Chapter 13 - THE OLD ESTATEThe House Where Elena Lost EverythingThe Vale estate had been abandoned for twelve years.
At least according to public records.
We found the gate open.
The house was dark.
A single light burned upstairs.
Lena's shoe lay on the front steps.
I stopped.
My chest tightened.
“She was here.”
Lucas nodded.
“Come on.”
We entered.
The hallway smelled like old wood.
My childhood.
I remembered the staircase.
The piano.
The dining room.
The scar.
I touched the mark beside my eyebrow.
A flash of memory hit me.
A woman kneeling.
My mother.
Blood on her hand.
A man shouting.
A fire.
I staggered.
Lucas caught me.
“You remember?”
“I think so.”
Another memory.
Harold carrying me.
Elena screaming.
Daniel standing in the doorway.
And someone else.
A little girl.
No.
A baby.
I opened my eyes.
“Lena was here before.”
Lucas stared.
“What?”
“When I was five.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I remember a baby.”
We reached the upstairs room.
Lena was there.
Pilar beside her.
Harold stood near the window.
He turned.
“Welcome home.”
I stepped forward.
“Let her go.”
Harold smiled.
“You're exactly like Elena.”
“Don't compare me to you.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand enough.”
I looked at Lena.
“Is she hurt?”
Harold shook his head.
“No.”
“Then release her.”
“You know I can't.”
“Why?”
“She is the final witness.”
“To what?”
Harold pointed toward the fireplace.
A metal box was hidden beneath the bricks.
Inside were photographs.
One photograph showed my mother holding baby Lena.
Another showed Daniel.
Another showed Harold.
And another showed me.
The same night.
I looked at Elena.
“What is this?”
She closed her eyes.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“Tell me now.”
She nodded.
“The night I disappeared, Daniel came to the house.”
“Why?”
“To take the children.”
“What children?”
“You and Lucas.”
I looked at Lucas.
“Why?”
“Harold had discovered Daniel was preparing to expose everything.”
“So he came for us.”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
Elena swallowed.
“Harold had men waiting.”
“Then?”
“Daniel fought them.”
“And Lucas?”
“Taken.”
“And me?”
“I carried you out.”
I stared.
“Then why did you leave me?”
“Because I couldn't take you with me.”
“What?”
“You were injured.”
I touched the scar.
“This?”
She nodded.
“You were hit in the head.”
“The scar.”
“Yes.”
“By who?”
Elena looked at Harold.
Harold smiled.
“I did it.”
The room became silent.
I could barely speak.
“You hurt me?”
“I needed your memory damaged.”
“Why?”
“Because you'd seen something.”
“What?”
Harold stepped closer.
“The room beneath Rosehill.”
I stared.
“What did I see?”
He smiled.
“Daniel killing your grandfather.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“He didn't.”
Elena's voice cut through the room.
“He killed nobody.”
Harold laughed.
“And yet you believed me for twenty-five years.”
He reached into his coat.
Pulled out a final document.
A DNA test.
Not mine and Lucas's.
Mine and Harold's.
EXCLUDED.
I stared.
Harold was not my biological father.
He smiled.
“Now you understand.”
Elena stepped forward.
“Adrian.”
I looked at her.
“Daniel Cross is your father.”
The world went silent.
Then Lena spoke.
“Uncle Adrian.”
I turned.
She was holding something.
A tiny black recorder.
“My grandma said Mama Elena gave me this.”
I pressed play.
Daniel's voice filled the room.
My father's voice.
Alive.
May you like
And his first words were:
“Adrian, if you're hearing this, Harold already told you the wrong story.”
