CHAPTER 2: THE VOICE IN THE RECORDING
“Daddy…”
Lily's voice was barely audible.
“She knows where Mommy is.”
Ethan stared at his daughter.
For three years, he had trained himself not to ask that question.
Where was Emma?
What really happened to her?
Why had the police never found her body?
Why had the investigation suddenly gone cold?
Everyone had eventually accepted the same explanation.
Emma was gone.
Dead.
A tragic accident.
But Lily had just said something that made Ethan's entire world tilt.
He gently placed both hands on his daughter's shoulders.
“Lily, look at me.”
She slowly raised her eyes.
“Who told you Mommy was alive?”
Lily shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You just said she knows where Mommy is.”
“She does.”
“Who?”
Lily looked toward the elevator.
“The woman.”
Ethan stood.
“What did she tell you?”
Lily hesitated.
“She told me Mommy wasn't dead.”
Ethan's heart slammed against his chest.
“When?”
“A few weeks ago.”
“A few weeks?”
Lily nodded.
“She came into my room when you were sleeping.”
Ethan looked at Maria.
Maria's face had gone pale.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
Lily looked down.
“She said you'd be angry.”
“Angry at you?”
“No.”
She swallowed.
“She said you'd be angry at her.”
Ethan walked toward the window.
Outside, Manhattan glittered beneath the night sky.
Millions of people were moving through the city.
Cars passed.
Buildings glowed.
Life continued.
But Ethan felt as if everything had stopped.
“Maria.”
“Yes, sir?”
“Has that woman ever been alone with Lily?”
Maria hesitated.
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“More than I realized.”
Ethan turned around.
“What does that mean?”
“She would sometimes ask me to leave Lily's room.”
“Why?”
“She said she wanted to talk to her privately.”
Ethan's expression hardened.
“And you allowed it?”
“I thought…”
Maria stopped.
“What?”
“I thought she was trying to become closer to Lily.”
Ethan said nothing.
Maria lowered her voice.
“But something always felt wrong.”
“What?”
“She asked Lily strange questions.”
“What kind?”
“Questions about Emma.”
The room fell silent.
Ethan walked back toward her.
“What questions?”
Maria looked frightened.
“She asked Lily if she remembered the night her mother disappeared.”
Ethan's hands curled into fists.
“What else?”
“She asked where Emma used to hide important things.”
Ethan's eyes widened.
“Important things?”
Maria nodded.
“She kept asking about a blue box.”
Ethan froze.
“What blue box?”
“I don't know.”
Lily suddenly spoke.
“The box Mommy gave me.”
Ethan turned.
“What box?”
Lily looked toward the hallway.
“It was under my bed.”
“Where is it now?”
“I don't know.”
Ethan immediately walked upstairs.
Maria followed.
Lily stayed close behind.
They entered the little girl's bedroom.
Everything looked untouched.
A small bed.
A bookshelf.
A night-light shaped like a moon.
Ethan dropped to his knees beside the bed.
He reached underneath.
Nothing.
He checked the closet.
Nothing.
“Lily, what did the box look like?”
“Blue.”
“Anything else?”
“It had a silver star.”
Ethan stopped.
He knew exactly what she meant.
Emma had owned a small blue jewelry box with a silver star engraved on the lid.
He hadn't seen it since the night she disappeared.
“Where did Mommy keep it?”
“In the secret place.”
“What secret place?”
Lily pointed toward the wall.
“Behind the picture.”
Ethan walked over.
There was a framed photograph of Emma holding Lily as a baby.
He removed it.
Behind it was a small indentation in the wall.
Ethan pressed it.
A hidden compartment opened.
Empty.
His stomach dropped.
Someone had already taken the box.
He turned toward Maria.
“Who has access to this room?”
“Me. Security. You. And…”
She stopped.
“The woman.”
Ethan stared at the empty compartment.
“She knew.”
Suddenly, Lily grabbed his hand.
“Daddy.”
“What?”
“She left something.”
“Who?”
“The woman.”
“Where?”
Lily pointed toward the stuffed rabbit.
Ethan picked it up.
“Inside.”
“What?”
“She told me to keep it safe.”
Ethan examined the rabbit.
There was a small opening beneath its stitched fabric.
He carefully pulled the seam apart.
Something metallic fell into his palm.
A tiny memory card.
Ethan stared at it.
Maria whispered:
“What is that?”
“I don't know.”
He took his laptop from the desk.
Within seconds, the card was inserted.
One video file appeared.
No title.
No date.
Just a string of numbers.
Ethan clicked it.
The screen remained black.
Then a woman's voice emerged.
“Ethan…”
He stopped breathing.
Maria covered her mouth.
Lily whispered:
“Mommy.”
The voice continued.
“If you're hearing this, something happened to me.”
Ethan leaned toward the screen.
“Emma?”
The recording continued.
“I don't know who I can trust anymore.”
Static crackled.
“Not even the people closest to me.”
Ethan's heart raced.
Emma continued.
“There is a woman in our lives who will tell you I'm dead.”
Ethan stared at the screen.
“She will show you evidence.”
Static.
“She will make you believe it.”
A pause.
“But don't believe her.”
Ethan whispered:
“Who are you talking about?”
Then Emma said the words that made his blood run cold.
“Her name is Vanessa.”
The screen suddenly went black.
Ethan stared at it.
Vanessa.
The woman who had just attacked Lily.
The woman he had trusted.
The woman he had invited into his home.
The woman who had just threatened his daughter.
Maria stepped backward.
“Sir…”
Ethan didn't respond.
He replayed the recording.
Same message.
Same voice.
Same name.
Vanessa.
But then Ethan noticed something.
The file wasn't three years old.
He checked the metadata.
His eyes widened.
The video had been recorded only eleven days ago.
“That's impossible.”
Maria looked over his shoulder.
“What?”
“Emma recorded this eleven days ago.”
Maria stared at him.
“But Emma disappeared three years ago.”
“I know.”
Ethan replayed the file again.
This time, he noticed something in the background.
A faint sound.
A clock.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Then, beneath Emma's voice, there was another sound.
A door closing.
And a man's voice.
Barely audible.
“She's coming.”
Emma's voice suddenly became urgent.
“Ethan, if you're hearing this, you need to—”
The recording cut off.
Ethan sat frozen.
“Need to what?”
Lily suddenly screamed.
“Daddy!”
Ethan jumped up.
“What happened?”
She pointed toward the hallway.
“The elevator.”
They all heard it.
Ding.
The private elevator doors opened downstairs.
Someone had returned.
Ethan immediately grabbed Lily.
“Stay behind me.”
Maria moved beside him.
Footsteps echoed through the penthouse.
Slow.
Calm.
Deliberate.
Ethan reached for his phone.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
“You shouldn't have played that recording.”
Ethan's blood turned cold.
Because he knew the voice.
It wasn't Vanessa.
It was a man's voice.
May you like
A man who was supposed to be dead.
And then the lights went out.
