Chapter 8: The Truth Aunt Diane Buried
Nobody accused Aunt Diane.
Not immediately.
That was the strangest part.
Even after Rebecca’s words.
Even after the call ended.
Even after every person in the room looked at her like the answer was standing right in front of us.
Nobody said anything.
Because accusing Aunt Diane felt impossible.
She was the woman who packed my lunch when I was seventeen.
The woman who sat beside me at my mother’s funeral.
The woman who held my hand when I gave birth to Noah.
The woman who opened her home tonight when I had nowhere else to go.
She was the person I trusted most.
And maybe that was why the fear inside me was so painful.
Because betrayal only hurts when it comes from someone you love.
I looked at her.
“Aunt Diane.””
She didn’t move.
Her face had gone completely still.
“Tell me.””
Her eyes filled.
“Jasmine…”
“No.””
My voice was shaking.
“But this time, don’t protect me.””
She looked down.
“I never wanted this.””
The words hit me.
Not because they answered anything.
Because they confirmed there was something to answer.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Diane.””
She looked at him.
And for a second, something passed between them.
Something old.
Something complicated.
“You knew,” Daniel said.
Aunt Diane closed her eyes.
“I knew pieces.””
“Pieces?””
“I didn’t know where it would lead.””
I laughed quietly.
The sound was painful.
“Everyone knows pieces.””
I pointed around the room.
“My mother.””
“Daniel.””
“Vanessa.””
“You.””
I shook my head.
“And I know nothing.””
Aunt Diane looked at me.
“I was trying to keep you away from this.””
“By lying to me?””
“Yes.””
The honesty shocked me.
She didn’t deny it.
She didn’t make excuses.
She just admitted it.
And somehow that hurt more.
“Why?””
Aunt Diane sat down slowly.
“Because your mother asked me to.””
I stared.
“You keep saying that.””
“She made me promise.””
“My mother made you promise to let me think she was dead?””
Aunt Diane nodded.
“She believed it was the only way.””
“The only way to do what?””
Aunt Diane looked toward the empty staircase.
Toward the room where my son had disappeared.
“To keep you alive.””
The room went quiet.
Daniel looked at her.
“Tell her.””
Aunt Diane looked at him.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do.””
“Diane—”
“You left her.””
His face changed.
“I was trying to protect her.””
“And she spent nineteen nights crying herself to sleep.””
Daniel looked away.
Aunt Diane turned back to me.
“I’m sorry.””
I swallowed.
“Who took Ethan?””
She closed her eyes.
“I don’t know.””
“Who was involved?””
“I don’t know.””
“You said my mother was afraid.””
“Yes.””
“Of who?””
Her silence stretched.
Then she whispered:
“Your father.””
My heart dropped.
“But you said he was killed.””
“He was.””
“Then how could he be the threat?””
Aunt Diane looked at the floor.
“Because he wasn’t the only person who knew.””
I stepped closer.
“Explain.””
She took a deep breath.
“Your father worked with people who were doing research.””
“What kind of research?””
“I don’t know everything.””
I clenched my fists.
“I’m tired of hearing that.””
“I know.””
“Then tell me what you do know.””
Aunt Diane wiped her eyes.
“Your father discovered they were experimenting on children with a rare genetic trait.””
My stomach twisted.
“Children like Ethan?””
She nodded.
“Your mother found out after Ethan disappeared.””
“And she ran.””
“Yes.””
“Why didn’t she take me?””
Aunt Diane looked devastated.
“Because she couldn’t.””
The answer hurt.
“What does that mean?””
“She tried.””
Aunt Diane’s voice broke.
“She tried to take you with her.””
I froze.
“What?””
“She came back for you.””
I shook my head.
“That never happened.””
“Because someone stopped her.””
The room felt colder.
“Who?””
Aunt Diane looked at me.
“I don’t know.””
There it was again.
The answer that wasn’t an answer.
But this time, I saw something.
A flicker.
A hesitation.
