Chapter 4
I didn't sleep that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I heard the scissors.
Then I heard Vanessa's warning.
They're going to destroy the records.
At six in the morning, I was sitting beside the hotel window when Nick brought me a cup of tea.
He had changed out of his wedding suit.
His eyes looked exhausted.
"You should rest," he whispered.
I shook my head.
"I can't."
He sat beside me.
"I'm sorry."
I stared at the cup.
"For your mother?"
"For not protecting you sooner."
I looked at him.
"Then help me protect myself now."
He nodded.
"Whatever you need."
We had already spoken to Grace's attorney, Daniel Harris.
He had advised us not to confront Martha or enter the warehouse ourselves.
Instead, he wanted us to preserve what we had and contact the proper authorities about the threatened destruction of possible evidence.
By eight, Daniel was on a video call with us.
He was a calm man with tired eyes and a voice that made me feel someone finally knew what they were doing.
"Grace has been gathering documentation for months," he explained.
"Several original records may still exist at the warehouse."
"How do we stop Martha?" Nick asked.
"I've contacted the appropriate parties and am seeking immediate legal steps to preserve the documents."
I leaned forward.
"And what about what she did to me?"
Daniel looked at me kindly.
"That's a separate matter. You can report it, and you should preserve the video, photographs, and names of witnesses."
My hands tightened around my cup.
"I want to."
"Then we'll help you understand the process."
After the call, my mother arrived.
She carried a small breakfast bag from a nearby café.
When she saw me, she tried to smile.
But her eyes went straight to my hair.
"Oh, Emily."
I stood.
She hugged me.
For a moment, I was twelve again, crying because my father wasn't coming home.
"I keep thinking about what he would say," I whispered.
My mother stroked the short strands near my neck.
"He would say that a woman who needs scissors to make another woman feel small has already lost."
I laughed through my tears.
Then she held my face.
"And he'd tell you that beautiful girls are not made beautiful by their hair."
I wanted to believe her.
But looking in the mirror still hurt.
At ten, Lily arrived with her car.
She drove me to make my report while Nick stayed in contact with Daniel and Grace.
I told the officer exactly what happened.
I explained that Martha had grabbed my hair without warning.
I showed the recording.
I showed photographs taken before and after.
And when I described Martha laughing, my voice broke.
The officer gave me time to collect myself.
When I finished, I felt exhausted.
But I also felt something I hadn't experienced since the reception.
Control.
I had spoken.
Nobody had interrupted.
Nobody had told me I was overreacting.
Outside, Lily wrapped her arm around me.
"I'm proud of you."
"I haven't done anything special."
"You stood up for yourself."
I looked down.
"I should have done it years ago."
Lily squeezed my shoulder.
"You did it today."
By lunchtime, the video had spread online.
Someone from the reception had posted a short clip.
The caption accused Martha of humiliating her new daughter-in-law.
Thousands of people were commenting.
Some called her cruel.
Others demanded that she apologize.
I hated seeing my tears on strangers' screens.
But I also understood something.
Martha could no longer pretend everyone had misunderstood her.
Nick called while Lily and I were driving home.
"Emily, don't go to the house."
My stomach dropped.
"Why?"
"Mom's there."
"At our house?"
"Yes."
Nick and I had purchased a modest home together the previous year.
Martha had complained that it was too small.
She had offered to help us buy something more expensive.
We had refused.
Now she was standing outside it.
"How did she get in?" I asked.
"She hasn't. A neighbor called me."
"What does she want?"
Nick hesitated.
"She brought reporters."
I went cold.
"Reporters?"
"She's telling them you invited Grace to humiliate her."
I closed my eyes.
Of course.
Even now, Martha wanted to be the victim.
Nick continued.
"Daniel says we shouldn't engage. I'm arranging to meet you somewhere else."
I looked at Lily.
She could hear Nick through the car speakers.
Her expression hardened.
"Tell him we've got you."
When I arrived at Grace's hotel, Nick was waiting in the lobby.
He looked relieved the moment he saw me.
He pulled me close.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then his phone rang.
Daniel.
Nick answered.
I watched his expression change.
"What happened?"
He listened.
Then he looked at Grace.
"They stopped the records from being removed."
Grace covered her mouth.
"Oh, thank God."
Nick nodded slowly.
"But there's something else."
He put the call on speaker.
Daniel's voice filled the room.
"The preliminary inventory revealed a locked storage cabinet containing older family correspondence and accounting files."
Grace gripped the back of a chair.
"Are they intact?"
"Many appear to be."
I felt a surge of hope.
Daniel continued.
"And among the documents is a letter addressed specifically to Nicholas."
Nick stared at the phone.
"To me?"
"Yes."
"From whom?"
Daniel paused.
"Your grandfather."
Nick lowered himself into a chair.
His grandfather had been dead for two years.
"What does it say?"
"I haven't examined the full contents yet."
There was a rustling sound.
Then Daniel spoke again.
"Nick, the envelope has a handwritten instruction on the front."
Nick closed his eyes.
"Read it."
Daniel cleared his throat.
"For my grandson, when he is ready to learn why our family was broken."
Grace began to cry.
Nick looked at me.
I reached for his hand.
Whatever that letter contained, I knew it would change everything.
May you like
Because Martha had spent years controlling what her son believed.
And now, for the first time, his grandfather was about to tell him the truth.
