Chapter 14 - Lucy Recovers Full Memory Of The Staircase Attack
By late afternoon, my mother was sitting downstairs in the bright sunroom, sipping tea and eating fresh fruit. Her memory was returning in sharp, vivid fragments stimulated by familiar surroundings and safe surroundings. I sat beside her on the rattan sofa, holding her hand as she stared out into the garden.
"Mariana... I remember the night on the staircase," my mother said softly, her voice steady and clear. My heart skipped a beat as I leaned in closer to catch every single word.
"Who pushed you down the stairs, Mom?" I asked, holding my breath in anticipation. "It wasn't Jonathan Vance," she corrected, turning her dark eyes to meet mine. "It was his younger brother... your uncle Richard."
I froze in absolute shock, letting out a bewildered gasp. "Uncle Richard? But he died in a yacht accident ten years ago!"
"That's what they wanted everyone to believe," my mother whispered, gripping my fingers tightly. "Richard was the mastermind behind the embezzlement; Jonathan was just his frontman."
"Are you telling me Richard Vance staged his own death and is still alive today?" I asked in disbelief. My mother nodded solemnly, a tear tracking down her cheek as the terrifying truth settled over us.
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"He saw me holding the financial ledgers in the study, and he chased me out onto the second-floor landing," she recalled. "He told me if I ever breathed a word to Arthur or the police, my daughter would pay the price."
The threat against my ten-year-old self was the ultimate weapon that had forced my mother into hiding for twenty years.
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