Chapter 15 - The Safe That Should Never Have Been Opened
The room was silent.
Emily stood before the safe.
Her mother watched from behind.
Adrian remained near the door.
Eleanor had disappeared.
For the first time in years, Emily felt as though every lie surrounding her had finally reached the same place.
The safe.
She looked at the key Clara had given her.
It fit.
The lock clicked.
Adrian whispered:
“Emily.”
She ignored him.
Inside were three folders.
One was marked Samuel.
One was marked Thomas.
The third had her name.
Emily reached for it.
Her mother suddenly said:
“Wait.”
Emily turned.
“Why?”
“Because you need to understand what you're about to see.”
“I've spent my entire life being told what I should and shouldn't know.”
Her mother looked down.
“You're right.”
Emily opened the folder.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Samuel, Emily's mother, Thomas Reed, and someone else.
Emily stared at the fourth person.
She recognized him.
Callahan.
But that wasn't what frightened her.
It was the date.
The photograph had been taken two days before Samuel met Callahan for the first time.
Emily looked at her mother.
“How is that possible?”
Her mother said nothing.
Emily opened the next document.
It was a financial agreement.
Then another.
Then another.
Every document connected the same four people.
Samuel.
Her mother.
Thomas.
Callahan.
But there was one final page.
Emily pulled it free.
At the bottom was Samuel's signature.
Above it was a sentence.
If Emily ever discovers the truth, she must know that the person she trusts most may be the person who betrayed us.
Emily's breathing became shallow.
She looked toward Adrian.
He was staring at the documents.
“You knew.”
“No.”
“You knew something.”
“I knew Dad was afraid of Callahan.”
Emily turned toward her mother.
“Did you know?”
Her mother nodded.
“Yes.”
“Then why did you let me trust him?”
“Because your father believed Callahan was the only person capable of protecting you.”
Emily looked back at the folder.
A final envelope lay beneath the documents.
It had never been opened.
On the front was written:
Emily — Open only after you find your mother.
Emily slowly reached for it.
Her mother stepped forward.
“Emily, don't.”
Emily stopped.
“Why?”
Her mother looked terrified.
“Because I never told your father the truth.”
“What truth?”
Her mother stared at the envelope.
“I wasn't the one who disappeared.”
Emily frowned.
“What do you mean?”
Her mother whispered:
“Someone else was taken that night.”
The room fell silent.
Emily looked down at the envelope.
Her father's handwriting seemed darker than before.
She opened it.
Inside was a single photograph.
Emily stared at it.
It showed a little girl standing beside Samuel.
The girl looked exactly like Emily.
But Emily knew the photograph could not be real.
Because the date printed on the back was from three years before she was born.
Adrian stepped closer.
“What is it?”
Emily couldn't answer.
Her mother covered her mouth.
Then the hidden room door slowly began to close.
Someone was standing outside.
A man's voice came from the darkness.
“Samuel should have burned that photograph.”
Emily turned.
She couldn't see his face.
But she recognized the voice.
Attorney Callahan.
He stepped into the room.
For the first time, the calm attorney looked furious.
“You were never supposed to find this.”
Emily held the photograph tightly.
“What is this?”
Callahan looked at her.
Then at the woman Emily had believed was her mother.
And finally at Adrian.
“You've spent years asking the wrong question.”
Emily's voice was barely a whisper.
“Then what should I have asked?”
Callahan smiled without warmth.
“Who was the girl your father called Emily?”
May you like
The lights suddenly went out.
And somewhere inside the darkness, a second woman screamed.
