CHAPTER 3: THE MAN WHO WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD
The penthouse went completely dark.
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Then Lily screamed.
“Daddy!”
“I’ve got you.”
Ethan pulled her against his chest.
Maria stood beside them, barely breathing.
The voice came again from somewhere near the living room.
“You shouldn't have played that recording.”
Ethan recognized it.
Not because he heard it often.
Because he had heard it once before.
Three years ago.
On the night Emma disappeared.
His mind raced.
No.
It couldn't be him.
That man was dead.
Ethan reached into his pocket and turned on his phone flashlight.
The beam swept across the room.
Nothing.
“Who are you?”
Silence.
Then footsteps.
One.
Two.
Three.
Slowly approaching.
Ethan moved Lily behind him.
“Stay with Maria.”
“But Daddy…”
“Do exactly what I say.”
Maria grabbed Lily's hand.
The footsteps stopped.
A shadow appeared at the end of the hallway.
A tall man.
Black coat.
Gloves.
His face remained hidden.
Ethan's voice became cold.
“Take one more step and I'm calling security.”
The man laughed quietly.
“You think security can save you?”
Ethan raised his phone.
“They can do more than you think.”
The man stepped into the faint light.
Ethan's blood ran cold.
He knew that face.
He had seen it in photographs.
In newspaper articles.
At Emma's funeral.
At the memorial service.
Everywhere.
It was the face of Daniel Cross.
Emma's older brother.
Ethan stared at him.
“Daniel?”
Maria gasped.
“That can't be…”
Daniel smiled.
“Hello, Ethan.”
Ethan couldn't speak.
Daniel Cross had supposedly died two years ago in a private plane crash.
His body had never been recovered.
But the authorities had declared him legally dead.
Ethan had attended the memorial.
He had stood beside Emma's photograph.
He had watched Lily cry.
And now Daniel was standing in front of him.
Alive.
“You're dead.”
Daniel shrugged.
“Apparently not.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Where is Emma?”
Daniel's smile disappeared.
“That's the first question you ask?”
“Where is my wife?”
“You should ask why Vanessa wanted that recording destroyed.”
Ethan froze.
“So you know about Vanessa.”
“I know everything.”
“Where is Emma?”
Daniel looked toward Lily.
“She knows.”
Lily buried her face against Maria.
Ethan's expression hardened.
“Don't look at my daughter.”
Daniel ignored him.
“Emma told me to protect her.”
“From whom?”
“From everyone.”
Ethan shook his head.
“This doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
Daniel reached inside his coat.
Ethan immediately moved forward.
“Don't.”
Daniel stopped.
Slowly, he pulled out a photograph.
He held it up.
It showed Emma.
Standing beside a black car.
And beside her was Vanessa.
But that wasn't what terrified Ethan.
Emma was holding a baby.
A newborn.
Ethan stared at the photograph.
“What is this?”
Daniel said nothing.
“Who is that baby?”
Daniel looked directly at him.
“Your daughter.”
Ethan's face went blank.
“No.”
“Lily isn't your only child.”
“That baby died.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
Ethan's hands trembled.
Three years ago, Emma had given birth to twins.
The second baby had supposedly died shortly after birth.
That was what Ethan had been told.
He had never seen the body.
The hospital had said there had been complications.
Emma had been devastated.
Then, months later, Emma disappeared.
Ethan had spent years believing he had lost his entire family.
But now Daniel was telling him something impossible.
“The baby survived.”
Ethan stared at the photograph.
“Where is she?”
Daniel lowered the picture.
“That's what Vanessa has been trying to find.”
“Why?”
“Because that child is the reason Emma disappeared.”
Ethan's breathing became shallow.
“What are you talking about?”
Daniel looked toward the window.
“Emma discovered something before the twins were born.”
“What?”
“A trafficking operation.”
Maria covered her mouth.
Ethan stared at Daniel.
“Inside the hospital?”
Daniel nodded.
“Babies were being moved.”
Ethan's stomach turned.
“Sold?”
“Yes.”
“And Vanessa was involved?”
“Not alone.”
“Who else?”
Daniel looked at him.
