Chapter Seventy-Six Savannah
| Seventy-Six |
Savannah
“What are you talking about?” Savannah asked. Poppy’s words were not computing.
“Bennett pushed me off that boat. He was trying to kill me.”
“He tried to kill you?” Savannah stared, reeling.
“Yes. He’s not the man you thought he was. I learned he’d used an older bestseller to write his last book. I found the AI prompts and was hoping he’d tell me it was for some kind of experiment to use in a book. But it wasn’t. He was out of ideas.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“Isabel told me she was the one who gave him that killer twist for Promise Me Never, but I thought she was exaggerating,” Poppy said.
“I don’t understand. Just because of that, he tried to kill you?”
“I threatened to expose him. To tell his publisher. And I was going to leave him. He lost it.”
Savannah felt like she was being gaslit. First Isabel, now Poppy. Maybe she was lying. “I don’t believe he would kill you just because you wanted to leave him. How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“I have the medical records. There are pictures. Bruises on my arm. Clean tox screen. A head injury. I wasn’t drinking that night.
I wanted to be clearheaded when I talked to him.
He did try to kill me. And that’s not all.
I found Isabel’s diary. He’d been sleeping with her on and off over the years.
That’s why she was so obsessed with him.
He had been playing with her heart forever. ”
Suddenly everything became clear to Savannah. Bennett’s controlling behavior, the way he would belittle her work, praising her in one moment and tearing her down in the next. How could it have taken all this for her to see the truth? All her anger at her sister evaporated.
“I’m so sorry, Poppy. That’s…monstrous. It’s so hard to believe that he was capable of that.”
Poppy leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes for a moment.
“I know it sounds insane, is insane. But he couldn’t handle being found out.
His entire identity was tied up in being an author.
He couldn’t let his family know that he’d failed.
But still, I never thought he was capable of murder.
I’d never have gotten on that boat with him if I had. ”
Savannah was quiet as she digested what she’d just learned. Had she ever really known him?
“How did you survive? He threw you from the boat and kept going? That must have been terrifying.”
“You know how Mom never let us take swimming lessons?”
Savannah nodded. “Of course. Another weird thing about her. Afraid the teacher wouldn’t pay attention and we’d drown.”
“I didn’t want Bennett to know, so I bought one of those auto-inflating flotation devices. It was like a flat fanny pack. I’d wear it under my shirt.”
“How long were you in the water? Did someone find you?”
“A fisherman. Not sure how long I was knocked out. I was out cold from hitting my head.”
“It’s unbelievable. How could I not have seen who Bennett really was?” Savannah shook her head. “I guess I was so enamored by what I thought was his talent and that whole author persona. And he made me feel so untalented. Talking about what a great writer he was. What a fraud!”
“You didn’t need him to be successful, Savannah. Look at you now.”
“I guess I wanted what I thought you had. For once, I wanted a happy ending.”
Poppy reached out and took Savannah’s hand in her own.
“Savannah, I’m so sorry for the way Mom made you feel.
We should have been close all this time and she made it impossible.
It’s heartbreaking when I think back to everything.
But you have to know, I never wanted it to be that way.
I always loved you and wanted you in my life. ”
Savannah squeezed her hand. “I guess I should get into therapy.” She rolled her eyes. “Should have done so a long time ago. Saved myself a lot of pain.” She took a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have blamed you. I’d like to try to heal things between us.”
Poppy’s face lit up. “That makes me so happy.”
“Look, it’s not going to happen overnight. I need to sort through my feelings, figure out what’s next.” The implications of Poppy being alive hit her suddenly. “The house is yours. Felicia’s living there now.”
“That’s the last place I want to be,” Poppy said.
“I get it. But you’re rich now. Bennett’s assets all belong to you. In fact, I guess I owe you some money. I used some of his money to buy my apartment.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“No, that’s not—”
“Seriously. I don’t care about the money.”
“That’s very generous of you. There’s still millions that belong to you. We’ll sort it out. But where have you been all this time?”
“I was in the hospital for about a week. In and out of consciousness. I had planned to go back and turn him in. But then I found something out that changed everything.”
“What?”
“I was pregnant. I knew if I went back, it would be my word against his. I couldn’t take the chance that he’d get custody of our child. He was the one with the money, the connections.”
“Pregnant! Did you have—”
“I’ll get to that. I saw an article saying I’d drowned.
I decided since the world thought I was dead, I’d stay that way until I could figure out what to do.
I called a trusted friend who came to the hospital and gave me enough cash to get away.
I pretended not to remember my name so there was no record of me there. ”
“So where did you go?”
“I came here, to New Mexico. I found an artist commune where they didn’t ask questions.
I became part of the community. A midwife delivered my daughter.
And we’ve been living there, peacefully, off the grid ever since.
You can’t imagine how freeing it is to not have technology taking over your life.
It wasn’t until I saw the poster for your book talk that I even knew he was dead. ”
“You can reclaim your identity now. Your daughter is safe. Where is she?”
“With my friends at the commune. Would you like to see a picture?”
Savannah nodded.
She pulled out a photo of a beautiful little baby with red hair and green eyes. Savannah ran her finger over the photo. “She’s gorgeous. What’s her name?”
“Millie.”