Chapter 3: The Man Who Knew the Truth
Chapter 3: The Man Who Knew the Truth
Leo spent three days searching for Ethan Carter.
The name appeared nowhere online.
No social media.
No public records.
No address.
It was as if the man had never existed.
But Leo had learned something during the last ten years.
People could disappear.
Names could be erased.
But secrets always left fingerprints.
After following old newspaper archives, Leo found a small article from the year of the storm.
It was barely noticeable.
A single paragraph buried at the bottom of a page.
"Local engineer Ethan Carter missing after investigation into storm-related building failures."
Leo stared at the words.
Engineer.
Investigation.
Missing.
The pieces slowly began connecting.
The storm.
The fire.
His parents.
Ethan.
Something much bigger than a simple accident had happened that night.
The article mentioned Ethan’s last known location.
An abandoned research facility outside the city.
The same place where his father used to work.
That evening, Leo drove through the empty roads toward the facility.
The building looked like a ghost from another lifetime.
Broken windows.
Rust-covered doors.
Walls covered in vines.
The world had forgotten this place.
But someone hadn’t.
The moment Leo stepped inside, he noticed something strange.
Fresh footprints.
Someone had been there recently.
He followed them deeper into the building until he reached an old office.
Inside was a man sitting beside a desk.
Older.
Tired.
But alive.
The man slowly turned around.
His face changed the moment he saw Leo.
The room became silent.
"Who are you?" Leo asked.
The man looked at the burned photograph in Leo’s hand.
Then at the pendant around his neck.
His eyes filled with regret.
"You’re Daniel and Maria’s son."
Leo froze.
Nobody had said his parents' names in years.
"You knew them?"
The man looked down.
"I knew them better than anyone."
Leo stepped forward.
"Then tell me the truth."
Ethan closed his eyes.
For a moment, he looked like a man carrying a weight too heavy to survive.
"Your parents didn't die because of the storm."
Leo’s heartbeat stopped.
"They died because they discovered something they were never supposed to find."
The room felt colder.
"What did they find?"
Ethan looked directly at him.
"A project that could change the world."
Leo frowned.
"What kind of project?"
Ethan slowly opened an old drawer.
Inside was a small glass container.
And inside that container...
Was a tiny green seed.
"Your parents found a way to grow life where nothing should survive."
Leo stared at it.
A seed.
The same seed his parents had protected.
The same secret hidden beneath the ashes.
May you like
Ethan whispered:
"And there were people willing to kill for it."
