A grieving daughter, a forbidden house, and a diary entry that changes everything. Will Stacy escape the man who ruined her family?
The Last Will of Sarah Watson
The floorboard groaned, a terrifying shriek in the empty house. Stacy held her breath, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. Ralph was supposed to be at the lumberyard until five, but his unpredictable temper made him a ghost that could materialize at any moment.
She reached into the dark, dusty void beneath the wood. Her fingers brushed velvet.
Pulling out the small, leather-bound journal, she wiped away the grime. This was it. The single item her mother, Sarah, had begged her to retrieve if the worst ever happened. When Sarah died of a sudden, unexplained “heart attack” three weeks ago, Ralph had immediately barred Stacy from the house, changing the locks. He hadn’t counted on the spare key Sarah had smuggled to her months prior.
Stacy leaned against the closet wall, her knees shaking as she cracked the spine. The handwriting was unmistakably her mother’s, though the normally elegant cursive was jagged, frantic. She flipped to the final entry, dated the night before Sarah died.
Ralph is trying to kill me. Be my revenge if I die.
The air left Stacy’s lungs. A cold sweat broke out across her neck. Before she could process the horror of the words, the heavy front door downstairs clicked.
“Stacy?” Ralph’s booming voice echoed up the stairwell, closer than it should be. He was already in the hallway. “I saw your car, kiddo. We need to talk.”
Heavy footsteps began to ascend the stairs, deliberate and slow. Stacy looked at the open floorboard, then at the window, and finally at the journal in her hands. There was nowhere to hide, and no time to run.
Finish the Story
How does Stacy confront Ralph? Does she escape through the window, or face him with the truth? The pen is in your hands—how does her revenge begin?
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