Chapter 5: The Girl Who Knew Too Much
The word echoed inside Daniel Carter's head.
Gone.
Emily was gone.
Not missing.
Not lost.
Gone.
Someone had taken her.
For a moment, Daniel couldn't move.
The evidence room disappeared around him.
The cold walls.
The locked cabinets.
The people standing in front of him.
Everything faded.
All he could see was a little girl sitting beside him at breakfast.
A little girl who always spilled orange juice on the table.
A little girl who insisted on wearing the same blue jacket every winter because she believed it made her invisible.
A little girl who had stood alone in front of an entire courtroom because she was trying to save her father.
And now someone had taken her.
"Where is my daughter?"
Daniel's voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
Victor looked away.
"I don't know."
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
"Then find out."
Victor looked at him.
"You still don't understand what is happening."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Five years ago, you disappeared."
His eyes burned with anger.
"You let everyone believe you were dead."
"You destroyed my company."
"You used my daughter."
His voice became sharper.
"And now she is missing."
Daniel pointed toward him.
"You are going to help me find her."
Victor stared.
For a second, something appeared in his expression.
Not guilt.
Something closer to regret.
But it disappeared quickly.
"You think I wanted this?"
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"What else am I supposed to think?"
Victor looked down.
"The person controlling this is not me."
The room went silent.
Daniel studied his former friend.
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I don't care what you believe."
Victor's voice became serious.
"Because if you don't find Emily soon, she won't be the only person who disappears."
The police arrived within minutes.
The evidence room became a temporary investigation area.
Detectives searched every hallway.
Security footage was reviewed.
Phone records were collected.
But Daniel already knew something was wrong.
The person who took Emily wasn't an amateur.
They didn't panic.
They didn't leave mistakes.
They knew exactly when to move.
They knew where cameras were.
They knew how to enter and leave unnoticed.
That meant only one thing.
Someone close to them.
Someone who understood the system.
Rachel sat in the waiting room, holding Emily's small backpack.
She refused to let go.
Inside the bag was a small drawing book.
A few pencils.
And a stuffed rabbit Emily carried everywhere.
Rachel pressed the rabbit against her chest.
"Bring her back."
Her voice broke.
"Please bring my baby back."
Daniel sat beside her.
For the first time in years, he didn't look like a billionaire businessman.
He looked like a father.
A terrified father.
"I will."
Rachel looked at him.
"You promise?"
Daniel held her hand.
"I promise."
But inside, he was afraid.
Because he had promised before.
He promised he would protect his family.
And someone had still managed to take his daughter.
Two hours later, the investigators found something.
A message.
It had been left inside Emily's room.
Written on a piece of paper.
Three words.
"Ask the father."
Daniel stared at it.
"What does that mean?"
The detective looked at him.
"We were hoping you could tell us."
Daniel shook his head.
"I don't know."
But as he said those words...
A memory returned.
A memory from years ago.
A conversation with Victor.
A conversation he had forgotten.
Five years earlier.
Daniel and Victor were sitting inside their first office.
The company was struggling.
They had almost no money.
No investors.
No employees.
Just two friends and a dream.
Victor had been staring at a wall covered with plans.
"One day," Victor said.
"People will try to take this from us."
Daniel smiled.
"Nobody knows who we are."
Victor shook his head.
"That's not what I mean."
He turned.
"The bigger something becomes, the more people want control."
Daniel laughed.
"You're being paranoid."
Victor didn't laugh.
"I learned something."
"What?"
"Every empire has a hidden enemy."
Daniel looked at him.
"How do you find them?"
Victor answered:
"You don't."
He paused.
"They find you."
Daniel returned to the present.
His heart was racing.
The message.
Ask the father.
Maybe it wasn't a threat.
Maybe it was a clue.
Someone wanted him to remember something.
Something he had forgotten.
"Detective."
Everyone looked at him.
"I need to see my old company records."
The detective frowned.
"Why?"
"Because whoever took Emily knows something about me."
Daniel looked at the message.
"And they want me to remember."
At the same time, in an unknown location...
Emily sat in a small room.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't screaming.
She was sitting quietly on a chair.
Across from her was a man.
The same man who had taken the phone.
The same man who had visited her garden.
The man with glasses.
"You know your father is looking for you."
Emily nodded.
The man smiled.
"You are very brave."
Emily looked at him.
"Are you going to hurt my daddy?"
The man didn't answer.
Instead, he placed the old smartphone on the table.
"You understand why this phone was important?"
Emily looked at it.
"It helps my daddy."
The man smiled.
"No."
He leaned closer.
"It helps reveal the truth."
Emily frowned.
"My daddy didn't do anything bad."
"I know."
The answer surprised her.
Emily looked up.
"You know?"
The man nodded.
"Your father was never the target."
"Then why did everyone say he was bad?"
The man looked away.
"Because sometimes the easiest person to blame is the person everyone already expects to be powerful."
Emily was quiet.
Then she asked:
"Who are you?"
The man looked at her.
"My name is Andrew Cole."
Emily waited.
"And I knew your father before you were born."
Back at the courthouse, Daniel finally accessed the old company records.
David Miller searched through thousands of files.
Then suddenly stopped.
"Daniel."
Something in his voice changed.
"What?"
David turned the laptop around.
There was an old employee file.
A name.
A photograph.
Daniel looked at it.
His face slowly changed.
Because he knew the person.
Everyone knew the person.
But nobody knew the connection.
Andrew Cole.
Former head of security at Carter Technologies.
The man who disappeared three years ago.
The man who was officially fired after a major data breach.
The man Daniel believed betrayed him.
But now...
The pieces were coming together.
Victor.
Laura.
Detective Mason.
Andrew.
They were all connected.
And the person who had taken Emily was not trying to destroy Daniel.
They were trying to expose something much bigger.
Something hidden inside Carter Technologies.
Something that had been buried for years.
Then Daniel received a message.
Unknown number.
One sentence.
"Your daughter knows the truth. Now you must decide if you are ready to hear it."
Daniel stared at the screen.
Then another message arrived.
A picture.
Emily.
Safe.
Alive.
But standing beside her was Andrew Cole.
And behind them...
Was the old Carter Technologies building.
The first office Daniel and Victor ever owned.
The place where everything began.
The place where the biggest secret had been hidden.
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End of Chapter 5
(Chương tiếp theo: Chapter 6: The Secret Beneath The First Office.)