“You.”
Ethan stepped backward.
“What?”
“You were involved.”
“That's insane.”
“Were you?”
“Of course not!”
Daniel smiled sadly.
“That is what Emma said too.”
Ethan's face tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel walked toward the desk.
“You don't remember?”
“Remember what?”
“The night Emma disappeared.”
“I remember everything.”
“No.”
Daniel placed the photograph on the desk.
“You remember what they wanted you to remember.”
Ethan stared at him.
Daniel continued.
“You came home at 11:43 p.m.”
Ethan swallowed.
“Yes.”
“You found Emma standing in the kitchen.”
“Yes.”
“She was crying.”
“Yes.”
“She told you someone had threatened the babies.”
Ethan's eyes widened.
“That never happened.”
Daniel stared at him.
“It did.”
Ethan shook his head.
“No. Emma told me she was tired.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“That's what the drugs did.”
Ethan froze.
“What drugs?”
Daniel whispered:
“They drugged you too.”
The room fell silent.
Ethan's mind suddenly filled with fragments.
A glass.
A bitter taste.
Emma screaming.
A hallway.
A car door.
Someone saying:
“Forget this night.”
Ethan grabbed his head.
“No…”
Maria rushed toward him.
“Sir?”
“I remember…”
“What?”
Ethan looked terrified.
“I remember Emma.”
Daniel watched him carefully.
“What do you remember?”
“She was running.”
“Where?”
“Outside.”
“What happened?”
Ethan's breathing became heavier.
“She was carrying something.”
“What?”
“A baby.”
Daniel nodded.
“Keep going.”
“She gave the baby to someone.”
“Who?”
Ethan closed his eyes.
A woman's face appeared in his memory.
Vanessa.
“No…”
Daniel whispered:
“You remember now.”
Ethan opened his eyes.
“Vanessa took the baby.”
“Yes.”
“She said she was taking her somewhere safe.”
“Yes.”
“And then…”
Ethan stopped.
His face turned pale.
“And then I hit Emma.”
Maria gasped.
“You what?”
Ethan stumbled backward.
“I didn't…”
Daniel's expression hardened.
“You did.”
“No!”
“You were drugged, Ethan.”
“I would never hurt her.”
“You didn't know what you were doing.”
Ethan looked at Lily.
His daughter was crying.
“Daddy…”
Ethan dropped to his knees.
“I would never hurt Mommy.”
Lily suddenly whispered:
“I know.”
Ethan looked at her.
“You know?”
She nodded.
“Mommy told me.”
“When?”
“Before she disappeared.”
Ethan stared at her.
“What did she tell you?”
Lily looked toward the hallway.
“She told me that if she ever disappeared…”
She began crying.
“…I should never trust the woman with the silver ring.”
Ethan slowly turned.
Maria's eyes widened.
Because Vanessa always wore a silver ring.
But then Daniel's expression changed.
He was staring at Maria.
“Where did you get that?”
Maria looked confused.
“What?”
Daniel pointed toward her hand.
The small silver ring on her finger.
Maria's face suddenly went pale.
“This?”
Daniel stepped backward.
“Take it off.”
“Why?”
“Take it off now!”
Maria slowly removed the ring.
A tiny compartment opened.
Something fell onto the floor.
A small key.
Ethan picked it up.
There was a number engraved on it.
317.
Daniel stared at it.
“That key…”
“What?”
Daniel's voice dropped to a whisper.
“That's the key to the room where Emma has been kept.”
Ethan's heart stopped.
“Where?”
Daniel looked toward the elevator.
“Saint Vincent Hospital.”
Ethan grabbed his coat.
“Then we're going there.”
Daniel shook his head.
“Too late.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at the elevator display.
The numbers were changing.
Someone was coming up.
“Because Vanessa already knows we found the key.”
Ding.
The elevator stopped at the penthouse.
The doors began to open.
And from inside came a woman's voice.
“Ethan…”
He froze.
“Please don't go looking for your wife.”
The doors opened completely.
Vanessa stood inside.
May you like
And beside her was a woman Ethan hadn't seen in three years.
Emma.
