Emily had chosen to leave. She had planned it for months. And she had made her fourteen-year-old brother keep her secret.
Confronting Ethan
I waited until Ethan came home from school. I sat him down at the kitchen table, my hands still trembling.
“I found the letters,” I said. “And Emily’s journal.”
His face went white. He looked like he was going to be sick.
“Mom, I’m sorry,” he whispered. “She made me promise. She said if I told anyone, I’d ruin her life. She said she needed to get away, and that if I really loved her, I’d keep her secret.”
I felt a mix of emotions—anger, sadness, betrayal. But mostly, I felt heartbroken. My daughter had lied to me. She’d run away. She’d disappeared because she wanted to, and she’d put her fourteen-year-old brother in an impossible position.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “She told me she’d be safe, but she never told me where she was going. I think she knew it was better if I didn’t know.”
