Chapter 8 - The Missing ChildThree hours later, the police had closed the roads.
Search teams surrounded the river.
No trace of Lily.
I sat in the command center staring at maps.
Marcus stood beside me.
Thomas sat across the room.
Nobody trusted anyone.
Especially Thomas.
“You knew,” I said.
He looked exhausted.
“I knew Daniel survived.”
“You knew my mother was alive.”
“Yes.”
“You knew Emily was alive.”
He looked down.
“Yes.”
I slammed my hand on the table.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Daniel had leverage.”
“What leverage?”
Thomas looked at me.
“Your mother.”
Then he added:
“And me.”
He finally confessed.
Years ago, Daniel had forced Thomas to falsify trust documents.
Thomas had tried to resist.
Daniel threatened his family.
So he obeyed.
But Grandfather anticipated betrayal.
He created a hidden vault.
Only Lily could open it.
The lion bracelet was part of the mechanism.
I stared at the broken bracelet.
“Where's the other half?”
Thomas swallowed.
“Daniel has it.”
My phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
A video appeared.
Lily was sitting on a bed.
Unharmed.
Beside her sat Victoria.
Victoria looked directly into the camera.
“Nathan, listen carefully.”
I said nothing.
“You have twelve hours.”
She lifted an envelope.
“Inside is proof that Emily is alive.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“Where is she?”
“You'll find her where your father buried the truth.”
“Where?”
“Your grandfather's grave.”
Victoria paused.
“And Nathan…”
Her voice cracked.
“I didn't betray you.”
The video ended.
I stared at the screen.
Marcus leaned closer.
“Did you believe her?”
“No.”
“Good.”
We left immediately.
The cemetery was empty.
Rain fell through the trees.
My grandfather's grave was covered in mud.
We searched around it.
Nothing.
Then I noticed something.
The gravestone had been moved.
We pulled it aside.
A narrow steel door appeared beneath.
Thomas stopped breathing.
“The vault.”
We opened it.
Inside was a room barely large enough for two people.
There were boxes.
Documents.
Hard drives.
And a single chair.
On it sat Emily's wedding ring.
Still wet.
Still warm.
Someone had just been here.
Then the speakers above us crackled.
Emily's voice echoed through the darkness.
“I'm sorry, Nathan.”
I spun around.
“Emily!”
Her voice trembled.
“I know you're in the vault.”
A pause.
“There's one thing I never told you.”
The lights turned on.
A screen appeared.
Emily was sitting in another room.
And beside her stood our mother.
Alive.
Both women looked terrified.
Then Emily whispered:
May you like
“Lily isn't your daughter.”
My entire world stopped.
