Chapter 4
I didn't sleep that night.
After Daniel drove me home, I sat at the kitchen table with Arthur's letter spread beneath the yellow lamp.
The farmhouse was quiet.
Too quiet.
I could hear the refrigerator humming.
The old clock ticking above the doorway.
Outside, wind moved through the apple trees.
It was the same sound that had comforted me for nearly forty years.
But now, every shadow seemed unfamiliar.
I kept thinking about Hannah.
My only child.
The girl I had carried through nine months of difficult pregnancy.
The child Arthur used to call our miracle.
I wanted to believe Colton loved her.
Even after everything.
I wanted to believe she hadn't been used.
But the thought wouldn't leave me.
What if he had pursued her because of the orchard?
At two in the morning, my phone rang.
Hannah.
I stared at the screen.
For one moment, I wanted to ignore it.
Then I answered.
"Mom?"
Her voice was shaky.
I closed my eyes.
"Hello, sweetheart."
"Are you home?"
"Yes."
"Are you okay?"
I looked at the bandage around my palm.
"No."
Silence.
Then she began crying.
"I'm sorry."
I didn't answer immediately.
Those two words were too small for what had happened.
"Hannah, your husband shoved me into a table."
She sobbed.
"I know."
"And you asked me to sign the papers anyway."
"I was scared."
My heart tightened.
"Of what?"
She hesitated.
Then whispered, "Colton."
I sat straighter.
"Where is he?"
"Downstairs."
"Where are you?"
"In the hotel bathroom."
My stomach dropped.
"Has he hurt you?"
"No."
She paused.
"Not like that."
I gripped the phone.
"Hannah, listen carefully. What do you mean?"
She started crying harder.
"He gets angry."
I closed my eyes.
"He yells. He says I ruin everything. He says I'm too emotional."
My chest tightened.
"How long has this been happening?"
She didn't answer.
"Hannah."
"Since we got engaged."
I felt tears gathering.
My daughter had been hiding this.
While I worried about flower arrangements and guest lists, she had been afraid of the man she was marrying.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I thought he'd change."
I wiped my cheeks.
She continued.
"He says once the business is stable, things will be better."
"What business?"
Silence.
Then she whispered, "The orchard project."
My stomach turned.
"Hannah, what has he told you?"
She took a shaky breath.
"He said his family's company was going to invest in Whitaker Orchard."
I closed my eyes.
"He said you'd agreed in principle."
"I never agreed."
"I know that now."
Her voice cracked.
"He told me the papers were just a formality."
I leaned forward.
"Sweetheart, did you sign anything?"
Another silence.
Longer this time.
Then she whispered, "Yes."
My blood went cold.
"What?"
"A document last week."
"What kind of document?"
"He said it was for our mortgage application."
I closed my eyes.
"Did you read it?"
"No."
I could hear the shame in her voice.
"He told me to trust him."
My heart broke.
Not because she had been careless.
But because I recognized something I had spent years teaching her.
Trust your family.
Support your husband.
Keep your promises.
I had never taught her that love should also respect questions.
"Hannah, where are the documents?"
"I don't know."
"Can you leave the hotel safely?"
She hesitated.
"Maybe."
I took a breath.
"Listen to me. You don't have to confront him. You don't have to explain anything right now."
She began crying.
"Mom, I ruined everything."
"No."
My voice became firm.
"You made mistakes. But you did not deserve to be frightened."
She sobbed.
"I thought you'd hate me."
I closed my eyes.
"Oh, Hannah."
I remembered holding her as a newborn.
Her tiny fingers curled around mine.
Arthur standing beside the hospital bed, crying because he couldn't believe we had a daughter.
"I love you," I whispered.
"Nothing about tonight changes that."
She cried harder.
"But we need to talk honestly."
"I know."
"Can you come home?"
She hesitated.
"Colton has my car keys."
My body went cold.
"Why?"
"He said I shouldn't drive when I'm upset."
I took a slow breath.
"I'll arrange a ride."
"Mom, don't come here."
I froze.
"Why?"
She lowered her voice.
"He's been drinking."
My stomach tightened.
Then I heard a sound through the phone.
A door opening.
Hannah stopped breathing.
Colton's voice came faintly through the line.
"Who are you talking to?"
I heard my daughter whisper.
"Nobody."
A pause.
Then his voice sharpened.
"Hannah."
The call ended.
I stared at my phone.
For one terrible moment, I couldn't move.
Then I called Daniel.
He answered immediately.
"Diane?"
"My daughter is frightened of Colton."
His tone changed.
"Where is she?"
I told him everything.
He instructed me to contact hotel security and request a welfare check.
I did.
Then I called Hannah again.
No answer.
My hands shook.
I called the hotel's front desk.
Explained that my daughter had sounded frightened and the call had ended abruptly.
The manager promised to send security to the suite.
I waited.
Five minutes.
Ten.
Every second felt unbearable.
Then my phone rang.
A hotel security supervisor told me Hannah was safe.
She was in a private office downstairs.
She had requested to leave.
Relief nearly knocked me off my chair.
I called her immediately.
She answered crying.
"Mom?"
"I'm here, baby."
"I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing."
I grabbed my coat.
"I'm coming."
By dawn, Hannah was sitting at my kitchen table in borrowed sweatpants.
Her wedding dress remained at the hotel.
Her makeup had been washed away.
She looked younger than twenty-eight.
Like the frightened little girl who used to crawl into my bed during thunderstorms.
I made tea.
Then sat across from her.
For several minutes, neither of us spoke.
Finally, she looked at me.
"Mom, there's something else."
My stomach tightened.
"What?"
She stared at her hands.
"Colton asked me about Dad's will before we were engaged."
I went still.
"What did he ask?"
"He wanted to know whether I would inherit the orchard."
I closed my eyes.
She continued.
"He asked if Dad had left me ownership rights."
My heart began pounding.
"Did you tell him?"
"I said I didn't know."
She swallowed.
"Then he told me I should ask you."
I remembered.
Eight months earlier, Hannah had unexpectedly asked whether Arthur had left the orchard to her.
I assumed she was curious.
Now I knew better.
Hannah began crying.
"Mom, do you think he married me for the land?"
I looked at my daughter.
Her eyes were filled with terror.
I wanted to lie.
I wanted to tell her everything would be fine.
But we had already lost too much to people pretending.
"I don't know," I whispered.
Then I took her hand.
"But we're going to find out."
At that moment, Daniel called.
His voice sounded urgent.
"Diane, I found something."
My heart raced.
"What?"
"Colton Reyes is listed as an executive in his father's development company."
I frowned.
"I know."
"No. That's not what concerns me."
He paused.
"The company's financing documents include a representation that Hannah Whitaker has agreed to secure the orchard transfer."
I stared at my daughter.
Her face turned white.
Daniel continued.
"And according to the documents, she signed that agreement three months before the wedding."
Hannah shook her head.
"No."
I gripped the phone.
"What do you mean?"
She looked at me, horrified.
"Mom, I never signed anything three months ago."
I closed my eyes.
May you like
Then Daniel spoke again.
"Diane, I think someone may have forged your daughter's signature."
