CHAPTER 7 — The Woman Who Attended Her Own Funeral
Ethan stared at the photograph until his hands began to shake.
Lily.
Alive.
The woman he had mourned for ten long years was smiling into the camera, standing on a quiet beach with the wind blowing through her hair.
On the back was a single address.
A small coastal town nearly five hundred miles away.
Without hesitation, Ethan and Sophie drove through the night.
Neither of them spoke much.
Both were terrified of the same question.
What if they were too late?
As dawn broke, they arrived at an old lighthouse overlooking the ocean.
The house beside it looked abandoned.
The windows were boarded.
The garden was overgrown.
Yet a fresh cup of coffee still sat on the porch.
Someone had been there only minutes earlier.
Inside, every wall was covered with photographs.
Lily…
Watching Sophie grow up from a distance.
Watching Ethan every year as he visited Emma's grave.
Watching every birthday.
Every Christmas.
Every anniversary.
She had never truly left them.
She had simply been forced to stay away.
Then Ethan noticed a journal lying on the table.
The final page was dated three weeks earlier.
"If Ethan ever reads this, tell him I never stopped loving him. Richard threatened to kill both of them if I came home. I've spent ten years hiding, waiting for the day someone could finally stop him."
Tears blurred Ethan's vision.
Suddenly…
A floorboard creaked upstairs.
He ran toward the sound.
The attic door slowly opened.
A woman stepped into the light.
Older.
Thinner.
A scar stretched across one side of her face.
But her eyes…
They were the same eyes Ethan had fallen in love with.
"Lily..."
She covered her mouth as tears poured down her cheeks.
"Ethan..."
Neither of them moved.
Ten years of grief stood between them.
Then Sophie whispered softly,
"Mom?"
Lily collapsed to her knees.
"My baby..."
Sophie ran into her arms.
For the first time in a decade...
The Carter family was together again.
But the reunion lasted only seconds.
Outside...
The sound of helicopters filled the sky.
A convoy of black SUVs surrounded the lighthouse.
An FBI agent burst through the front door.
"Ethan!"
"You have to leave!"
"Richard wasn't working alone."
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Before anyone could react...
A sniper's bullet shattered the living room window.
