Chapter 10 — Brenda’s Confession
The fire at Saint Michael's Church was still burning when Sarah arrived.
Flames climbed through the old wooden roof, sending sparks into the black sky.
Police cars surrounded the church.
Firefighters fought the flames from both sides.
Sarah stood behind the barricade, holding Noah against her chest.
She couldn't stop staring at the building.
“Adrian could be inside.”
Mark stood beside her.
“No.”
“You don't know that.”
“I know my brother.”
Sarah looked at him.
“You barely knew him.”
“I knew enough.”
Detective Walker approached.
“We searched the perimeter.”
“And?”
“No sign of Adrian.”
Sarah exhaled.
“Then where is he?”
Walker looked toward the church.
“We found something.”
He held up an evidence bag.
Inside was a small metal key.
Sarah recognized it.
“The basement key.”
Mark looked at it.
“That belonged to my father.”
Walker nodded.
“It was found near the rear entrance.”
Sarah frowned.
“Why would Thomas leave it?”
“Maybe he didn't.”
Walker turned toward another officer.
“Did you find anything else?”
The officer shook his head.
“Only this.”
He handed Walker a small piece of burned paper.
Most of the writing had been destroyed.
But one word remained visible.
CARTER.
Sarah's stomach tightened.
Walker looked at her.
“You should see something.”
He led them behind the church.
There, beneath a stone staircase, firefighters had discovered a hidden passage.
Sarah stared.
“There's a tunnel.”
Mark's face changed.
“My father built it.”
“To where?”
“The cemetery.”
Walker looked at him.
“Show us.”
They entered.
The tunnel was narrow and damp.
Sarah kept Noah close.
After nearly a hundred yards, they reached a locked metal door.
The key opened it.
Beyond it was a small underground room.
Empty.
Except for a chair.
A table.
And a camera.
Sarah stared.
“Someone was here.”
Walker examined the room.
“There are fresh footprints.”
Mark crouched.
“These aren't Thomas's.”
“How do you know?”
“My father wore custom shoes.”
Sarah almost laughed.
“Of course he did.”
Mark looked at her.
“I know how ridiculous that sounds.”
“No.”
Sarah's expression hardened.
“Nothing about your family surprises me anymore.”
Walker found something beneath the table.
A recorder.
He pressed the button.
A voice emerged.
Brenda.
Sarah froze.
“Please…”
The recording crackled.
Then Brenda's voice became clearer.
“I didn't know they were going to hurt the baby.”
Walker looked at Sarah.
The recording continued.
“Thomas told me Sarah would be gone before anyone realized what happened.”
Sarah's blood ran cold.
Brenda was crying.
“He said the powder wouldn't kill Noah.”
Mark closed his eyes.
“What did he tell you it would do?”
Brenda answered through the recording:
“It would make him sick.”
Sarah stared.
“Why?”
“To make Sarah look negligent.”
Walker nodded.
“Keep playing.”
Brenda continued.
“Then the doctors would report that the baby had been exposed to something dangerous in his mother's care.”
Sarah whispered:
“They wanted me arrested.”
“Yes,” Walker said.
Brenda's voice trembled.
“Then Mark would take custody.”
Sarah looked at her husband.
The recording continued.
“And once Mark had custody, the foundation would control everything.”
Walker stopped the recording.
Silence.
Sarah turned to Mark.
“You knew.”
“I knew part of it.”
“You knew enough.”
“I knew they wanted custody.”
“And you didn't tell me.”
“I was trying to stop it.”
“By moving the money?”
“Yes.”
“By creating accounts in my name?”
“No. That wasn't me.”
Walker looked at the recorder.
“There's more.”
He pressed play.
Brenda spoke again.
“But Thomas wasn't the one giving me instructions.”
Sarah froze.
“What?”
Brenda's voice:
“Someone else called me.”
Walker leaned closer.
“Who?”
The recording continued.
“A woman.”
