Chapter 5
At three in the morning, I snuck out of bed and slipped into the study.
One wall was lined with bookshelves from floor to ceiling.
The bottom shelf held our family photo albums.
I crouched down and searched through them one by one.
My hands were shaking, and my heart was pounding like a drum.
Finally, tucked between the pages of an old album, I found a group photo from a company party.
It was taken five years ago, not long before the fire.
In the photo, I was smiling brightly, holding onto David's arm.
On the other side of David stood a young, beautiful woman.
She was dressed in sharp professional attire, her eyes shining, burning with ambition.
Her head leaned in slightly toward David.
The way she leaned in was almost too close, crossing unspoken boundaries.
That was Haley.
The face in the photo overlapped perfectly with the one I'd just seen in the kitchen. They were exactly the same.
My heart hit rock bottom.
What really sent chills through me was the look she gave me.
Even through the thin layer of photo paper, I could still feel the icy coldness and the jealousy in her eyes.
I sat in the study all night, holding that photo in my hands.
Just before dawn, I quietly slipped it back into its hiding place.
I couldn't let David notice the fact that I'd discovered something, much less Haley.
Memories of Haley came rushing back like a flood.
David was the one who mentored her. She was young, smart, and incredibly capable.
He was always singing her praises, telling me more than once that Haley was the most gifted employee he'd ever had.
I used to tease him, "Aren't you afraid I'll get jealous?"
David would laugh and pull me into his arms, saying, "She's just like a little sister to me. You're the only one I love."
But a woman's intuition was always razor-sharp.
I could tell there was something different in the way Haley looked at David.
It wasn't just the admiration a subordinate had for her boss. It was the possessive glow in a woman's eyes when she wanted a man for herself.
I hinted to David, suggesting he keep his distance from Haley.
But he always said I was overthinking it, that I was being petty.
We actually ended up fighting over it more than once.
And then, that fire changed everything.
It started in the company's chemical lab.
Haley happened to be working late in the lab that night.
By the time the firefighters pulled her out, she was already beyond recognition.
The company gave her family a substantial amount in compensation.
David was depressed for a long time.
He said he felt guilty, since he was the one who scheduled Haley to work overtime that night.
He personally organized Haley's memorial service.
At the memorial, he wept like a child.
Back then, I really felt for him, thinking he was someone who valued relationships.
But now, I couldn't help but wonder—how much of those tears were genuine, and how much was just an act?
This was an elaborate, well-planned death hoax.
A woman who vanished for five years suddenly reappeared as our nanny, living in my home, right under my nose, day after day.
What was Haley really after?
And how deep was David in all this?
I couldn't bring myself to think about it. The more I tried, the more it froze me inside.
*****
The next day, I forced myself to keep it together and headed to work as if nothing had happened.
The first thing I did at the office was turn on my computer.
Using an anonymous browser, I searched for news about the fire from five years ago.
There weren't many reports back then. Just a handful of articles, all blaming the accident on old wiring.
Haley barely got a mention. [Forensic examination confirmed the victim was Haley Brooks, and her family confirmed it was her.]
Now, that statement felt almost laughably ironic.
I closed the browser, my mind a complete mess.
No, I couldn't stay on the defensive.
I had to do something to blow their cover.
*****
By dusk, I returned home to find Haley had already made dinner.
Anna was sitting at the table while Haley fed her. "Open wide, Anna. Here comes a bite of carrot.
"That's my good girl."
It was such a cozy, peaceful moment.
But in my eyes, it felt like the start of a horror movie.
I strode over and took the fork from Haley's hands.
"I'll do it," I said, my tone icy.
Haley shot me a look, but with her mask on, I couldn't make out her expression.
"Alright, Mrs. Lane," she replied, meekly stepping aside.
Anna pouted. "I want Haley to feed me."
"Don't you want me to feed you?" I asked, forcing myself to stay patient.
"No, you're too slow."
Anna's innocent words pierced my heart like a needle.
After three years, Haley had become more important to my daughter than I ever was.
*****
After dinner, David was in the living room watching TV.
I was in the room with Anna, helping her build with blocks, while Haley was in the kitchen washing dishes.
Everything was just like any other day.
I took a deep breath, deciding to test David.
I grabbed a pillow and sat down next to him. "David, I ran into an old colleague from my previous company at work today."
"Oh? Who was it?" David asked, his eyes still glued to the TV.
"You know, Leo from the tech department. Do you remember him?"
"Sort of rings a bell."
"We talked about the old days, and ended up mentioning that fire from five years ago. Such a tragedy."
I watched David's face closely as I spoke.
"Why are you bringing that up? It's been ages," David said, sounding a bit impatient.
"I just suddenly remembered that girl who died in the fire. What was her name again?" I pretended to struggle to remember. "Oh, right, Haley, wasn't it?"
David's remote slipped from his hand and hit the floor with a soft thud.
His face went pale in an instant.
He quickly tried to cover it up, bending down to pick up the remote.
But that flicker of panic didn't escape me.
"Claire, what's gotten into you today?" David said, straightening up and frowning at me. "Why do you keep bringing up all these terrible things?
"Don't mention that name again. It'll bring bad luck."
With that, he got up and walked into the study.
He slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
I sat alone in the living room, feeling my blood slowly run cold.
David was rattled.
There was definitely something off about him.