“Stella?” Dad called, his shoes hurrying across the floorboards.
“Final warning,” Amber growled. “Smile, Stella, or I swear to God I will throw you out of this house before the sun sets.”
I looked down at her grip, then lifted my eyes to hers, and I saw a clear truth: Amber was terrified.
Dad walked up right past Amber and stared at the two of us.
“Stella, what is going on here? Those belong to Amber’s private things,” he said.
“Thank God you are here!” Amber spun around and clung to my dad. “Stella has gone crazy! She started tearing through all my belongings, making wild accusations—”
“I have not gone crazy!” I held up a large stack of envelopes. “Dad. Look at this handwriting. These are letters from Mom. Amber has been hiding them all this time.”
His face drained of color. “That is Rose’s handwriting.”
“There are piles of them, Dad. Completely sealed. Completely addressed to Lucy and me.”
“I can explain—”
Dad turned to Amber. “She vanished without a single word, without a goodbye… and you have been stashing mail from her this whole time?”
“This envelope arrived just last week.” I held up the newest letter. “Amber manipulated Mom. She convinced Mom that you wanted a divorce and were planning to destroy her life and lock her in a hospital because of her depression. I overheard her on the phone, Dad. Bragging about the whole thing.”
Dad’s expression turned to stone.
“Do you see? I told you she went crazy,” Amber said. “Yes, I held onto the mail. I truly believed I was doing the right thing. But all this nonsense about me scaring Rose off? That is just the babbling of a disturbed child!”
