Chapter 5 - THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTOGRAPHMia woke after midnight.
Rain had begun falling against the windows.
Victoria sat beside her bed.
“You're awake.”
Mia looked toward the window.
“The baby?”
“Strong heartbeat.”
Mia exhaled.
For several seconds, neither sister spoke.
Then Mia whispered:
“Vic... I found something before she attacked me.”
Victoria leaned closer.
“What?”
“A photograph.”
Mia reached beneath the pillow.
She pulled out a small envelope.
Inside was an old photograph of their mother.
On the back were four handwritten words:
THEY NEVER LET ME LEAVE.
Victoria stared.
Her blood ran cold.
“Where did you get this?”
“In Eleanor's library.”
Mia's eyes filled with tears.
“She knew I was looking.”
Victoria turned the photograph over again.
There was another mark.
A date.
Twenty-seven years earlier.
And beneath it—
a location.
A small coastal town in Oregon.
Victoria stood immediately.
Mia grabbed her hand.
“Don't leave me.”
Victoria looked at her sister.
“I won't.”
“But you're going after the truth.”
“Yes.”
“Promise you'll come back.”
Victoria squeezed her hand.
“I promise.”
She kissed Mia's forehead.
Then she walked out.
May you like
For the first time that night, Victoria wasn't thinking about Eleanor.
She was thinking about the possibility that their mother might still be alive.
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