CHAPTER 5: THE SISTER WHO NEVER EXISTED
Marcus stared at the faded photograph as if it were rewriting his entire life.
His fingers trembled.
Rainwater from his soaked tuxedo dripped onto the old paper, but he barely noticed.
"No..."
He whispered.
"This isn't possible."
Emily stepped closer.
The photograph looked authentic.
Three children stood on the edge of a quiet lake, laughing into the camera.
A boy of about ten.
A little girl clutching a stuffed rabbit.
And another girl with long dark hair...
Smiling.
The smile was unmistakable.
Even as a child...
It was Isabella.
Marcus shook his head violently.
"I would've remembered."
"You don't forget growing up with someone."
The old maintenance worker didn't argue.
Instead, he quietly asked,
"What's the earliest memory you have of your childhood?"
Marcus frowned.
"What?"
"The earliest."
Marcus searched his mind.
"Our family cabin..."
"My father teaching me to fish..."
"My eighth birthday..."
The old man interrupted.
"Nothing before that?"
Marcus opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
His expression slowly changed.
There wasn't anything before that.
Not clearly.
Only scattered fragments.
Faces without names.
Rooms without details.
Dreams that always vanished when he woke up.
Emily noticed it too.
"Marcus..."
He swallowed.
"I..."
"I can't remember."
The old man nodded.
"Exactly."
For several seconds, no one spoke.
The silence felt heavier than the collapsing hotel above them.
Finally, Emily broke it.
"Start talking."
The old man looked toward the dark tunnel behind him, as if making sure no one had followed.
"My name is Arthur."
"I worked for the Blackwell family twenty-four years."
"I watched all three children grow up."
Marcus looked up sharply.
"Three?"
Arthur nodded.
"You."
"Ava."
"And Isabella."
Marcus laughed.
A hollow, disbelieving laugh.
"You're lying."
"I wish I were."
"My parents would've told me."
Arthur's face darkened.
"They couldn't."
"Because they signed papers saying she never existed."
Emily blinked.
"What?"
Arthur took a slow breath.
"When Isabella was nine..."
"...she killed someone."
Marcus's eyes widened.
"No."
Arthur closed his eyes.
"It began with animals."
"Birds."
"Cats."
"Dogs."
"No one believed the servants."
"They said she smiled while doing it."
Emily felt her stomach tighten.
Arthur continued.
"Then one afternoon..."
"...your younger cousin disappeared."
Marcus whispered,
"Daniel..."
Arthur nodded.
"They found him two days later."
"Buried beneath the greenhouse."
Silence.
Marcus's breathing became uneven.
Arthur looked at him with pity.
"Your father had enough money to erase almost anything."
"The police report disappeared."
"The newspapers never printed the story."
"The doctors blamed an intruder."
"But your parents knew."
Emily asked quietly,
"So they... gave her away?"
Arthur nodded.
"New identities."
"Private institutions."
"New records."
"They erased every photograph."
"Destroyed every birth certificate."
"Changed every document."
"They wanted the world to believe..."
"...they had only one son."
Marcus stared at the old photograph.
"But this..."
Arthur smiled sadly.
"I kept one copy."
Emily's mind raced.
Nothing fit.
"If that's true..."
"Why come back now?"
Arthur looked toward Marcus.
"Because your father made one fatal mistake."
"He believed people can be buried."
"They can't."
"They only come back..."
"...angrier."
Marcus clenched his fists.
"So Isabella returned."
Arthur nodded.
"She spent twenty years becoming someone else."
"Different schools."
"Different countries."
"Different names."
"She studied law."
"Psychology."
"Behavior."
"Finance."
"She learned how powerful people think."
"How they lie."
"How they manipulate."
"Most importantly..."
Arthur paused.
"She learned patience."
Emily whispered,
"She planned all this?"
"For years."
Arthur looked directly at her.
"No."
"For decades."
A distant explosion echoed through the tunnel.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Arthur immediately became alert.
"We don't have much time."
Marcus stepped closer.
"Where's Ava?"
Arthur hesitated.
"I don't know exactly."
Marcus grabbed his arm.
"You just said you've been watching."
"I have."
"So tell me!"
Arthur lowered his voice.
"I know where she isn't."
Marcus frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"Everyone searching this hotel is looking in the wrong place."
Emily looked confused.
"But Isabella's messages..."
"The screams..."
Arthur interrupted.
"Recorded."
Marcus froze.
"The rabbit?"
Arthur nodded.
"The scream inside the ventilation system."
"The little girl in the elevator."
"The ribbon."
"They were all designed to keep you underground."
Emily felt a wave of realization.
"So Ava..."
"...was never here."
Arthur nodded.
"Not tonight."
Marcus staggered backward.
Everything.
Every decision.
Every hallway.
Every trap.
Every clue.
Had been carefully designed.
To keep him inside the hotel.
Away from somewhere else.
Emily suddenly remembered the mysterious phone call.
"Don't run to the parking garage."
"Trust no one wearing a hotel badge."
She looked at Arthur.
"Did you call me?"
Arthur frowned.
"No."
Emily's heartbeat quickened.
"If it wasn't you..."
Marcus slowly finished the sentence.
"...then someone else is helping us."
Arthur reached into his toolbox.
Marcus immediately tensed again.
Instead of a weapon...
Arthur removed an old leather folder.
Inside were dozens of documents.
Newspaper clippings.
Medical reports.
Property records.
Bank transfers.
Some were over twenty years old.
Others were only weeks old.
Emily quickly flipped through them.
Every page connected another piece of Isabella's hidden life.
Fake charities.
Shell companies.
Private islands.
Disappearances.
Bribery.
Judges.
Doctors.
Politicians.
One name appeared again...
And again...
And again.
Not Isabella.
Someone else.
Always signing behind the scenes.
Always approving payments.
Always hidden.
Only two initials appeared.
E.V.
Emily frowned.
"Who's E.V.?"
Arthur's face turned pale.
"I hoped you'd never notice."
Marcus looked up.
"You know."
Arthur nodded.
"I know."
"Tell us."
Arthur remained silent.
Marcus slammed his fist onto the metal tool cart.
"TELL ME!"
Arthur whispered,
"If Isabella is the queen..."
"...E.V. is the king."
Before anyone could say another word...
A loud metallic click echoed from both ends of the tunnel.
Arthur's eyes widened.
"No..."
Red laser dots suddenly appeared across the walls.
Then across Marcus's chest.
Then Emily's forehead.
Snipers.
At least six.
Hidden somewhere in the darkness.
A distorted voice echoed through the tunnel speakers.
"Step away from the documents."
Marcus slowly raised his hands.
Emily did the same.
Arthur closed his eyes.
"They found us."
The voice continued.
"Mr. Blackwell."
"You've been chasing ghosts."
"Miss Carter."
"You've been protecting evidence."
A pause.
Then the speaker crackled once more.
"But Arthur..."
The voice almost sounded amused.
"...you've disappointed your family."
Arthur's face lost every trace of color.
Emily turned toward him.
"Your family?"
Arthur whispered one sentence so quietly that neither of them wanted to believe they had heard it.
"I was Isabella's father."
At that exact moment...
Every sniper laser disappeared.
The tunnel lights went out.
May you like
And in the absolute darkness...
A single gunshot echoed.
