Chapter 3 - Maren’s Name Appeared on Every Page
Mateo sent Ellie downstairs with Nora only after promising one thing.
“I am not hiding this from you forever.”
Ellie stared at him.
“Is Mom alive?”
Mateo could not answer that yet.
So he refused to lie.
“I don’t know.”
That answer frightened her.
But it was real.
Rosa, the elderly housekeeper Ellie adored, came from the kitchen and sat with her while Nora remained nearby with Owen.
Then Mateo returned to the study.
Celeste sat across from him.
Lucas remained under security supervision several feet away.
The yellow diary lay open on the desk.
Mateo began reading from the beginning.
Not aloud.
Dates.
Initials.
Short phrases.
M called again.
Says Mateo never answered.
Do not let her contact house directly.
Another:
Sent M the message.
She believed he wants space.
Another:
Mateo asking about Maren.
Tell him she contacted me and said not to look.
Then:
E keeps asking when mother comes back.
Redirect.
Mateo stopped.
His hands shook.
For two years, he believed Maren had abandoned him and Ellie voluntarily.
Their marriage had been struggling.
That part was true.
Arguments had become frequent.
Maren accused Mateo of trying to control everything.
Mateo accused Maren of walking away every time conflict became difficult.
After one terrible argument, Maren packed a bag.
She told Mateo she needed a week away.
Celeste had been Maren’s friend then.
Or so Mateo believed.
Maren called Celeste from the road.
Celeste offered to act as intermediary while emotions cooled.
That had seemed sensible.
Two people too angry to speak.
One mutual friend carrying practical messages.
The arrangement lasted one week.
Then two.
Then a month.
Celeste told Mateo:
“Maren doesn’t want contact yet.”
Then:
“She says you should stop sending messages.”
Then:
“She needs you to respect the separation.”
Eventually Celeste said Maren had left Chicago entirely.
Mateo hired an investigator.
The investigator confirmed Maren was alive and had used her own credit card in another state.
Because she was an adult who had apparently left voluntarily, Mateo could not force her home.
Maren later closed the old account.
The trail faded.
There had been no kidnapping.
No crime scene.
No reason for police to treat her as endangered.
Only a wife who appeared to have walked away.
Mateo had been furious.
Then devastated.
Then numb.
Celeste stayed near the family.
Helped with Ellie.
Listened to Mateo rage.
Listened to him grieve.
A year later, their relationship became romantic.
Now the diary suggested Celeste had never merely carried messages.
She had controlled them.
Mateo turned another page.
Yellow envelope from M.
Do not deliver.
She still thinks he’ll ask her home.
He looked up.
“Yellow envelope?”
Celeste said nothing.
Mateo slammed his palm against the desk.
Not at her.
Against the wood.
“Where are the letters?”
Lucas looked confused.
“What letters?”
Celeste finally spoke.
“I threw most of them away.”
The room went silent.
Mateo’s voice cracked.
“Most?”
Celeste looked at the diary.
“One might still exist.”
“Where?”
She did not answer.
Mateo leaned forward.
“Celeste.”
Her eyes lifted.
May you like
“I put it somewhere you would never look.”
And Ellie’s bedroom was directly above them.
