Chapter 44
FORTY-FOUR
While I’m still reeling, Megan drapes her arm over Alice’s shoulders. “My Alice keeps me informed about everything beyond these walls. She led you and your friend right to me.”
Now I understand why I had felt such a pull to Alice from the moment I met her for the first time. I saw Megan in her.
Alice is wearing their white T-shirt and jeans uniform. I can’t believe the woman betrayed me. All this time she was Megan’s daughter?
Too many questions, and I’m afraid of the answers. And Alice is doing everything not to look at me.
“You knew this whole time,” I croak, the bitter taste of betrayal burning the back of my throat. “You knew Sadie was here and you… You even accepted the invitation to her funeral and you—”
“Please don’t be upset with her. She was only helping her mother, weren’t you, darling?” Megan kisses Alice on the cheek. “Loyalty is everything in this world. I raised her to understand that. I’m so proud of how she stuck to our little plan.”
“Did you know who I was when you applied for the nanny job?” I ask, jaw tight.
Alice shifts her weight from foot to foot. “I’m… I’m sorry.” She keeps her eyes down, avoiding my angry gaze.
“I had no other way of connecting with you, Judy.” Megan’s voice cracks and I hear tears between her words. “After you left, I thought you would come back. In the hundreds of letters I sent you, I begged you to. We were sisters, best friends, we were meant to be together.”
I struggle to breathe as she reminds me of the day I told her I was being adopted. She cried for days and wouldn’t speak to me. When I left, she barely said goodbye. But the letters?
“What letters? I’m sorry, Megan, I did not receive any letters from you.”
“I know you did. Mrs. Potter forwarded them to you.” Megan blinks hard and sniffs.
“She told me she did. And then your mother… she wrote to tell her you said I should leave you alone.” She presses the heel of the hand holding the flashlight to her eye to try and stop the flow of tears.
“Why? Why would you do that? We were sisters.”
I can’t believe this is happening. Her obsession with me is so deep and twisted that I almost feel sorry for her.
I remember the stories she told me in this very room, when she came here pregnant and scared.
Before that, she was in an orphanage and only knew temporary homes.
Foster families said they loved her, only to send her away months later.
Her last family seemed different, she said.
She spent almost a year feeling safe and loved with that family.
She bonded with them and their kids. Then an older cousin hurt her.
When she told her foster parents, they didn’t believe her, calling her a liar.
I still remember her tears as she described being left on the side of a highway, pregnant and alone.
After that, she found me and made me promise we’d always stay together.
I never thought she meant it so literally.
But I can’t pity her. After what she did to my daughter and Scarlett, I have nothing left for her, no matter her reasons. Still, if I want to keep us safe, I need to play along and keep her calm.
“I’m sorry, Megan. I really didn’t get the letters. I would have written back if I had. I promise you that.”
“So what you are saying is that Mrs. Potter lied to me?” Her voice is edged with steel again.
Next to her, Alice twists her hands and her shoulders shake as if she’s crying. She looks like a little girl trapped in a grown woman’s body, just like her mother.
How long has her mother used her as a pawn? I’m too hurt by her betrayal to feel sorry for her either.
“I don’t know,” I say to Megan. “I know you are hurting, and I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch. Please let us go.”
“You turned your back on me, on us, Judy,” she continues. “When I found you, I did what needed to be done.”
My fingers curl into fists. “You stalked me?” She must have known I had a child that needed a nanny. She sent her daughter to apply. Has she been planning all of this for years?
“Sisters need to be in each other’s lives.” She grips the doorframe, mascara bleeding down her cheeks as she cries. “I was deeply hurt when you got married and didn’t invite me to your wedding.” She straightens up again. “But I found a way to come, to leave you the gift.”
I clutch my throat as the breath inside it solidifies. “What gift?”
“The honeymoon trip,” she says. “The Grand Cove Hotel. My wedding gift to you. To bring you back here.”