Maya's POV
"Mom?" Derek's voice breaks. "You're dead. I watched them bury you."
Jennifer Walsh lowers the rifle. Steps into the mansion. She's older now. Gray hair. Lines around her eyes. But alive. Very alive.
"You watched them bury a body," she says quietly. "Not me. James staged my death. Threatened to kill you if I ever came back. So I stayed away. Watched from a distance. Waited for him to die."
"Thirty years." Derek can barely speak. "You've been alive for thirty years and never contacted me?"
"To protect you! James would have killed you if he knew I survived. He told me so. Made it very clear."
"So you let me grieve? Let me think I was alone?"
"You were never alone. I was always watching. Always protecting you from the shadows."
"That's not the same as being there!"
Michael steps forward. "Excuse me, but who exactly are you?"
Jennifer looks at him. Her face goes pale. "You look like James. Exactly like him when he was young."
