
And on the back of the photograph were six words written in Emily’s handwriting.
*“Leo has a twin sister.””*
