I did not tell Jessica what Maya had said.<\/p>\n
Not immediately.<\/p>\n
I walked outside with the phone pressed to my ear and stood beneath the porch awning while rain silvered the street.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost certainly?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe laboratory reported a probability high enough that I\u2019m comfortable saying the samples came from the same person.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe same person.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
For thirty years, the word mother had belonged to absence.<\/p>\n
Now she was somewhere in the world.<\/p>\n
Breathing.<\/p>\n
Sleeping.<\/p>\n
Eating breakfast.<\/p>\n
Growing older.<\/p>\n
Perhaps thinking about me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaya hesitated. \u201cShe has agreed to meet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe asked that Arthur come first.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe nearly died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI explained that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe changed the request.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked through the window.<\/p>\n
Jessica stood inside the kitchen, watching me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes she know about Jessica?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hand tightened around the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Dad tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cArthur says he didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen who did?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is one reason I think you should be cautious.\u201d<\/p>\n
I lowered my voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere does she want to meet?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll send the details tomorrow morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaya.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs she afraid of Jessica?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s becoming everyone\u2019s favorite answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d rather give you an honest uncertainty than a comforting invention.\u201d<\/p>\n
I appreciated that more than I wanted to admit.<\/p>\n
When I returned inside, Jessica had turned off the stove.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad\u2019s lawyer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the woman I had loved for eight years.<\/p>\n
\u201cDNA.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face went still.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat DNA?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica sat down.<\/p>\n
Not because she chose to.<\/p>\n
Her knees seemed to give way.<\/p>\n
\u201cElena?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She covered her mouth.<\/p>\n
I watched closely.<\/p>\n
Her shock appeared real.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father found her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe found him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSix weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica stared at the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause my father believed she was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour father was wrong about several things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t understand. Victor spent years searching.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what she had.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you think it is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you. I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat opposite her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen start telling me everything you do know.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the next two hours, Jessica spoke more honestly than she had in eight years.<\/p>\n
Victor Morales had been charming in public and controlling at home. Jessica remembered private investigators coming through their house when she was young. She remembered hearing Elena\u2019s name during arguments.<\/p>\n
Victor described Elena as unstable and dangerous.<\/p>\n
As Jessica grew older, inconsistencies appeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf she was dead,\u201d Jessica said, \u201cwhy was he still looking?\u201d<\/p>\n
That question eventually led her to Victor\u2019s files.<\/p>\n
She found photographs of Dad.<\/p>\n
Of me.<\/p>\n
Even school records.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old was I?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome were from elementary school.\u201d<\/p>\n
A chill passed through me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Victor knew where we were.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kept losing track of Arthur. Your father moved you more than you remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was true.<\/p>\n
Dad and I had lived in five towns before I turned twelve. He always blamed work.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Victor want with me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop saying that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t invent an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stood and paced.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid your father send you to me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he know we were dating?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica looked uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me to stay away from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
That surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said the Hayes family destroyed ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid that make you want me more?\u201d<\/p>\n
A sad smile appeared.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe at twenty-four, spite was part of my personality.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did Victor realize we were serious?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout six months before we got engaged.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe became furious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe threatened to cut me off.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered Jessica telling me her father had disowned her because he disliked me.<\/p>\n
That part, apparently, had been true.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe died two years after our wedding,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you reconcile?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I watched her.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he leave you anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA storage unit.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was new.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was in it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFiles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are they?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI destroyed most of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMost?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked toward the hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are some I kept.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShow me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica went upstairs.<\/p>\n
She returned carrying a small metal lockbox.<\/p>\n
Inside were folders, photographs and three cassette tapes.<\/p>\n
One folder carried my father\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
ARTHUR HAYES.<\/p>\n
I opened it.<\/p>\n
There were surveillance photographs of Dad taken across decades.<\/p>\n
One showed him outside my elementary school.<\/p>\n
Another showed him loading our belongings into a station wagon.<\/p>\n
Victor had written notes in the margins.<\/p>\n
Moved again.<\/p>\n
Boy still with him.<\/p>\n
No contact with E.<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does E mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica leaned closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI assumed Elena.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another note was dated years later.<\/p>\n
A.H. continues to conceal beneficiary.<\/p>\n
Beneficiary.<\/p>\n
Me.<\/p>\n
I turned another page.<\/p>\n
There was a photocopy of a trust amendment.<\/p>\n
Several sections had been blacked out.<\/p>\n
At the bottom was Victor\u2019s handwriting.<\/p>\n
ORIGINAL REQUIRED. COPY USELESS WITHOUT E.M. SIGNATURE.<\/p>\n
I looked at Jessica.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original.\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cProbably.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Elena took the original trust amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd without it Victor couldn\u2019t take everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would explain why he kept searching.\u201d<\/p>\n
I continued through the folder.<\/p>\n
Near the back was a photograph of an unfamiliar man.<\/p>\n
He was perhaps forty in the picture, broad-shouldered, dark-haired, wearing a charcoal suit.<\/p>\n
On his right hand was a silver ring engraved with an M.<\/p>\n
The man from Elena\u2019s video.<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica leaned over.<\/p>\n
Her face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know him?\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not answer immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cJessica.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s Daniel Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is Daniel Mercer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father\u2019s attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cAttorney?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot exactly just an attorney.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe handled problems.\u201d<\/p>\n
The phrase was chilling in its simplicity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs far as I know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t seen him in years.\u201d<\/p>\n
I photographed the picture and sent it to Maya.<\/p>\n
