Page 91 of No More Words

Olivia goes rigid, arms wide as if afraid to touch her mom. “What are you talking about?” she asks.

“Benton St.John. Lily overheard your father and me arguing. That’s why she ran away. She believed your father would kill her just like he killed her father.”

“What?” Olivia stumbles back. If Charlotte wasn’t holding on to her, she would have fallen into the wine rack. “Benton St.John—”

“Is Lily’s father.”

The announcement smacks Olivia, leaving her breathless.

“I slept with him once. You have to believe me, Olivia. It didn’t mean anything. But your father went insane. He couldn’t take my cheating. He was afraid if word got out it wouldn’t only ruin his reputation. My affair with Benton would ruin his chances during elections.”

“So he killed him?” Olivia’s breath escapes. She looks around the cellar, unfocused. The walls are closing in.

“Yes.” Charlotte sobs.

Olivia shakes her head in denial but feels as if she’s known all along.

Her nightmare.

She has been dreaming about Benton’s murder. Did she witness it? Impossible. It was dark, and she was only five. She wouldn’t have remembered much, if anything at all. This revelation creates a cyclone of emotions. Her knees almost buckle with the weight of them. Is this why she’s been so averse to being betrayed? Has she known deep down her father has been betraying her all along?It’s just a dream, Olivia.She feels sick.

“The police questioned Dad. He wasn’t a suspect after. What did he say to them? How did he get off?”

“He had an alibi.”

“You? Oh god, Mom.” Charlotte has been covering for Dwight for three decades. He’s betrayed them all.

Olivia tucks Charlotte’s tear-damp hair behind her ear. “Did you see him ...” She chokes up.

Charlotte shakes her head. “I found blood on the knife.”

Just like her dream. Olivia gulps.

“He threatened ... He threatened me.” She cries harder.

Olivia folds to her knees, her heart breaking for her mom, and takes Charlotte in her arms. “Shush.” She cradles Charlotte’s face, caresses her cheek. Rage burns inside Olivia’s veins just thinking about her mom’s suffering. How could she have stayed married knowing about the monster inside Dwight? Did she just not know how to leave him?

“He manipulated you.” Olivia is sure of it. “Is this what you wanted to tell me? Why would you think I wouldn’t have forgiven you?”

Charlotte looks at the floor. She plays with the hem of her blue cardigan. “I’m the one who told your father Ethan is Josh’s father,” she whispers.

Olivia falls back on her heels, reeling. Her hands drop in her lap. “Why would you do that?”

“You’ll hate me.”

“Try me,” she says through her teeth.

Charlotte’s lungs shudder. Her shoulders drop. “If you believed Lily betrayed you, you wouldn’t go after her.”

“You didn’t want me to find her?” she asks, beyond shocked.

Charlotte shakes her head. “I had to keep her safe.”

“From Dad.Mydad.” And at Olivia’s expense. She broke up with Ethan because of that lie.

Charlotte nods.

“What about the photos Dad took of Lily and Ethan? It wasn’t Ethan in the pictures. Dad thought it was. It wasn’t the pictures that convinced him?”