Chapter 4 - Adrian did not sleep.Neither did Elena.
By dawn, the entire estate had been surrounded by police.
Vanessa's car was still in the garage.
Her passport was still upstairs.
Her purse was still on the table.
But she was gone.
There was only one explanation.
The hidden passage.
Someone had known about it.
Someone had planned an exit that the police hadn't noticed.
Maya spent hours tracing the surveillance network.
Finally, she found something.
"There's another server."
Adrian looked up.
"Where?"
"Below the wine cellar."
They opened a disguised panel beneath the floor.
A metal staircase descended into darkness.
At the bottom was a small room filled with equipment.
Screens covered the walls.
Dozens of folders were labeled with dates.
Elena's name appeared on one.
Olivia's on another.
Emma's had the newest date.
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a medical record.
Emma's blood type.
Vaccination records.
Hospital information.
And a DNA report.
He froze.
"That's impossible."
Elena took the report.
The test compared Emma with Adrian.
The result showed no biological relationship.
Elena stared.
"Emma isn't your daughter."
Adrian shook his head.
"That can't be right."
Maya opened another file.
A second DNA report.
This one matched Emma with someone else.
A woman whose name was blacked out.
Elena's hands trembled.
"Who is the mother?"
"Unknown," Maya said.
"Find out."
She did.
The file contained a partial name.
EVA HART.
Elena stopped breathing.
"My mother?"
Adrian looked at her.
"Your mother died years ago."
"I know."
"Then why is her name here?"
Maya stared at the screen.
"There is more."
She clicked another file.
Elena's own birth record appeared.
Then a handwritten note.
ELENA HART WAS MOVED AT AGE SIX.
Elena backed away.
"Moved where?"
Maya opened the next document.
A children's hospital.
A transfer order.
A missing child report.
A photograph.
Elena as a little girl.
Except the date was wrong.
The photograph had been taken one year before Elena was supposedly born.
Elena felt dizzy.
"No."
Adrian caught her before she fell.
"Elena."
She pushed him away.
"Don't touch me."
She stared at the screens.
"You hit me tonight."
"I know."
"You believed Vanessa."
"I know."
"And now I find out my entire childhood may be a lie."
Adrian lowered his head.
"I'll fix it."
"You can't fix a childhood."
A sound came from the room.
A printer.
Everyone turned.
A document slid out.
Maya pulled it free.
It contained one sentence.
ELENA HART IS THE KEY.
Underneath it was a photograph of a locked basement door.
Adrian recognized it.
"That's my father's old property."
"Where?"
"Forty miles north."
The police officer immediately stepped forward.
"We'll send a team."
Adrian shook his head.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because whoever built this room knows every move we make."
Elena stared at the document.
"What do they want?"
A final line appeared on the printer.
OPEN THE DOOR BEFORE THE WOMAN RETURNS.
Maya looked confused.
"What woman?"
Then they heard movement above them.
A child crying.
Emma.
They ran upstairs.
Maya reached the nursery first.
The crib was empty.
The window was locked from the inside.
Elena screamed.
"Emma!"
Adrian searched the room.
Nothing.
Then Olivia noticed something beneath the crib.
A baby monitor.
It was still on.
She picked it up.
A man's voice came through.
"Don't worry."
Olivia went pale.
"Who is that?"
The voice continued.
"She isn't hurt."
Adrian grabbed the monitor.
"Where is my daughter?"
The man laughed softly.
"You still think she belongs to you."
Adrian's grip tightened.
"I'll find you."
"No, Adrian."
The voice became cold.
"You'll find the truth first."
The monitor went dead.
Then a second sound came from the hallway.
A baby crying.
Not through the monitor.
From inside the house.
Elena ran toward it.
The crying came from the old linen closet.
She opened the door.
Emma was inside.
Wrapped in a blanket.
Alive.
Safe.
And beside her lay a handwritten note.
Elena picked it up.
Three words.
ASK OLIVIA FIRST.
Everyone turned.
Olivia was standing in the doorway.
May you like
Her face had gone completely white.
"I know what he means."
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