False Beginning - S01 E09

Story 4 days ago

False Beginning - S01 E09

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 9

Episode 9: False Beginning

Sarah sat in the small, quiet room at the police station. She could hear the clock on the wall ticking. Tick. Tick. Tick. It was a very slow sound. The detective had just told her that Tom was waking up. She felt a cold shiver go down her back. She did not want to go to the hospital. She did not want to look at Tom’s face. She did not want to hear his voice. He was a monster who had lied to her for many, many years. He had taken her life and turned it into a big story that was not true. But she knew she had to go. She knew she had to finish this. She had to be the one to tell him that the game was over. She had to show him that she was not a scared little girl anymore.

Before she went to the hospital, she did one more thing. It was a very important thing. She had the black notebook in her bag. She knew that the notebook had the keys to Tom’s secret money. She knew where he hid all the cash he got from the bad people. She knew the names of the banks and the numbers for the accounts. She got into her car and drove to the big bank in the middle of the town. The sun was high in the sky. It was a bright and beautiful day. For the first time in ten years, Sarah felt like the sun was shining just for her. She felt like she was finally waking up from a long, bad dream.

She walked into the bank. The floors were made of shiny white stone. The air was cool and smelled like clean paper. She went to the desk and asked to speak to the manager. She showed them the notebook. She showed them the papers that proved she was Tom’s wife. She had the power to move the money because her name was on the accounts too. Tom had put her name there to make things look normal. He never thought she would find the secret drawer. He never thought she would be brave enough to use the golden key. He was wrong.

She sat at a big wooden desk with a man from the bank. He had gray hair and small glasses. He looked at the numbers in the notebook and his eyes grew very wide. He told Sarah that there was a lot of money in the accounts. He said there was millions of dollars. He asked Sarah what she wanted to do with all that money. He thought she wanted to buy a bigger house. He thought she wanted a faster car or pretty diamonds. But Sarah did not want any of those things. She looked at the man and shook her head.

She told him she wanted to take all the money out. She told him she did not want a single penny of it. It was dirty money. It was money made from lies. It was money made from hurting people. It was the money that paid for the accident that killed her mommy and daddy. Every time she looked at the money, she saw the fire on the mountain. She saw the red car that was crushed. She felt sick just thinking about it. She told the man she wanted to give it all away. She wanted to use the bad money to do something good.

She wrote big checks to the local school for children who had no parents. She thought about herself when she was five years old. She remembered how it felt to be alone in a big, quiet house. She wanted those children to have books. She wanted them to have toys and warm coats for the winter. She wanted them to have a place where they felt safe and loved. She wrote the numbers on the check with a steady hand. It felt good to give the money to the children. It felt like she was cleaning her hands.

But she did not stop there. She looked at the black notebook again. She saw the names of the people Tom had hurt in court. These were good people who had lost their homes because Tom helped the bad guys win. She saw the names of families who had been sad for a long time. She sent the rest of the money to the families of the people Tom had hurt. She wanted them to have their lives back. She wanted them to know that someone cared about the truth. By the time she finished writing the checks, the secret accounts were empty. There was nothing left. All the millions of dollars were gone.

Sarah walked out of the bank. She stood on the sidewalk and took a very deep breath. She felt lighter than air. It was like she had been carrying a giant bag of rocks on her back for ten years, and now the bag was gone. She felt like she could jump over the moon. She was not the rich wife of a fixer anymore. She did not have the expensive clothes or the big house in her heart. She was just Sarah. She was a woman who was doing the right thing. She was being brave for her parents. She was being brave for herself.

She got back into her car. She knew it was time to go to the hospital. She drove through the streets of the city. She saw people walking their dogs. She saw children playing in the park. The world looked different now. It looked more real. She was not living in a lie anymore. She was living in the truth. The truth was hard, but it was better than a lie. She arrived at the big white hospital. She parked her car and looked at the front doors. She was not alone this time. The police were waiting for her.

