Chapter 4

The next day, the space outside the James ancestral home was packed with cars.

Jarvis Weiss stood under the crabapple tree, dark shadows under his eyes.

Adela's eyes reddened the moment she saw me.

"Judy, how long are you going to keep making a scene?"

I ignored her.

Elijah handed me the key.

The key had been hidden inside the Blood-Dove Ring.

I put on gloves and lifted the stone slab under the crabapple tree.

Underneath was an iron box.

Adela was the first to change expression.

"What is this?"

I looked at her pale face and said,

"Three years ago, when I escaped from the Women's Virtue Academy, before I passed out, I begged Stacy at the old house to bury it under the crabapple tree overnight. I was afraid you'd destroy the evidence, so I had to leave myself a fallback."

I took out the phone, the USB drive, the gold locket, and the folder of medical records.

Jarvis stared at the gold locket.

"What is that?"

I didn't answer. I turned on the phone first.

The screen was badly cracked; Elijah had spent half a month getting it repaired.

Inside was a voice message that had never gone through.

I pressed play.

The voice that came out of the phone was from three years ago. It was mine.

It was very soft, very hoarse, hard to make out.

"Jarvis."

"I'm pregnant."

The courtyard went dead silent.

Jarvis's head snapped up.

The recording kept going.

"Seven weeks. The doctor says there's a heartbeat."

"They have discipline class today. I'm afraid the baby won't hold on."

"Come get me. Save her."

The last line broke off in a fit of coughing.

Jarvis's face went white.

Adela shouted, "It's fake!"

I opened the next record.

Not a voice message.

A screenshot of a forwarded message.

Three years ago, the distress recording had been sent to Jarvis.

He had heard it.

And he had forwarded it to Adela.

The note was only one line.

It said: She's putting on a show again.

Adela had replied to him:

Don't go soft. She just wants to use the baby to tie you down.

Jarvis had replied:

Let the dean keep teaching her.

The wind blew through the crabapple tree.

Jarvis stood there, not moving.

"No. I don't remember."

I opened the medical folder and pulled out the surgical consent form.

It was a surgical document from a clinic affiliated with the Women's Virtue Academy.

In the signature line were three words.

Jarvis Weiss.

His eyes narrowed sharply.

"I never signed that."

Adela took a step back.

I looked at him.

"Of course you don't remember."

"Three years ago, March 27th. Adela's birthday."

"She brought you a document and said it was a safety liability confirmation form from the Women's Virtue Academy."

"You were busy picking out firework colors for her, and you signed it without even looking."

Jarvis wheeled around toward Adela.

"Is that true?"

Adela's lips trembled.

"Jarvis, I—"

I picked up the gold locket.

It was very light, its surface already tarnished black.

"I bought this for her."

"I thought that when you came to get me, you could put it on her yourself."

Jarvis reached out his hand.

"Judy."

I stepped back.

"Don't touch it. She thinks you're filthy."

The sound of a patrol car came from the mouth of the lane.

"Mr. Weiss, we'll need your cooperation with the investigation regarding the signature on the abortion consent form from back then."

Jarvis stared at the paper.

He remembered that night.

Adela sitting on his lap, holding the documents, coaxing him.

"Jarvis, just sign this for me. The academy's rushing me."

He didn't look.

The pen tip slid across the paper.

One page, then another.

He signed the name fast, completely careless.

I closed the gold locket in my palm.

"You keep asking me why I never came back."

"Three years ago, I was lying on the operating table when I heard the doctor say,"

"The family consents."

"Don't save the fetus."

Jarvis's face went white, and he stumbled back a few steps.

"I didn't. I never said I didn't want her."

Adela suddenly smiled.

Laughed until the tears came.

"Of course you said it."

"That day the doctor asked whether to save the baby."

"I called you and put it on speakerphone."

Jarvis's head jerked up, his eyes red.

"What did I say?"

Adela looked at me and said,

"You said, don't let Judy James die."

"As for the baby."

"Whatever."