Chapter 5 - The Secret of Briarwood
The drive to the Briarwood estate took exactly three hours.
The property was located deep in the dense forests of the northern mountains.
I parked my car at the rusted iron gates and climbed over the stone wall.
The estate looked like a haunted house, completely overgrown with creeping ivy and dead weeds.
I walked down the long, cracked driveway toward the main house.
Behind the main house sat the blackened, charred ruins of the old guest cottage.
Twenty years of rain and snow had not washed away the dark scorch marks.
I stood at the edge of the ruined foundation, trying to force my brain to remember.
Suddenly, a twig snapped loudly behind me.
I spun around, my hand reaching into my purse for my pepper spray.
A man was standing in the shadows of the old oak trees.
He stepped into the fading sunlight, revealing a face heavily scarred by old burns.
“You look just like your mother,” the man said softly.
“Are you Samuel Thorne?” I asked, my heart pounding rapidly.
The man nodded, keeping a respectful distance.
“I knew you would come here eventually, Claire,” Samuel said.
“Daniel said you were blackmailing him,” I stated, watching his hands.
Samuel let out a bitter, raspy laugh.
“Blackmail? No, Claire.”
“Your brother was paying me restitution, ordered by your mother.”
I stared at him in complete shock.
“My mother knew he was paying you?” I asked.
“Your mother orchestrated it,” Samuel revealed.
“She found out Daniel started the fire because he hated me.”
“I was just a poor caretaker, but I was kind to you.”
“Daniel was jealous of the attention, so he locked us both in the cottage and lit the match.”
Tears welled up in my eyes as the terrifying truth washed over me.
“Why didn’t my mother go to the police?” I cried.
“Because your brother threatened to blame the fire on you, claiming you were playing with matches,” Samuel explained.
“Your mother paid for my medical bills out of her own pocket for years.”
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“When she got sick, she forced Daniel to take over the payments using company money, knowing it would leave a paper trail.”
My mother had laid a trap for Daniel from her deathbed.
