Chapter 14 - Anna's Letters)
Daniel read the first letter alone.
Megan waited outside Natalie's conference room with Sophie asleep against her chest.
Some grief needed witnesses.
Some did not.
After twenty minutes Daniel opened the door.
His eyes were red.
He handed Megan the letter.
Danny,
I am still here.
Dad says you believe I died.
Mom says telling you the truth would destroy you.
I screamed at them until they sedated me.
If you ever find this, please understand that I tried to get home.
Please find Lucas.
Please don't believe I abandoned him.
Megan covered her mouth.
The second letter had been written a month later.
Daniel,
Dad came today.
He said Lucas is safe but that I will never see him again unless I cooperate.
He wants me to sign my share away.
I told him I would rather die.
He smiled.
I think that was the wrong thing to say.
The third.
Daniel,
Mom brought me your graduation photograph.
You look older.
She said you're doing well.
She said you don't ask about me anymore.
I don't believe her.
Please tell me you didn't stop asking.
Daniel had.
Eventually.
That truth destroyed him.
He had been nineteen.
Then twenty.
Then twenty-one.
His parents had told him grief was making him obsessive.
Therapists paid through the family had encouraged closure.
Richard had said continuing to investigate was dishonoring Anna's memory.
Evelyn had cried whenever he mentioned Lucas.
Eventually Daniel had chosen survival over suspicion.
Anna's letters showed she had known.
The final letter from the hidden room was different.
It had been written years later.
The handwriting was steadier.
Danny,
If this reaches you, I escaped twice.
The first time I found Lucas.
The second time I found out why Dad is afraid.
Grandfather knew Richard was moving company money before his death.
Victor knew too.
But Victor was part of it.
They hated each other, but money made them partners.
Then Rebecca threatened them.
Her baby gave her leverage because that child had Bennett blood.
Megan read faster.
Anna never named the father.
She wrote that even Rebecca had been uncertain which Bennett brother had manipulated her.
Richard and Victor both had relationships with her during the same period.
The scandal would have destroyed them.
But the trust mattered more.
If Rebecca's child was recognized as a descendant, control would fracture again.
Anna had tried to protect both children.
Lucas.
And Rebecca's baby.
The final lines were the most terrifying.
Danny,
The baby is alive.
I know because I saw her.
Her name is Elise.
If I disappear, find Elise before Richard or Victor does.
Do not trust anyone who tells you Victor is dead.
He isn't.
Megan looked at Daniel.
"Elise."
He nodded.
"We have a name."
Police searched historical records.
Rebecca's infant daughter had no official death certificate.
No adoption record.
No social security trace under Elise Keene or Elise Bennett.
Nothing.
Laura reappeared two days later.
She agreed to meet Natalie.
When shown Anna's letters, she cried.
"I didn't know about the room."
"Did Anna ever mention Elise?" Megan asked.
Laura nodded.
"Once."
Daniel leaned forward.
"What did she say?"
"That she had made a terrible mistake."
"What mistake?"
"She trusted Victor."
Laura explained that after Anna escaped Cedar Ridge, Victor helped her locate Lucas.
He gave her money.
Documents.
A vehicle.
Then Anna discovered he had been tracking Rebecca's child.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"Where is Victor?"
"I haven't seen him in twelve years."
"Is he alive?"
Laura looked at Daniel.
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
"Because he contacted Lucas."
Daniel stood.
"When?"
"Six months ago."
The same time Lucas left home.
Megan felt the room tighten.
"What did Victor tell him?"
"That Richard killed Anna."
Daniel froze.
"Did he?"
"I don't know."
"Where is Lucas now?"
Laura began crying.
"I thought he was following Anna's instructions. I thought he was searching company records."
"But?"
"He left me a message this morning."
Laura placed her phone on the table.
Lucas's voice played.
Laura, don't call me. Victor knows where Elise is. He says Mom hid the proof with Daniel. I have to find her before Richard does.
The message ended.
Daniel whispered, "He went with Victor."
Laura nodded.
Natalie's assistant entered hurriedly.
"Daniel, there's a board announcement."
Richard had been temporarily suspended from Bennett Industries pending investigation.
Daniel's resignation remained effective.
An interim board had frozen several family-controlled accounts.
For the first time, Richard Bennett was losing the system he had used to control everyone around him.
Megan felt relief.
Not joy.
Relief.
They had won something real.
Their daughter was safe.
The false custody case was collapsing.
Richard's records were exposed.
Anna's story was finally being heard.
Daniel had left the company and chosen a life beyond his father's control.
But Lucas was missing.
Victor was alive.
And Elise had never been found.
That evening Daniel took Megan and Sophie to the unfinished house they had once planned to move into.
Construction had stopped during the chaos.
Dust covered the floor.
The kitchen had no cabinet doors.
The nursery walls were bare.
Megan looked around.
"Still want it?"
Daniel wrapped his arm around her.
"Only if you do."
Sophie toddled toward the windows.
She pressed both hands against the glass and laughed at birds in the yard.
Megan smiled.
For the first time in weeks, Sophie laughed without looking over her shoulder.
"Yes," Megan said.
"I want it."
Daniel kissed her forehead.
They stood together in the empty room.
A family.
Not because blood had declared them one.
Because they had chosen each other.
Then Sophie's laughter stopped.
She turned toward the front door.
"Lady."
Megan froze.
Daniel looked at her.
Sophie pointed.
A woman stood beyond the glass.
Young.
Blond.
Watching the house.
Daniel ran outside.
The woman was gone.
But she had left an envelope on the step.
Inside was a recent photograph of Lucas.
Beside him stood Victor Bennett.
And beside Victor was a woman in her early twenties.
May you like
On the back were two words.
FOUND ELISE.