Sarah looked at Mark.
“Who?”
Brenda said:
“She sounded like Sarah.”
Sarah's heart stopped.
The recording ended.
Walker stared at her.
Sarah shook her head.
“That wasn't me.”
“I know.”
“Then someone has been impersonating my voice.”
Mark whispered:
“Voice cloning.”
Walker looked at him.
“You know about that?”
“My father used it.”
Sarah turned.
“For what?”
“To authorize transactions.”
Walker immediately understood.
“So someone could make recordings that sound like you.”
“Yes.”
Sarah felt sick.
“They could make it sound like I ordered the poisoning.”
“Yes.”
“Or transferred the money.”
“Yes.”
“Or signed the documents.”
“Yes.”
The pieces suddenly aligned.
Someone had been building an entire digital version of Sarah.
Her voice.
Her signature.
Her fingerprints.
Her identity.
Walker looked at Mark.
“Your family has been preparing to frame your wife for months.”
Mark nodded.
“But there's still one question.”
“What?”
“Why Noah?”
Sarah answered before Mark could.
“Because he's the legal heir.”
Walker shook his head.
“No.”
Sarah frowned.
“What?”
“The confession doesn't mention the eight million.”
Mark looked at him.
“Then what?”
Walker pointed to the recorder.
“It says the foundation would control everything.”
Sarah looked at Mark.
“Everything?”
Mark went silent.
Walker turned to him.
“How much does your family actually control?”
Mark didn't answer.
“Mr. Carter.”
Mark finally whispered:
“Two hundred sixteen million.”
Walker stared.
“And that's only the documented assets.”
Sarah looked at her husband.
“How much is undocumented?”
Mark hesitated.
“More.”
“How much?”
“I don't know.”
Walker looked stunned.
Sarah's voice became quiet.
“Then Noah isn't just an heir.”
Mark shook his head.
“No.”
“What is he?”
Mark looked at the baby.
“He's the trigger.”
Sarah frowned.
“For what?”
“The release of the master trust.”
Walker stared.
“What master trust?”
Mark looked at him.
“My father called it the Carter Vault.”
Sarah's heart pounded.
“What is it?”
“A legal structure holding every hidden asset.”
“And Noah?”
“His twenty-first birthday activates the final transfer.”
“Transfer to whom?”
Mark looked at Sarah.
“To the person named as protector.”
Sarah understood.
“Me.”
“Yes.”
Walker shook his head.
“So if Sarah remains protector, the family can't control the money.”
“Correct.”
“And if Sarah is discredited…”
“They gain control.”
Sarah looked down at Noah.
The baby slept peacefully.
His tiny hand rested against her shoulder.
“He has no idea.”
“No,” Mark whispered.
Sarah looked at the recorder.
“Where is Brenda now?”
“Police headquarters.”
“Take me to her.”
Walker hesitated.
“Why?”
“Because she knows who contacted her.”
They returned to the station.
Brenda sat alone in an interrogation room.
Her wrists were cuffed.
Her expensive clothes were stained.
Her makeup had disappeared beneath tears.
When Sarah entered, Brenda looked away.
Sarah sat across from her.
“You tried to poison my son.”
Brenda closed her eyes.
“I know.”
“You could have killed him.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
“Money.”
Sarah stared.
“That's it?”
Brenda shook her head.
“No.”
“Then tell me.”
Brenda looked up.
“Your husband.”
Sarah froze.
“Mark?”
“He wasn't supposed to be involved.”
“Wasn't supposed to?”
“Thomas told me Mark would cooperate.”
“He didn't.”
“No.”
“Then why did you believe him?”
Brenda's eyes filled with tears.
“Because Thomas showed me something.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
“Of Mark?”
“Yes.”
“What did it say?”
“He told me he wanted Noah gone.”
Sarah's heart stopped.
“That's impossible.”
“I heard his voice.”
“Fake.”
Brenda shook her head.
“I didn't know.”
