Chapter 7 - David didn't ask another question.He simply looked at Melissa.
She looked terrified.
“Clara is wrong.”
“No.”
David's voice was calm.
Too calm.
“She isn't.”
Melissa's hands shook.
“You don't understand.”
“Then make me understand.”
Ryan stood near the door.
“We have to leave.”
David didn't move.
“Not until she tells me.”
Ryan's voice sharpened.
“David.”
“Not until she tells me.”
Melissa sat on the bed.
“I didn't know who the man was.”
“Then why did you talk to him?”
“Because he had Lily.”
David's breathing became slower.
“What did he want?”
“Information.”
“About what?”
“You.”
David stared.
“Me?”
Melissa nodded.
“They wanted to know what you remembered from your old job.”
David's mind raced.
He had processed hundreds of payroll accounts.
But one company stood out.
A shell corporation.
Cash payments.
Employees who didn't exist.
He had reported suspicious transfers.
Then his supervisor had told him to stop asking questions.
A week later, he quit.
He had forgotten about it.
Or tried to.
Ryan looked at him.
“What's the company name?”
David whispered it.
Ryan's expression changed.
“That's impossible.”
“What?”
“That company was investigated two years ago.”
“By who?”
Ryan looked at Melissa.
“Daniel Harper.”
David stared.
“So this has nothing to do with my wife.”
Ryan shook his head.
“It has everything to do with her.”
He pulled out another file.
“The shell company was using Harper Security to move surveillance equipment.”
David's eyes narrowed.
“Cameras?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
Ryan said,
“They weren't just spying on people.”
David looked at the screens.
“What were they looking for?”
“Children.”
Silence.
David felt sick.
“Why?”
Ryan hesitated.
“Because some of the families being watched had children who were inherited beneficiaries of large estates.”
David stared.
“Kidnapping?”
“Not exactly.”
Ryan lowered his voice.
“Identity replacement.”
David didn't understand.
Ryan explained.
“They would identify children whose parents were wealthy and vulnerable.”
“Then?”
“They would create accidents.”
David felt his skin crawl.
“Make the parents disappear?”
“Yes.”
“And replace the child?”
Ryan nodded.
“With another child.”
David looked toward Clara.
“No.”
Ryan didn't speak.
David stepped closer.
“Clara was born in this hospital.”
“I know.”
“I was there.”
“I know.”
“Then what are you trying to say?”
Ryan looked at Melissa.
“She wasn't.”
David stopped.
“What?”
Ryan's eyes were filled with pity.
“Clara wasn't born in the hospital you remember.”
David's face went blank.
He turned to Melissa.
She started crying.
“No…”
“You knew?”
“I wanted to tell you.”
“You knew?”
“I didn't know at first.”
David stepped back.
“How long?”
Melissa covered her face.
“Since Clara was three.”
David stared.
His seven-year-old daughter stood in the doorway.
She didn't understand.
“Dad?”
David walked toward her.
She looked frightened.
He crouched.
“Clara…”
“Yes?”
David couldn't finish the sentence.
Ryan did.
“Your daughter may not be your biological daughter.”
Clara's eyes widened.
“But I am.”
David grabbed her shoulders.
“You're my daughter.”
She nodded.
“Always.”
Ryan's phone buzzed.
He looked at it.
Then his face changed.
“What?”
He showed David.
A security alert.
LIVE CAMERA LOST.
Then another.
SECOND CAMERA LOST.
Then another.
THIRD CAMERA LOST.
Ryan whispered,
“Someone is inside this apartment.”
David turned.
The lights flickered.
A soft sound came from the kitchen.
A door opening.
David picked up the nearest object.
He moved toward it.
The refrigerator door was open.
No one there.
Then the microwave beeped.
A piece of paper slowly emerged from inside.
David stared.
He pulled it out.
It was a hospital birth certificate.
The name was Clara Carter.
But the mother's name was not Melissa Carter.
The father's name was not David Carter.
David read the names twice.
Then again.
He looked at Melissa.
“Who are these people?”
Melissa began sobbing.
“I don't know.”
David held up the paper.
“Then why is their daughter named Clara?”
Melissa said nothing.
Clara stepped toward them.
“Dad…”
She pointed at the certificate.
“That woman…”
David looked at the mother's name.
Clara whispered,
“She came to our apartment once.”
David's heart stopped.
“When?”
“Last Christmas.”
“What did she do?”
Clara looked toward the bedroom.
“She hugged Mom.”
Then she lowered her voice.
“And called me…”
May you like
She hesitated.
“Lily.”
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