“You do.””
“No.””
“You do.””
She looked away.
I stepped closer.
“Who stopped her?””
Aunt Diane’s hands trembled.
Finally, she whispered:
“Your father.””
My breath caught.
“But he was dead.””
“Yes.””
“So how?””
She didn’t answer.
Daniel did.
“Because your father didn’t die when everyone thought he did.””
I turned toward him.
“What?””
He looked miserable.
“I found documents.””
“What documents?””
“Records from the accident.””
“And?””
“They were altered.””
I stared.
“Why?””
“Because someone wanted everyone to believe he was gone.””
My head spun.
My father.
My mother.
Ethan.
Noah.
Daniel.
A family history full of people disappearing.
“Where is my father now?””
Nobody answered.
And that silence was worse than anything.
I whispered:
“He’s alive?””
Daniel looked at me.
“I don’t know.””
Aunt Diane suddenly stood.
“Enough.””
We all looked at her.
She grabbed her coat.
“We need to leave.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“Now.””
“Why?””
She looked toward the front door.
“Because if Vanessa took Noah, she didn’t take him far.””
Daniel looked confused.
“How do you know?””
Aunt Diane’s face changed.
And I knew.
She knew.
“You’re still hiding something.””
She didn’t respond.
“Aunt Diane.””
Her eyes filled.
“I have a tracking device.””
Everyone froze.
“What?””
She reached into her purse.
Pulled out a small black object.
My stomach dropped.
“You put a tracker on Noah?””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“Not Noah.””
She looked at Daniel.
“On the blanket.””
My eyes widened.
“The blanket?””
“The one Rebecca sent years ago.””
I remembered.
The blanket from the window.
The one caught on the latch.
“You knew?””
“I suspected someone might come for him.””
“And you didn’t tell me?””
Her face broke.
“I was trying to protect him.””
I stepped back.
“No.””
I shook my head.
“You were watching him.””
“No.””
“You were keeping secrets.””
“Yes.””
Her honesty stopped me.
She looked at the tracker.
“It was meant for emergencies.””
“Like this?””
She nodded.
Daniel grabbed his phone.
“Can you find him?””
Aunt Diane looked at the device.
“I can find where the signal stopped.””
“Then do it.””
She connected it.
Everyone gathered around.
The screen loaded.
A map appeared.
I watched the small blinking dot.
Moving.
Slowly.
Then stopping.
My heart pounded.
“Where is he?””
Aunt Diane stared.
Then her face went pale.
“No.””
“What?””
She looked at me.
The fear returned.
The same fear from earlier.
“It’s impossible.””
“Where?””
She turned the screen around.
The location appeared.
I read it.
And felt every piece of my world break apart.
Because the signal wasn’t near Maple Street.
It wasn’t near Vanessa.
It wasn’t near Daniel.
It was somewhere I knew.
Somewhere I had been hundreds of times.
Somewhere I had trusted completely.
Aunt Diane whispered:
“It’s your old apartment.””
I stared.
“My apartment?””
Daniel looked at the map.
“That’s where you lived before tonight.””
“Yes.””
“Who has access?””
I couldn’t answer.
Because suddenly I remembered.
The spare key.
The one I gave years ago.
The one I never asked for back.
The one only one person had.
Aunt Diane saw my face.
“Jasmine?””
I whispered:
“There’s only one person who could get inside.””
Daniel stepped closer.
“Who?””
I looked at Aunt Diane.
My voice barely worked.
“The person who told me I was family.””
The room went silent.
Because we all understood at the same time.
The person who had been helping me.
The person who had been protecting me.
The person who had always been there.
Was the person who could have taken everything away.
My phone buzzed.
A new message.
From the number that had sent the photo of Daniel.
One sentence.
*Come home, Jasmine. Your family is waiting.*
And underneath it was a picture.
A picture of Noah.
Alive.
May you like
Sleeping.
In the arms of someone whose face had been carefully cut out of the frame.