Chapter 10 - The scream silenced me.Elena looked devastated.

“Harper doesn't mean that.”

I stared at her.

“She said don't trust you.”

“She could be afraid.”

“Maybe.”

Victor coughed.

Daniel slammed against the door.

“Open it!”

I grabbed a fire extinguisher and smashed the control panel.

Sparks exploded.

The lock released.

We ran.

The house had become chaos.

Smoke filled the lower hall.

Sprinklers burst overhead.

Alarms screamed.

Then I saw Harper.

She was standing in the ballroom.

Alone.

I ran to her.

She didn't move.

“Harper.”

She looked at me.

“Daddy.”

I crouched.

“Are you hurt?”

She shook her head.

“Where's Isabel?”

“She left.”

“Where?”

“Downstairs.”

I grabbed her.

“You're coming with me.”

She shook her head.

“No.”

“What?”

“I have to show you.”

She took my hand.

We walked to the grand piano.

She stopped.

“Move it.”

I stared.

“How?”

She pointed beneath it.

There was a small brass latch.

I pressed it.

The piano shifted.

A hidden stairway appeared.

Elena's face went white.

“No.”

“What?”

“I didn't know that was there.”

I looked at her.

That scared me more than anything.

We descended.

At the bottom was a room.

No surveillance equipment.

No weapons.

Only photographs.

Family photographs.

Hundreds.

Mine.

Elena's.

Daniel's.

Harper's.

Ava's.

But they went back decades.

I found one of Elena as a child.

Beside her stood Isabel.

Harper touched it.

“That lady.”

I looked at Elena.

“You knew Isabel.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

“She raised me after my father died.”

I stared.

“She's your mother?”

Elena shook her head.

“She was my guardian.”

Victor stepped into the room.

His face became unreadable.

“Now you understand.”

I turned.

“Understand what?”

“Why Elena disappeared.”

The wall opened.

A projector switched on.

A recording played.

Three years earlier.

Elena stood in this exact room.

She looked terrified.

Isabel stood behind her.

Arthur was beside them.

Alive.

And I entered.

But something was wrong.

My eyes were empty.

My movements mechanical.

I walked toward Elena.

The recording's Elena whispered:

“That's not Marcus.”

My stomach turned.

The person wearing my face raised a weapon.

Elena fired first.

Arthur grabbed her.

A child screamed.

Harper.

I stared.

This was the night I remembered as the crash.

Except it had happened inside Ashford House.

The recording continued.

Arthur shouted:

“Get the child out!”

Isabel dragged Harper away.

Elena shot the fake Marcus.

He fell.

Then another figure entered.

Real me.

Bloodied.

Confused.

I watched myself stumble through the doorway.

Elena saw me.

Her face broke.

“Marcus?”

The recording showed me reaching for her.

Then someone struck me from behind.

The screen went black.

I stood frozen.

“What happened next?”

Nobody answered.

The projector changed.

A document appeared.

MEMORY ALTERATION PROTOCOL.

I stared.

“No.”

Claire whispered:

“They drugged you.”

Elena covered her face.

“You were unconscious for eleven days.”

I turned.

“And the crash?”

“Staged.”

“My wife's death?”

“Staged.”

“My father's death?”

“Staged.”

“Daniel's death?”

“Staged.”

I laughed.

It came out hollow.

“So what was real?”

Victor looked at me.

“Harper.”

My daughter stepped forward.

“I remember.”

I crouched.

“What do you remember?”

She looked at me.

“Mommy didn't leave.”

“What happened?”

“She fought.”

“With who?”

Harper pointed upward.

“Uncle Daniel.”

I turned.

Daniel froze.

“What?”

Harper continued.

“Uncle Daniel had a gun.”

Daniel stepped back.

“No.”

“You shot Grandpa.”

Daniel's face collapsed.

Elena whispered:

“Daniel?”

He shook his head.

“That's not what happened.”

Harper looked directly at him.

“You cried.”

Daniel lowered his weapon.

“I couldn't.”

“You said you were sorry.”

He sank against the wall.

I stared.

“Daniel.”

He looked at me.

“Your father was going to kill Elena.”

“So you shot him?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you disappear?”

“Because Isabel told me I had.”

“What did she threaten?”

He looked at Harper.

“You.”

Silence.

Daniel slowly reached into his coat.

He pulled out a second photograph.

Harper asleep.

Taken three years ago.

Beside her bed stood a woman.

Elena.

Alive.

But behind Elena stood someone else.

Me.

My real self.

And another man.

Victor.

The date was the night of the crash.

I stared.

“Victor was there.”

Victor didn't deny it.

“I was.”

“What happened?”

Victor looked at Elena.

She whispered:

“Tell him.”

Victor swallowed.

“You weren't unconscious.”

I frowned.

“You were awake.”

“What did I see?”

Victor's eyes filled with tears.

“You saw yourself talking to Isabel.”

My heart stopped.

“I was working with her?”

“No.”

He shook his head.

“You were pretending to.”

“Why?”

“To save Harper.”

I stared at the photograph again.

Then I noticed something.

A tiny reflection in the window.

Ava.

Watching.

And she wasn't alone.

Someone stood behind her.

A man.

Older.

Familiar.

I zoomed in.

My blood froze.

It was Arthur Ashford.

May you like

I Came Home Early and Found My Housekeeper’s 3-Year-Old Daughter Scrubbi...

I returned home hours earlier than expected and discovered my housekeeper’s three-year-old daughter standing barefoot in the laund...

My Family Inherited Millions and Left Me a Ruined House. Four Months Lat...

The lawyer’s office fell silent as my grandmother’s will was read, and I watched my family inherit millions while I received nothi...

A Desperate Mother Begged a Billionaire for a Job to Feed Her Two Childr...

I was stranded on a lonely Arizona highway with two starving children, a pair of ruined suitcases, and no way to reach our destina...

Alive.

And holding a gun to my daughter's head.