Chapter 14 - Nobody moved.The words on the wall seemed to pulse beneath the flickering light.
Claire stared at Daniel.
Daniel stared at the dead attorney.
Marcus immediately checked the windows.
“Adrian.”
“No,” Evelyn whispered.
Marcus turned.
“What?”
Evelyn looked terrified.
“This is not Adrian.”
Daniel frowned.
“How do you know?”
“Because Adrian wants the trust.”
She swallowed.
“This person wants something else.”
Claire looked at the blood on the wall.
“Me.”
A voice came from behind them.
“Yes.”
They turned.
Helena stood in the doorway.
Her face was calm.
She held no weapon.
“You've been lied to by everyone in this room.”
Evelyn stepped forward.
“You're working with Adrian.”
“No.”
Marcus raised his gun.
“Then who?”
Helena smiled.
“Your father.”
Everyone froze.
Daniel's face went pale.
“My father is dead.”
Helena shook her head.
“That's what you were told.”
Marcus stared.
“That is impossible.”
“He staged his death.”
Evelyn whispered:
“No.”
Helena looked at her.
“You knew.”
Evelyn's face collapsed.
Claire stared.
“What is she talking about?”
Evelyn whispered:
“Your husband didn't die.”
Daniel stepped backward.
“You're saying my father is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“Watching.”
Claire felt a chill.
“Why would he let all this happen?”
Helena answered:
“Because he wanted to find out who would betray him.”
Marcus shook his head.
“You're lying.”
Helena pulled a photograph from her coat.
The image was recent.
An older man in a private hospital.
Alive.
Claire recognized him immediately.
Daniel's father.
Daniel's knees weakened.
“No.”
The man in the photograph was looking directly at the camera.
A small note was attached:
Tomorrow. Noon. Bring Claire.
Claire stared.
“Why me?”
Helena replied:
“Because he believes you know where Emma's documents are.”
“I don't.”
“He believes you remember.”
Claire felt another memory coming.
A corridor.
A locked room.
Daniel's father whispering:
You have to forget this.
Then another voice.
Her own.
I won't.
She gasped.
“I remember.”
Daniel grabbed her shoulders.
“What?”
“I met him after the accident.”
Everyone froze.
“When?”
“The hospital.”
“What did he say?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“He told me Emma was alive.”
Daniel looked devastated.
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“I forgot.”
“Because of the drugs.”
Claire nodded.
“What else?”
Claire's breathing grew rapid.
“He said someone inside your family was going to kill him.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“What did he give you?”
Claire opened her eyes.
“The bracelet.”
Marcus suddenly understood.
“He gave Emma the key.”
Claire nodded.
Then she whispered:
“He told me the truth was inside the nursery.”
“The Carter nursery?”
“Yes.”
Evelyn looked horrified.
“That means…”
“What?”
Evelyn stared at Marcus.
“They already found it.”
“What?”
“The nursery was never just a room.”
She explained that Daniel's father had hidden an encrypted drive inside the wall.
The drive contained records proving Adrian's crimes, Marcus's identity, and the original trust.
Claire looked at Daniel.
“Then why haven't they found it?”
Helena smiled.
“Because they needed you.”
She pulled out her phone.
A live video appeared.
Emma was on screen.
Claire screamed.
“Emma!”
Adrian stood behind her daughter.
He looked directly into the camera.
“Bring Claire.”
Daniel stepped forward.
“Where is she?”
Adrian smiled.
“You have one hour.”
He turned the camera.
Emma was sitting in a chair.
Unharmed.
Terrified.
Adrian whispered into her ear.
“Tell your mother what you know.”
Emma looked into the camera.
Her lips trembled.
“Mommy…”
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“I remember where Grandma took me.”
Claire's heart stopped.
“Where?”
Emma whispered:
“Under the hospital.”
The video ended.
Daniel stared.
Marcus turned toward Evelyn.
“What did you do?”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“I hid Emma beneath Saint Agnes.”
Claire recoiled.
“You hid my daughter under a hospital?”
“No.”
Evelyn's voice broke.
“There was a safe level beneath it.”
“A bunker.”
“Yes.”
Daniel grabbed his keys.
“We're going.”
Marcus followed.
Claire held the bracelet.
Evelyn stopped her.
“Claire.”
Claire turned.
Evelyn's voice was barely audible.
“If you find your husband's father…”
She swallowed.
“Don't believe everything he tells you.”
“Why?”
May you like
Evelyn looked into her eyes.
“Because I think he was the one who erased your first memory.”
