Chapter 8 - The Woman Who Should Have Been DeadDaniel couldn't move.
Sophie appeared behind him.
“Daddy?”
The voice came again.
“Daniel, open the door.”
Mara whispered, “Don't.”
Daniel stared at the handle.
“If that's her…”
“You'll put Sophie at risk.”
The footsteps stopped.
Then the person outside walked away.
Daniel waited.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
Then he opened the door.
The hallway was empty.
At the far end, a woman disappeared around the corner.
Daniel ran.
Nothing.
Only a white scarf lying on the floor.
He picked it up.
It smelled like Eleanor's perfume.
Mara stared.
“She used to wear that.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“Where would she go?”
“I don't know.”
“You expect me to believe she is alive?”
Mara looked at the scarf.
“No.”
That frightened him more than a yes.
Police searched the mansion.
No woman was found.
No forced entry.
No fingerprints.
Nothing.
Then the security team discovered something unusual.
One camera had continued recording.
The hallway camera outside Sophie's bedroom.
The footage showed the woman.
Her face was partially hidden.
But the timestamp was clear.
11:17 p.m.
Daniel slowed the video.
The woman turned.
For less than a second, her face became visible.
Daniel stared.
Same eyes.
Same jawline.
Same scar beneath the left ear.
His mother.
Mara covered her mouth.
“That's impossible.”
Then the woman looked directly toward the camera.
And held up one finger.
Not one.
Two.
Daniel paused.
“What does that mean?”
Sophie whispered,
“She did that before.”
“When?”
“Grandma.”
Daniel knelt.
“Where?”
“When she was telling me about the room.”
“What room?”
“The room under the stairs.”
Mara's eyes widened.
“There isn't a room under the stairs.”
Sophie shook her head.
“There is.”
Daniel followed her.
At the base of the staircase was an old wooden panel.
Sophie pointed.
“Grandma opened this.”
Daniel searched for a latch.
Nothing.
Sophie reached beneath the railing.
Her fingers found a metal switch.
Click.
The panel opened.
A narrow staircase descended into darkness.
Mara stared.
“I lived here for thirty-four years.”
Victor had never mentioned it.
Eleanor had never mentioned it.
Daniel grabbed a flashlight.
They descended.
At the bottom was a small room.
A desk.
A chair.
A telephone.
And hundreds of documents.
On the wall was a giant family tree.
Daniel approached.
Names were crossed out.
Some were circled.
Some had dates.
At the center were two names.
ELEANOR VALE
and
LILLIAN VALE
Under Eleanor's name was a single note.
IDENTITY TRANSFER CONFIRMED.
Daniel whispered,
“What is this?”
Mara picked up a file.
Inside was a birth certificate.
She read it.
Then dropped it.
Daniel caught it.
The certificate listed the mother of Daniel's father.
But the name was not Eleanor.
It was Lillian.
Mara's hands trembled.
“My God.”
Daniel looked at the wall.
His entire family history was wrong.
The woman called Eleanor had apparently taken her sister's identity.
But why?
A phone on the desk suddenly rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Nobody touched it.
Daniel answered.
Silence.
Then a whisper.
“Your mother is not the villain.”
Daniel froze.
“Who is this?”
Another whisper.
“She has been protecting Sophie.”
The line went dead.
Mara stared at him.
“What did they say?”
Daniel looked toward his daughter.
“They said my mother isn't the villain.”
Then the telephone rang again.
This time, the caller left a recording.
A child's voice.
Sophie's voice.
But Sophie was standing beside him.
The recording said:
“Grandma, I remember where you buried him.”
Mara went pale.
Daniel looked at Sophie.
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She had no memory of making that recording.
And somewhere beneath the house, something scratched against a door.
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