Chapter 2 - The Woman in the PhotographDavid locked every door in Blackthorn Mansion.
He checked the cameras.
The security room showed nothing except a brief blackout lasting seventeen seconds.
Seventeen seconds.
Long enough for someone to move through the house unseen.
Not long enough for them to disappear without help.
David returned to his study carrying the photograph.
Lily sat on the leather sofa, wrapped in a blanket.
“You're safe,” he told her.
She nodded.
But she didn't believe him.
Neither did he.
David placed the photograph beneath a lamp.
The woman stared back at him.
She looked young.
Maybe twenty-five.
Dark hair.
Sharp eyes.
And the same silver pendant Karen sometimes wore.
David’s pulse quickened.
He zoomed in on the baby.
A white blanket covered most of the child.
Only one hand was visible.
On the baby’s wrist was a tiny bracelet.
Three silver stars.
The family crest.
David pulled open a cabinet and took out his grandfather's old journal.
He hadn't read it in years.
Most entries were ordinary.
Business.
Property.
Family disputes.
Then, near the back, he found a page dated thirty-one years earlier.
The child arrived tonight.
David read the next line.
No one must know.
The page after that had been ripped out.
David flipped forward.
Another entry.
Arthur believes the girl is dead. He cannot know otherwise.
David frowned.
Arthur was his grandfather.
The girl?
Who?
He turned another page.
A single line.
When the heir returns, Blackthorn will belong to blood, not marriage.
David stared at the words.
Behind him, Lily spoke.
“Daddy?”
He turned.
“Did you know Grandma had a secret?”
David closed the journal.
“What makes you ask that?”
“She told me.”
David felt a chill crawl up his neck.
“Your grandmother has been dead for seven years.”
“I know.”
“So how did she tell you?”
Lily looked toward the door.
“She came to my room.”
David crouched beside her.
“When?”
“Three nights ago.”
“What did she say?”
Lily hesitated.
“She said Karen was looking for the box.”
David went still.
“Anything else?”
“She said you weren't supposed to trust her.”
“Karen?”
Lily nodded.
“And she said if Karen ever found the key, I should hide.”
David looked back at the photograph.
The child.
The woman.
The key.
The box.
Everything seemed to form a pattern, but the middle was missing.
Then his phone rang.
The caller was his head of security.
“Mr. Carrow, you need to come to the garage.”
David stood immediately.
“Why?”
“We found something.”
David hurried downstairs.
One of the security officers stood beside his black SUV.
The rear passenger window had been smashed.
Inside the vehicle was the heirloom box.
David stared.
“I left this in my study.”
“We know.”
“Then how did it get here?”
The officer swallowed.
“We checked the cameras.”
“And?”
“You walked into the garage six minutes ago.”
David stared at him.
“I was in the study.”
“That’s what we thought.”
The officer handed him a tablet.
The footage showed David entering the garage.
Same suit.
Same face.
Same walk.
He opened the vehicle and placed the box inside.
Then he looked directly at the camera.
David watched himself smile.
His blood turned cold.
“I never did this.”
The officer said nothing.
David replayed it.
At the end of the clip, the false David leaned toward the camera.
His lips moved.
Three words.
She is watching.
Then the screen went black.
From behind David came Lily’s voice.
“Daddy…”
He turned.
She was standing at the garage entrance.
“Karen called me.”
David’s heart dropped.
“Where is she?”
May you like
Lily pointed upstairs.
“She said she was going to show me where my real mother is.”
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