Chapter 20 - The Shadow at the DoorLater that night, Julian carried their sleeping son upstairs.
Elena remained downstairs.
She walked to the front door to collect the mail.
Bills.
Advertisements.
A magazine.
Then she noticed a black envelope.
No name.
No return address.
Her instincts told her not to open it.
She opened it anyway.
Inside was a photograph.
Julian.
Taken years before they met.
He was standing beside a woman Elena had never seen.
The woman was holding a baby.
Elena stared at the child's face.
Her heart stopped.
The baby looked remarkably like Julian.
Beneath the photograph was a handwritten note.
“Victoria was wrong about your baby, Elena.”
Elena's hands trembled.
She continued reading.
“But she was right about one thing.”
Her breathing became shallow.
“Julian has secrets.”
At the bottom of the page were four final words:
“We need to talk.”
Then—
BANG.
The brass knocker struck the front door.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Elena slowly raised her eyes toward the door.
Upstairs, Julian was unaware of what had just arrived at their doorstep.
Elena gripped the photograph against her chest.
She had fought to rebuild her family.
She had finally found peace.
But peace, she was beginning to understand, was sometimes only the silence before the next storm.
The knocking came again.
May you like
And this time, Elena reached for the lock.
To be continued…