Sarah leaned forward.
“Where is the recording?”
“I don't have it.”
“Who does?”
“Thomas.”
Sarah's voice became colder.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“Then tell me who the woman was.”
Brenda looked frightened.
“What woman?”
“The woman who called you pretending to be me.”
Brenda went silent.
Sarah leaned closer.
“Brenda.”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“She'll kill me.”
“Who?”
Brenda whispered:
“Your mother-in-law.”
Sarah froze.
“Margaret?”
Brenda nodded.
“She made the calls.”
“How?”
“Through recordings.”
“Where did she get my voice?”
Brenda looked down.
“From the house.”
Sarah remembered.
Family dinners.
Baby monitor.
Phone calls.
Private conversations.
The woman had been collecting her voice for months.
Brenda continued:
“Margaret told me you were dangerous.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas wanted you removed.”
“And Margaret?”
“She wanted the money.”
Sarah shook her head.
“What about Mark?”
Brenda hesitated.
“He was supposed to sign.”
“What?”
“Custody papers.”
Sarah's face hardened.
“He refused.”
“Yes.”
“So what happened?”
“Margaret drugged him.”
Sarah's eyes widened.
“When?”
“Two nights ago.”
“The night he disappeared?”
Brenda nodded.
“She took him to the warehouse.”
Sarah looked at Walker.
“Where is that warehouse?”
Brenda whispered the address.
Walker immediately stood.
But Brenda grabbed his sleeve.
“Wait.”
“What?”
“There’s something else.”
“What?”
Brenda looked at Sarah.
“Margaret isn't working for Thomas.”
Sarah frowned.
“What?”
“She's working against him.”
Walker stopped.
“Explain.”
Brenda's voice trembled.
“Thomas wants the money.”
“Margaret wants it too.”
“No.”
Brenda shook her head.
“Margaret wants something else.”
“What?”
“Revenge.”
Sarah stared.
“Against whom?”
Brenda looked toward the door.
Then whispered:
“Against Thomas.”
Sarah felt a chill.
“Why?”
Brenda shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“Then who does?”
Brenda answered:
“Elena.”
Sarah's heart stopped.
“Where is Elena?”
Brenda looked at her.
“She has been waiting twenty-eight years.”
Sarah didn't understand.
“For what?”
Brenda's eyes filled with fear.
“For the day Thomas Carter finally dies.”
The room went silent.
Sarah slowly stood.
“What did Thomas do twenty-eight years ago?”
Brenda whispered:
“He killed someone.”
“Who?”
Brenda looked directly at Sarah.
“His wife.”
Sarah froze.
“Your mother-in-law?”
“No.”
Brenda shook her head.
“Thomas's first wife.”
Sarah's eyes widened.
“Evelyn.”
Brenda nodded.
“The woman everyone believed disappeared.”
Sarah suddenly remembered Mark's words.
She became someone else.
Her heart pounded.
“Who?”
Brenda whispered:
“Elena.”
Sarah stopped breathing.
The interrogation-room door opened.
Walker stood there.
“Sarah.”
She turned.
“What?”
“We found Adrian.”
“Alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
Walker looked grim.
“He's at the hospital.”
Sarah's heart jumped.
“What happened?”
“He was shot.”
“Is he conscious?”
“Barely.”
Sarah rushed toward the door.
Walker stopped her.
“There's one problem.”
“What?”
“Adrian asked for you.”
“Why?”
Walker looked at her.
“He said there is one thing you need to know before you trust Mark again.”
Sarah froze.
“What?”
Walker answered:
“He says Mark wasn't the person who saved him seventeen years ago.”
Sarah's heart sank.
“Then who was?”
Walker looked toward the hospital.
“His father.”
And suddenly Sarah understood.
The man she thought was the villain might have saved Adrian.
May you like
The man she thought was protecting her might have betrayed her.
And the woman who saved Noah might have been hiding the darkest secret of all.
