Chapter 3 - The mansion erupted into chaos.Guards tore through panels.
Guests were forced into the ballroom.
Police were called.
Arthur stood beside the broken wall, holding the bracelet.
“Emily Vale.”
He said the name slowly.
Again.
“Emily Vale.”
Isabella was sitting on the staircase now.
Her confidence was gone.
Arthur looked at her.
“Talk.”
She shook her head.
“I don't know anything.”
“You knew her name.”
“No.”
“You said no before I even asked who she was.”
Isabella looked away.
Arthur stepped closer.
“You've been lying to me for weeks.”
A police officer entered the room.
“Mr. Vale, we need everyone separated.”
Arthur didn't move.
“My son was hidden in the wall.”
The officer looked at Ethan.
“And now another child may be here?”
Arthur nodded.
The officer turned toward the guards.
“Search the entire property.”
The waitress stayed beside Ethan.
The boy suddenly tugged her sleeve.
“She knows where Emily is.”
The waitress looked at Isabella.
“She's right.”
Isabella snapped,
“Stay out of this!”
The officer immediately stepped between them.
“Ma'am, lower your voice.”
Isabella stared at Arthur.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
“If I tell you everything, you'll destroy us.”
Arthur's expression hardened.
“You destroyed us the day you buried my son.”
A guard called from upstairs.
“Sir!”
Arthur rushed toward the sound.
They had found another sealed door behind a bookshelf.
There was no handle.
Only a keypad.
The officer examined it.
“Electronic lock.”
Arthur looked at Isabella.
She knew the code.
He could see it in her eyes.
“Give it to me.”
She said nothing.
The officer pulled out a tablet.
“We can bypass it.”
“Do it.”
A minute later, the lock clicked.
The door opened.
Cold air poured into the hallway.
Inside was a small hidden room.
There was a mattress.
A water bottle.
A child's blanket.
And dozens of photographs taped across the wall.
Arthur walked inside.
Every photograph was of Ethan.
Ethan sleeping.
Ethan playing.
Ethan eating.
Ethan walking through the garden.
Arthur's hands began shaking.
Someone had been watching his son.
For months.
Then he found something worse.
A photograph of himself.
Standing beside Isabella.
A red circle had been drawn around his head.
Underneath it were handwritten words:
REMOVE HIM BEFORE JULY.
Arthur stepped backward.
“Who wrote this?”
Nobody answered.
The waitress saw a small file on the table.
She picked it up.
“This says Emily Vale.”
Arthur grabbed it.
Inside was a birth certificate.
Female.
Born seven years ago.
Mother: Isabella Vale.
Father: Arthur Vale.
Arthur stopped breathing.
He looked at Ethan.
Then at Isabella.
“Why didn't I know?”
Isabella started crying.
“I wanted to tell you.”
“When?”
“I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“That you'd leave me.”
Arthur's voice became almost a whisper.
“You stole my daughter.”
Isabella shook her head.
“No.”
“You hid her.”
“No.”
“Where is she?”
Isabella's tears continued.
“I don't know.”
Arthur stared at her.
“You're lying.”
“I swear.”
The officer looked at the paperwork.
“This document says the child was transferred to a private medical facility six years ago.”
Arthur turned.
“What facility?”
The officer read the name.
His face tightened.
“Blackwood Pediatric Center.”
The waitress frowned.
“Isn't that the clinic that burned down?”
Arthur looked at her.
“What?”
She stared at the officer.
“Blackwood burned six years ago.”
Silence.
Arthur looked back at Isabella.
“Then how could Emily be transferred there?”
Isabella said nothing.
The officer suddenly found a second page.
His eyes widened.
“Mr. Vale…”
“What?”
“This transfer record was signed yesterday.”
Arthur stared.
Yesterday.
His daughter had supposedly been missing for six years.
Yet someone had moved her file yesterday.
Then his phone rang.
Unknown number.
Arthur answered.
A distorted voice whispered:
“You found Ethan.”
Arthur said nothing.
The voice continued.
“Now stop looking for Emily.”
The line went dead.
Arthur stared at the screen.
Then came a message.
One photograph.
A little girl.
Alive.
Standing inside a dark room.
May you like
And written beneath the image:
SHE KNOWS WHAT YOUR WIFE DID.
Related Stories
