Chapter 2 - Emma couldn't move.“My father?”
Isabella nodded slowly.
Vincent looked equally stunned.
“Mother, stop.”
But Isabella shook her head.
“No more lies.”
Emma looked from one to the other.
“What does my father have to do with any of this?”
Vincent stepped closer.
“Emma, you need to leave.”
“No.”
Her voice surprised even herself.
“You just told me my father disappeared because of something connected to your family. I want an explanation.”
Vincent stared at her.
The ballroom, moments earlier filled with music and laughter, had become unbearably quiet.
Isabella reached for Emma’s hand.
“Your father was Daniel Carter.”
Emma swallowed.
“Yes.”
“He worked for my family.”
“I know.”
“No,” Isabella said. “You know he was an accountant.”
Emma frowned.
“That’s what my mother told me.”
“He wasn't only an accountant.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
“Mother.”
“He was Vincent's closest friend.”
Emma slowly turned toward him.
“You knew my father?”
Vincent finally answered.
“Yes.”
The word hit harder than expected.
“You knew him?”
“For years.”
“Then why did my family never meet you?”
Vincent looked away.
“Because after Daniel disappeared, everything changed.”
Emma’s chest tightened.
“My father didn't disappear.”
Vincent looked at her.
“He did.”
“No.”
“My mother said he left.”
“Emma…”
“He wouldn't leave us.”
Her voice cracked.
“He wouldn't leave my mother alone with two children.”
Isabella squeezed her hand.
“He didn't.”
Emma stared.
“What do you mean?”
Isabella whispered,
“He was taken.”
The words settled over the ballroom.
Taken.
Not left.
Not abandoned.
Taken.
Emma felt dizzy.
“By who?”
Isabella’s eyes shifted toward the entrance.
But Victoria was gone.
“Your father found evidence of financial theft inside the Moretti Foundation.”
Vincent's face hardened.
“He believed someone inside the company was stealing millions.”
Emma looked at him.
“And you knew?”
“I knew he was investigating something.”
“Did you help him?”
Vincent hesitated.
“I tried.”
“Tried?”
“Daniel told me not to trust anyone.”
Emma stared.
“Not even you?”
Vincent’s silence answered.
Isabella spoke softly.
“He was right.”
Emma pulled her hand away.
“What does that mean?”
Before Isabella could answer, the ballroom lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then went completely dark.
People screamed.
Emma heard a chair fall.
Someone shouted for security.
Then she heard a whisper directly behind her.
“Carter.”
She turned.
Nothing.
The lights returned.
A waiter was lying unconscious beside the stage.
A black envelope rested on his chest.
Vincent immediately rushed forward.
“Get everyone out!”
Security closed the ballroom doors.
Emma stood frozen.
Isabella stared at the envelope.
Her face turned white.
“That handwriting.”
Vincent looked at her.
“You recognize it?”
Isabella nodded.
“It belongs to Daniel.”
Emma’s heart slammed against her ribs.
“That’s impossible.”
Vincent picked up the envelope.
Inside was a single photograph.
He turned it over.
His expression changed.
Emma reached for it.
He didn't stop her.
The photograph showed three people.
Daniel Carter.
A much younger Vincent.
And Victoria Langford.
Emma stared.
“When was this taken?”
Vincent's voice was barely audible.
“Twenty-two years ago.”
Emma shook her head.
“Why would my father be standing with Victoria?”
Nobody answered.
Then Vincent noticed something in the bottom corner of the photograph.
A fourth person had been cut out.
Only half a sleeve remained.
Isabella whispered,
“That was your father’s final mistake.”
“What?”
“He trusted someone he shouldn't have.”
Emma turned the photograph over.
Written on the back were seven words.
THE FOURTH PERSON IS STILL ALIVE.
A cold silence filled the ballroom.
Vincent looked at the doors.
Then at Isabella.
Then at Emma.
His phone suddenly rang.
He answered.
“Speak.”
A security guard’s voice came through.
“Mr. Moretti, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“Victoria Langford never left the building.”
Vincent's eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“We checked the exits.”
“She isn't here.”
“She vanished.”
Vincent hung up.
Then Emma heard something.
A soft tapping sound.
Three taps.
From beneath the floor.
Isabella looked at her.
“Emma.”
“What?”
The old woman’s voice trembled.
“Don't move.”
Three more taps sounded.
Vincent turned toward the floor.
May you like
There was a hidden door beneath the ballroom carpet.
And someone was knocking from the other side.
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