Chapter 124 The Letter
Six months after the vote.
The letter arrived on a Saturday, in a plain envelope with no return address. It was postmarked from Montana and addressed to Lily Frost.
She opened it at the kitchen table while Ariella made lunch and Elena colored beside her.
Read it once, then twice with her face going pale.
“Ari,” she said quietly.
Something in her voice made Ariella stop cutting vegetables.
“What is it?”
Lily handed her the letter.
Dear Lily,
My name is Catherine. I’m fourteen. I live in Montana with my aunt because my parents are dead. At least, that’s what I’ve been told my whole life.
But last week I was cleaning the attic and found a box of my mom’s things. Photos. Documents. A birth certificate with a different name.
My real name is Catherine Frost. My mom’s name was Catherine Frost too. And the man in the photos, the one my aunt says is my dead father looks exactly like the Richard Frost from your family.
I think I’m your cousin. I think my mom faked her death and hid me because she was scared of the network. And I think… I think now that the network is gone, maybe I can finally know who I really am.
I’m not asking for money or anything. I just…I want to know if this is real. If you’re really my family. If my whole life has been a lie designed to protect me.
Please write back. Even if it’s to say I’m wrong. I need to know.
Catherine
Ariella read it three times.
“This can’t be real,” she said. “Your mother died fifteen years ago. The funeral…the body…”
“Was it her body?” Lily’s voice was shaking. “Or did we just assume? Dad handled everything. What if he…what if he helped her disappear? To protect her from Victoria?”
“That’s…that’s insane…”
“Everything about this family is insane.” Lily grabbed her phone. “We need to verify. DNA test. Documents. Something.”
“And if it’s a trap? If the network is using a child to…”
“Then we’ll find out carefully. But if there’s a chance my mom is alive…” Lily’s voice cracked. “I have to know.”
They told Aiden that night after the kids were asleep.
He read the letter. Set it down carefully.
“My father never told me my mother had a child,” he said slowly. “But he never told me about most things. Secret contracts. Hidden bank accounts. Why not a secret daughter?”
“You think it’s real?” Ariella asked.
“I think…” He ran his hands through his hair. “I think we need Geoffrey. And Marcus. And probably a DNA lab. And definitely lawyers.”
“And if she’s telling the truth?”
“Then my mother has been alive for fifteen years. Let me raise Lily and me while she hid in Montana. Which means…” His jaw clenched. “Which means she chose to abandon us rather than fight.”
The anger in his voice was sharp. Old wounds tearing open.
“Or she chose to survive so we could survive,” Lily said quietly. “If Victoria knew Mom was alive, she’d have used her against you. Against all of us. Maybe disappearing was the only way to protect us.”
“For fifteen years?”
“The network operated for fifteen years after her ‘death.’ Maybe she was waiting. For it to be safe. And now…” Lily looked at the letter. “Now maybe it is.”
They contacted Catherine through a lawyer and arranged a Supervised video call that was Recorded.
The girl who appeared on screen had Catherine Frost’s eyes.
Aiden made a sound like he’d been punched.
“Hi,” Catherine said nervously. She's just fourteen and trying to be brave. “I’m..I’m not sure what to say.”
“Tell us about your mother,” Lily said gently. “The woman who raised you.”
“She…she died of cancer three years ago.. Before she died, she told me my real name. She said someday I could find my family if I wanted to. But she made me promise to wait until I was older. Until it was safe.” Catherine’s eyes filled. “I didn’t understand what she meant. But after watching your livestream, after seeing what the network did, I think I understand now.”
“What was her name?” Aiden asked. His voice barely steady. “The name she used?”
“Anna Martin. She was a teacher. We lived quietly. She never talked about her past. Just said she’d made mistakes and was trying to start over.”
“Do you have photos?”
Catherine held up a picture of a woman in her forties, she looked older, thinner, and different hair.
But Catherine Frost’s face. Undeniably.
Lily started crying.
“That’s her,” she whispered. “That’s Mom. Older but…that’s her.”
Aiden couldn’t speak.
“We’ll need a DNA test,” Ariella said, professional, keeping it together because someone had to. “And time to verify everything. But Catherine, if this is real…you have family. We’re here.”
The girl’s face transformed with hope, relief, and terror.
“Really?”
“Really.”