CHAPTER 101: SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET

"My little angel," Marjorie’s lips trembled before the words even came. Her voice was soft, ragged with time and grief, but unmistakably hers.

She stretched out her hand, slow and shaky, like she wasn’t sure she’d be allowed to touch the world she’d left behind.

Merlina instantly shifted backward, grabbing onto the edge of the doorframe to steady herself. Her whole body had gone cold.

Her other hand flew to her chest, fingers curling instinctively over her heart as if trying to hold it in place. She could feel it thudding wildly beneath her ribs, like her body had registered something her mind couldn’t yet believe.

This wasn’t real.

This couldn’t be real.

The woman who’d haunted her grief, who had vanished into dust, ash and eternal silence, was standing just feet away—alive.

"How...? You’re..." Her voice cracked around the words. Her throat felt dry, her chest tightening like something inside was breaking open.

Behind her, Craig took a cautious step forward. His eyes didn’t leave Marjorie, but one hand brushed lightly against Merlina’s back.

Marjorie’s face crumpled with emotion. "I—I didn’t mean for it to happen this way," she said, her voice shaking. "I never wanted you to find out like this."

She glanced briefly at Craig, then back to Merlina, eyes brimming. "There’s so much I need to explain, mi amor. So much you don’t understand."

Marjorie took a slow step forward, her hand reaching out again...aching, tentative.

"Don’t," Merlina cut in, her voice raw and tight. Her eyes glistened, but her posture was rigid, like if she allowed herself to move, she might shatter. "You’re... you’re dead."

Marjorie froze, her hand still hanging in the space between them.

"You—" Merlina’s voice broke. Her chin trembled as she shook her head, the words catching in her throat.

Then it all spilled out.

"What kind of person..." Her breath hitched. "What reason....? What kind of woman lets her children believe she’s been dead for a year?"

Her voice cracked completely, tears streamed down her face as she covered her mouth with her hand, her shoulders trembling.

The weight of it...grief, betrayal, relief, disbelief, all collided at once, piercing her out from the inside.

She didn’t know whether to collapse or scream.

Craig moved closer, but didn’t touch her. He understood this wasn’t his moment to intervene.

And in front of her, the mother she had mourned was crying too. The room was so thick with everything unsaid that even the air felt impossible to breathe.

Craig gently shifted, as if realizing his presence was no longer needed. "I’ll be right outside," he murmured to Merlina, his voice low, grounding.

He turned to step away, but her voice broke through.

"No...wait." She turned to him, eyes glassy, voice frantic. "You said Miles...you said this was the place....the texts. How—"

"Just let her explain," Craig said softly. His expression was careful, protective, but distant enough to give her the space she needed.

Merlina turned back to her mother, anger and heartbreak cracking through her disbelief like thunder.

"You were texting me?" Her voice rose, hurt surging in a new wave. "All along, you were behind those texts?"

Marjorie nodded slowly, her throat tight."Because you were looking in the wrong place. Because if you got too close, you could get hurt. So I tried to scare you off, so you’d stop. I was trying protect you."

"Protect me?" Merlina’s voice jumped, hands trembling now. "What the hell does that mean?"

Craig finally stepped closer again, his voice calm but firm. "Merlina. Just listen."

She looked at him, her breath ragged. Then, slowly, she nodded. Her gaze shifted back to Marjorie.

And she waited.

Marjorie took a deep breath. Her hands clasped together in front of her like she was holding herself still.

"I never meant for any of this," she began, her voice soft and brittle. "I didn’t plan to disappear. That night... everything happened so fast." Her eyes drifted, lost in the memory, as if the past was still unfolding right in front of her.

"It all began when I found out about your dad and Fiona. I hadn’t told anyone. I didn’t know how. I was furious. And in that moment...I let myself make a mistake. Conor Lesnar was—he was there, at that moment. And I was vulnerable." Majorie said, her voice faltering as her gaze dropped to the floor.

Merlina’s eyes flicked upward, instinctively going for an eye-roll, but the tears blurred everything. It didn’t even land. Instead, she let out a sharp breath, like the words had physically slapped her.

"I kissed him. That was all. But someone saw it. Someone recorded it, that video was sent to your father."

She paused, her eyes drifting toward the floor, as if the memory itself burned.

"He came to Belford, furious. You have to understand...Aiden doesn’t lose control in public. But that day—he did." Her voice trembled again.

Merlina was already shaking her head before the words fully settled.

"He confronted me at the top of the science wing," Marjorie choked out, her voice breaking. "He—he called me every name he could think of. Accused me of throwing everything away, ruining our family."

"No..." Merlina whispered, barely audible, her lips parting as her brows drew together.

Still, the tears stung, spilling over as her eyes widened, not with grief this time, but dread.

She knew.

She knew exactly where this was going, and still, she didn’t want to believe it. Her chest heaved, her breath catching in shallow bursts.

Merlina turned sharply, almost spinning away like the words physically struck her, but Craig reached out, steadying her with a gentle grip on her arm. He didn’t say anything. He just held her, anchoring her, as if he knew she was one breath away from falling apart.

But Merlina didn’t look at him.

She looked only at her mother, eyes pleading, begging her not to say the thing that would shatter the last piece of the illusion.

Marjorie didn’t stop, instead her voice grew louder, the anger bleeding into her ugly ragged sobs that cracked through the room.

"I told him he had no right. That I knew what he was doing with Fiona. And that I had evidence, documents of what he’d done. His business deals, the money laundering, all the things you guys didn’t know about, the offshore accounts. I had it all."

