Chapter 14: The Secret Emma Could No Longer Hide

The drive to the West ranch was quiet.

Jack kept both hands on the steering wheel, his attention fixed on the winding road ahead.

I watched the city disappear behind us.

For the first time, I wasn't afraid of leaving it.

After nearly an hour, Jack finally spoke.

"You don't have to marry me just because you want to escape your family."

I turned toward him.

"I'm not."

"Then why?"

I looked at the aquamarine ring on my finger.

"Because when I died in my last life, I realized I had spent years living for everyone except myself."

Jack's hands tightened slightly around the steering wheel.

"You really remember everything?"

"Yes."

He didn't ask me to prove it.

He simply nodded.

"Then I'll believe you."

That simple acceptance made my throat tighten.

We reached the ranch just before sunset.

The property stretched across acres of green pasture, with several horses grazing beyond the wooden fences.

It looked nothing like the cold marble halls of the Sinclair estate.

And somehow, it felt more like home.

Jack led me toward the main house.

"There's something else you need to know."

I stopped.

"What?"

He pulled a small key from his pocket.

"Your grandmother asked me to keep this safe until you were ready."

I stared at the key.

"What does it open?"

"A storage room beneath the old stable."

My heart began beating faster.

We walked toward the stable.

Behind a row of saddles was a narrow wooden door I had never seen before.

Jack unlocked it.

Inside were boxes covered in dust.

I opened the first one.

Photographs.

Letters.

Old financial records.

Then I saw a familiar name.

Emma.

My fingers froze.

I pulled out a sealed envelope.

The handwriting belonged to my grandmother.

I opened it with trembling hands.

"Esme, there are things about your sister that I could never tell you while I was alive."

"Emma was not always the victim your parents wanted you to believe she was."

I stopped reading.

Jack remained beside me without saying a word.

I continued.

"After your mother's accident, Emma became frightened that the family would blame her."

"Your mother protected her because she believed protecting Emma was the only way to keep the family together."

My breath caught.

The memory of the staircase returned again.

Emma had been there.

She had been standing behind my mother.

And afterward, everyone had blamed me.

I reached into the box and found another document.

It was a statement from the former housekeeper.

The same woman who had supposedly disappeared years ago.

She had written that Emma had pushed my mother during an argument.

But there was something even worse.

The housekeeper had witnessed my father paying her to remain silent.

My entire body went cold.

My father hadn't merely favored Emma.

He had protected her by sacrificing me.

I slowly sat down on an old wooden crate.

"They knew."

Jack crouched beside me.

"Yes."

"They knew I wasn't responsible."

"Yes."

Tears filled my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

In my previous life, I had begged my parents to believe me.

They had watched me disappear without a second thought.

Now I finally understood why.

They weren't protecting an innocent daughter.

They were protecting a secret.

My phone suddenly began vibrating.

The screen showed an unknown number.

I answered.

A man's voice spoke quietly.

"If you want to know who ordered your psychiatric evaluation, come alone to the old Westbrook warehouse tomorrow night."

My blood ran cold.

"Who is this?"

The caller hung up.

Jack watched my expression change.

"What happened?"

I told him everything.

He stood immediately.

"You're not going alone."

"I wasn't planning to."

Before we could say anything else, another notification appeared on my phone.

It was a message from Emma.

There was only one sentence.

"Esme, please come home. I know you remember how I died."

I stared at the screen.

For the first time, Emma wasn't pretending to be innocent.

She was afraid.

And now I knew exactly why.