Chapter 5 - Claire Was AliveThe door opened.
Natalie stood there.
Her wedding dress was stained with dirt.
Behind her were two armed men.
Ethan moved Sophie behind the table.
“Nobody comes closer.”
Natalie raised her hands.
“I don't want to hurt Sophie.”
“You already did.”
“I had no choice.”
“That's what monsters always say.”
Natalie looked at him.
“Ask Evelyn what she did.”
Ethan glanced toward the older woman.
Evelyn's expression remained unreadable.
Natalie laughed bitterly.
“She didn't tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
“She lied to Claire.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“Enough.”
Natalie pointed at her.
“Tell him why Claire stopped trusting you.”
Ethan looked between them.
Evelyn said nothing.
Natalie took a breath.
“Claire believed your wife was trying to protect her.”
“She?”
“Evelyn.”
The silence was unbearable.
Then Natalie said:
“Claire was not murdered by my family.”
Ethan stared.
“Then who killed her?”
Natalie looked directly at him.
“She isn't dead.”
Sophie gasped.
Ethan's mind stopped.
“What?”
Natalie pulled a photograph from her pocket.
A woman stood beside a hospital bed.
Her face was partially hidden.
But the eyes.
Ethan knew those eyes.
Claire.
Impossible.
“She survived the crash,” Natalie said.
Ethan shook his head.
“No.”
“She was badly injured.”
“No.”
“The Vale family found her before the police did.”
Evelyn shouted:
“She's lying!”
Natalie looked at her.
“Am I?”
She turned back to Ethan.
“Claire was taken.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
“Who has her?”
Natalie hesitated.
Then:
“Your own business partner.”
Ethan felt sick.
“Marcus?”
Natalie nodded.
Evelyn's face went pale.
“That's impossible.”
Natalie smiled.
“You should have listened to Claire.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Where is my wife?”
“I don't know.”
“Then why are you here?”
Natalie lowered her voice.
“Because Marcus knows you found the music box.”
A gunshot echoed through the hidden room.
Everyone ducked.
The lights went out.
Someone screamed.
When the emergency lights came on, Evelyn was gone.
Natalie was gone.
The two armed men were unconscious.
And the blue key was missing.
Ethan searched desperately.
Sophie stood beside the table.
“Daddy?”
“What?”
She pointed at the floor.
There was blood.
A trail led toward the second tunnel.
Ethan followed it.
At the end was a locked steel door.
The blue key fit perfectly.
He turned it.
The door opened.
Inside was a single chair.
A camera.
And a computer screen.
The screen flickered on.
A live video appeared.
A woman was sitting in a dark room.
Her face slowly became visible.
Ethan stopped breathing.
“Claire?”
The woman raised her head.
Her eyes filled with tears.
Then she whispered:
“Ethan... don't trust Natalie.”
The screen went black.
May you like
Behind him, Sophie screamed.
And when Ethan turned around, the blue music box was gone.