Marjorie’s jaw tightened, her hands shaking, she pressed a trembling hand to her chest, "I told him I was leaving him. That I’d go to the press. That he wouldn’t get away with it." Her voice broke. "And he had this look in his eyes... one I’d never seen before. And he... he pushed me."

Merlina didn’t move. She couldn’t. Her lips parted, but no words came. Only tears, silent and steady, spilled down her cheeks. Her chest rose in shallow gasps, trying to hold back the collapse that had already begun.

Craig’s gaze stayed on her. He didn’t touch her yet, just stood close enough to catch her if she fell. His own chest tightened watching her fall about, not with anger, not even with disbelief but with the grief of someone who had just regained one parent...only to lose the other in a far worse way.

He should’ve felt relief, his brother was finally in the clear.

But this?

This was her father.

And no part of him, no matter how much he wanted justice could ever wish this truth on Merlina.

"You’re telling me..." Merlina finally whispered, voice fractured, "dad... he tried to kill you?"

Marjorie didn’t speak, instead she gave the smallest, most heart broken nod. A single motion heavy heavy with tears.

"I don’t even think he meant to push me that far. Maybe he just snapped. But I fell. And I remember the wind. The scream. Then nothing."

She swallowed. Her next breath came like a struggle.

"I woke up in the hospital, by some miracle... I was alive. The doctor who treated me, she was an old friend, Dr. Reyes."

Marjorie looked at her daughter, then down again. "She helped me fake my death. It was the only way. We switched the records. Cremated an unclaimed body. Your father never saw me, just the ashes."

Merlin’s eyes sharpened. "Then why didn’t you come to us when you were safe? Did you ever plan to tell us?"

"I thought it would be temporary. I thought I’d come back in a few weeks when I had recovered, once I had the evidence in hand. But everything was gone. Aiden had swept the house. The files, the USBs...even the backups I hid in my office. All of it. Erased."

Marjorie pressed a hand to her head like it hurt to speak. "Then the shame crept in. The video... my reputation... I knew what that video looked like. A professor and a student. I couldn’t come back without something to justify everything. I couldn’t face the world as a scandal."

Her voice dropped to a whisper.

"And I couldn’t face you...I couldn’t face your father, not until I had something to put him

down."

Merlina voice rose, ragged. "So you’d rather let your kids mourn you. Do you have any idea—"

She looked up, eyes shimmering. "I never stopped watching over you. I followed everything, I tried to protect you in my own way. I didn’t want you to push too far and end up like me."

She paused, her chest rising with a long breath.

"I was scared," Marjorie said, barely above a whisper. Her shoulders trembled as the tears started again, heavier this time. "And I stayed away far too long. I’m sorry...I tried to make everything right. And after all these time, I couldn’t come out with nothing. I didn’t know how—"

She broke down completely, sobs racking through her body as she buried her face in her hands. A year of silence, guilt, and grief spilled out all at once.

It was the kind of crying that didn’t make sound at first, just trembling, sharp gasps of air, like she was fighting to keep from drowning in it.

Craig looked away, giving her the space to break without the weight of watching eyes. Merlina gasped—sharp, shaky breaths as if the air had turned too heavy to breathe.

Without a word, Craig pulled her into his arms. She didn’t resist. She stayed there, pressed against him, trembling, eyes fixed on the mother she had buried in her heart and memory.

When Merlina’s sobs softened into sniffles, when her breath started to even out, Craig finally let her go, and stepped closer to Marjorie.

"I think I can help," he said gently.

Marjorie blinked up at him, eyes red and glassy.

"Earlier... you said you recognized me. That I was Conor’s brother."

She nodded slowly.

"Well, I want nothing more than to clear his name," Craig continued, his voice low but certain. "And I have access to the right kind of people, investigators, journalists—people who can accelerate a case."

As he spoke, he turned to Merlina, his eyes searching hers, silently asking if she was ready, if this was what she wanted too.

She didn’t say anything. Just held his gaze, still trembling, but she didn’t interrupt.

So he went on.

"But we need something to build on. A motive. We need to prove why Aiden came to Belford in the first place. The argument, the confrontation... the video he saw can serve as a motive."

"No..." Marjorie whispered, the word laced with shame. Her voice cracked. "I can’t. That video, it’s... it’s humiliating. It’s damning."

"I understand," Craig said quietly. "This isn’t easy." He took a breath. "But if the truth comes out on your terms, it’s far better than the version that’s already out there. It’s better for my brother to be seen as a student who crossed a line... than one accused of murder."

He paused, his tone soft but certain.

"And it’s better for you to be seen as a woman who made a mistake in a moment of vulnerability... than to keep living like this, presumed dead. No more than a ghost."

He looked at Marjorie, then briefly at Merlina.

"You deserve to be more than a secret. And Merlina deserves her mother. All of your kids do."

A different kind of silence fell, one that waited.

Craig looked between them. "If you both let me... we can end this. All we need is the person who sent the video to Aiden. If we find them, we can pressure them to testify. That alone could blow the case wide open."

Then, after a long, shaky breath, Marjorie wiped at her tears. "Well... finding the person isn’t a problem."

Merlina also slowly began brushing the tears from her cheeks, her breathing still uneven. Across from her, Craig gave Marjorie a subtle nod, urging her gently to go on.

Marjorie met his eyes, then looked back at her daughter.

"In his rage, Aiden mentioned who sent the video," she said quietly. "A certain...uh...Keith."She paused, her brows tightening, eyes flickering with the effort to recall it fully. "Keith...Jacobs."