Her response came within minutes.<\/p>\n
CALL ME.<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get this?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor\u2019s files.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJessica had them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maya exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan, Daniel Mercer was involved in the original custody case.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe represented Victor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was at the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe suspected someone else was present.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw him in Elena\u2019s video.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaya?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy does that matter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Arthur always believed Victor started the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel may have been there.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you find him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can try.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the call, I returned to the lockbox.<\/p>\n
One cassette tape was labeled E.M.<\/p>\n
I found an old player in Dad\u2019s garage and brought it home.<\/p>\n
Jessica and I sat at the dining table while the tape hissed.<\/p>\n
A man\u2019s voice came first.<\/p>\n
Victor.<\/p>\n
Even though I had never heard him speak, Jessica\u2019s reaction identified him.<\/p>\n
Then Elena answered.<\/p>\n
My mother.<\/p>\n
The recording was damaged, but fragments emerged.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou changed the numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor denied it.<\/p>\n
Elena accused him of moving money through shell companies.<\/p>\n
Then another male voice entered.<\/p>\n
Calm.<\/p>\n
Measured.<\/p>\n
Daniel Mercer.<\/p>\n
He told Elena that nobody would believe her.<\/p>\n
The tape clicked.<\/p>\n
A new section began.<\/p>\n
Elena was crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou threatened my son.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re the one putting him in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica covered her mouth.<\/p>\n
I listened until the recording ended.<\/p>\n
My father had not exaggerated.<\/p>\n
My mother had been threatened because of me.<\/p>\n
The following morning Maya sent the meeting location.<\/p>\n
An old motel near Hood River.<\/p>\n
Room 17.<\/p>\n
I drove alone.<\/p>\n
The mountains were hidden behind low clouds.<\/p>\n
Every mile seemed unreal.<\/p>\n
At the motel, I sat in the car for several minutes before forcing myself out.<\/p>\n
Room 17 was at the end of the walkway.<\/p>\n
I knocked.<\/p>\n
No answer.<\/p>\n
I knocked again.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom?\u201d<\/p>\n
The word felt ridiculous.<\/p>\n
The door opened.<\/p>\n
A woman stood inside.<\/p>\n
She was in her early sixties, with gray threaded through dark hair.<\/p>\n
I knew her instantly.<\/p>\n
Not from memory.<\/p>\n
From myself.<\/p>\n
The shape of her eyes.<\/p>\n
The line beside her mouth.<\/p>\n
She stared at me.<\/p>\n
Her hand rose toward my face but stopped before touching.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan.\u201d<\/p>\n
My name broke in her voice.<\/p>\n
I could not speak.<\/p>\n
Thirty years existed between us.<\/p>\n
Then she stepped forward and put her arms around me.<\/p>\n
I stood rigid for a second.<\/p>\n
Then something inside me collapsed.<\/p>\n
I held her.<\/p>\n
She smelled faintly of soap and peppermint.<\/p>\n
A smell moved through my memory.<\/p>\n
Not a picture.<\/p>\n
A sensation.<\/p>\n
Warm arms.<\/p>\n
A song.<\/p>\n
Oranges.<\/p>\n
I began crying before I understood that I was crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo sorry,\u201d she whispered.<\/p>\n
We stayed like that until neither of us could pretend thirty years could be repaired by holding tighter.<\/p>\n
Inside, she poured coffee neither of us drank.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy now?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Elena looked at her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Daniel Mercer found me.\u201d<\/p>\n
My blood went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original trust amendment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou still have it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause everyone who knows becomes vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cVictor wasn\u2019t the person I feared most.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I showed her the photograph from Jessica\u2019s files.<\/p>\n
Elena\u2019s face hardened.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was there that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the fire?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he start it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. Victor ordered plenty of terrible things, but Daniel enjoyed being necessary. Sometimes he created problems so Victor would need him to solve them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you disappear?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Daniel told me he could reach you anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believed him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad spent thirty years thinking you might be dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was cruel.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The direct admission stopped me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kept telling myself distance protected you. After enough years, fear became habit.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad said you went back into the house for evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you get it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trust amendment?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy is it important?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena leaned toward me.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Victor was never legally entitled to control the central family trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was?\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked directly at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou.\u201d<\/p>\n
I swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandfather changed the succession before he died. Victor was furious. He convinced everyone the amendment had never been properly executed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you had the original.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith signatures and witnesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo why not expose him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause one witness disappeared and the other changed his testimony after Daniel visited him.\u201d<\/p>\n
She paused.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then our house burned.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does Jessica want?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena\u2019s face changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cVictoria?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe goes by Jessica.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
That made no sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would Daniel tell you about my wife?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo frighten me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena reached into her handbag and removed a folded sheet of paper.<\/p>\n
It was a photocopy of a handwritten note.<\/p>\n
One sentence had been circled.<\/p>\n
Victoria is already where she needs to be.<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen was this written?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSeven years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seven.<\/p>\n
Jessica and I had been married one year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho wrote it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the words.<\/p>\n
Jessica had told me Victor opposed our relationship.<\/p>\n
What if Victor had?<\/p>\n
What if someone else had wanted it?<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel knew she married me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he arrange it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena touched my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel contacted me yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart hammered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows Arthur survived.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he would trade the truth for the original document.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat truth?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena\u2019s fingers tightened around mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth about why Victor spent decades watching you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
She looked frightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cEthan, Victor wasn\u2019t only trying to find the beneficiary.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was trying to find me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Daniel convinced him you possessed something neither of them could locate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Elena swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe evidence that could send Daniel Mercer to prison.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not tell Jessica what Maya had said. Not immediately. I walked outside with the phone pressed to my ear and stood beneath the porch awning while rain silvered … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1816","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chapter-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1816"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1828,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1816\/revisions\/1828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thechapterstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}