Two police officers were walking right behind her. They were wearing their dark blue uniforms and shiny boots. They had serious faces. They were there to make sure no one hurt Sarah. They were there to make sure the work was finally finished. Sarah walked into the hospital lobby. She walked to the elevator. She pressed the button for the fourth floor. The elevator went up with a soft hum. Sarah looked at her reflection in the shiny metal doors. She looked strong. She looked like she knew exactly what she was doing.

When the elevator doors opened, she stepped out into the hallway. The hallway was very long and smelled like medicine. She saw the tall man in the hallway. He was the same man in the dark suit. He was the man who had been watching her. He was standing near the wall, looking at his watch. This time, Sarah was not afraid. She did not hide. She did not run away. She walked right past him. She looked him right in the eyes. She wanted him to see that she was not scared of his dark suit or his mean face. The tall man saw the two police officers behind her. He saw their badges. He did not move. He stayed very still against the wall. Sarah kept walking.

She reached the door of Room 402. She stopped for a second. She could hear the sound of her own heart. It was beating fast, but it was not the heartbeat of a scared person. It was the heartbeat of a person who was ready. She reached out and turned the handle of the door. She pushed it open and walked inside. The room was very bright. The white curtains were open, and the sun was coming in through the window. There were many machines near the bed. They were making soft beeping noises.

She entered Room 402 and walked to the side of the bed. Tom’s eyes were open. He was not in a deep sleep anymore. He was awake. But he did not look like the powerful lawyer Sarah knew. He looked very weak. His face was very thin and pale. His hair was messy on the pillow. He looked confused, like he did not know where he was or how he got there. He looked at the ceiling and then he slowly turned his head. He saw Sarah standing there. He saw his wife.

When he saw Sarah, he tried to reach out his hand. His fingers moved slowly across the white sheet. He had a small, tired smile on his face. He thought his loving wife was there to take him home. He thought Sarah was still the girl who believed all his stories. He thought he could say he was sorry and everything would go back to the way it was. He thought they would go back to their big house and have dinner. He thought he could keep his secrets hidden forever. He did not see the police officers standing by the door. He did not see the black notebook in Sarah's bag.

Tom opened his mouth to speak. He wanted to say her name. He wanted to tell her he was glad to see her. He thought this was just a small bump in the road. He thought their life together was just beginning again after the accident. He did not know that the police already had his notebook. He did not know that his secret bank accounts were empty. He did not know that the world knew he was a fixer and a liar. He did not know that the fire from twenty years ago had finally caught up to him.

Sarah stood very still. She did not take his hand. She did not smile back. She just looked at him with a face that was like stone. She felt a little bit of pity for him because he looked so small in the big bed. But she did not feel love. The love was gone. It had burned away when she saw the map of the mountain road. It had turned into dust when she saw the photo of him watching the fire. She was not his wife anymore. She was the witness to his crimes. She was the voice of her parents.

Tom looked at her eyes and his smile started to fade. He saw that something was wrong. He saw the look of the truth on her face. He saw the police officers move closer to the bed. He looked confused and scared. He realized that Sarah was not there to save him. She was there to say goodbye. She was there to close the book on their life together. He tried to speak again, but no words came out. He was trapped in his own bed, just like he had trapped Sarah in a lie for ten years.

Sarah looked at him one last time. She thought about the title of their life together. She thought about how he had appeared in her life when she was sad and alone. It was a "False Beginning." It was a start that was built on a crime. It was a story that should have never happened. And now, the story was over. The lie was dead. The truth was the only thing left in the room. He did not know that his "False Beginning" had finally come to a very sudden and bitter end.

Sarah gave all the money away to help others. Do you think that was the right thing to do, or should she have kept some for herself?

How do you think Tom will react when he finds out that Sarah gave all his secret money to the people he hurt?

Now that the police are in the room, do you think Tom will try to make up another lie to get out of trouble?

What do you think the tall man in the hallway will do now that the police are protecting Sarah?