Chapter 3 - THE WOMAN WHO WAITED TWENTY YEARS
Victor's mansion stood behind iron gates outside the city.
I had never seen anything like it.
Black SUVs lined the driveway.
Security guards stood at every entrance.
The house itself looked less like a home and more like a fortress.
I followed Victor inside.
My mind was still struggling to accept the words he had spoken.
My mother.
My brother.
My real name.
Twenty missing years.
And now his mother had disappeared.
Victor entered a large study.
A man waited inside.
He looked older than Victor, with gray hair and a scar across his cheek.
“This is Gabriel.”
Victor looked at me.
“Gabriel runs my security.”
Gabriel studied me.
Then his eyes widened.
“You look exactly like her.”
“Like who?”
“Your mother.”
My chest tightened.
“You knew her?”
Gabriel nodded.
“Before she disappeared.”
Victor placed both hands on his desk.
“Tell her everything.”
Gabriel hesitated.
Then he began.
“Your mother was named Elena Vale.”
I listened.
“She wasn't supposed to marry into this family. Your grandfather wanted Victor to inherit everything. Elena came from outside the family.”
“What happened?”
“She discovered someone inside the organization was stealing money.”
“Who?”
Gabriel looked at Victor.
Victor answered.
“My uncle.”
“Where is he now?”
“Dead.”
I stared.
“Did you kill him?”
“No.”
Victor's voice was flat.
“He died twelve years ago.”
Gabriel continued.
“After Elena discovered the theft, she threatened to expose everything.”
“And then?”
“She disappeared.”
“What about me?”
Gabriel looked at me.
“You disappeared the same night.”
I felt dizzy.
“My grandmother…”
“Your grandmother saved you.”
“From whom?”
Nobody answered.
Then Victor's phone rang.
He answered.
A man's voice came through the speaker.
“Bring Lily to the old church.”
Victor's expression hardened.
“Who is this?”
“You know exactly who I am.”
The call ended.
Victor immediately turned to Gabriel.
“Get the cars.”
I stood.
“I'm coming.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Emily—”
“My mother disappeared because of this family.”
Victor stared at me.
“I deserve answers.”
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he nodded.
“Fine.”
The old church stood abandoned on the edge of town.
Rain had begun falling.
We entered through a broken side door.
The church was empty.
Too empty.
Victor raised one hand.
His men spread out.
Then a voice came from the darkness.
“You came.”
A man stepped into the light.
Victor froze.
I recognized him from the photograph.
The same gray hair.
The same scar.
Gabriel whispered:
“Impossible.”
Victor stared.
“You died twelve years ago.”
The man smiled.
“That's what everyone believed.”
I looked at Victor.
“Who is he?”
Victor's face had become completely expressionless.
“My uncle.”
The man laughed.
“And this must be Lily.”
I stepped backward.
“How do you know me?”
He looked at me with something almost like satisfaction.
“Because I was there the night you disappeared.”
My heart stopped.
“What happened to my mother?”
He smiled.
“She trusted the wrong person.”
“Where is she?”
“Alive.”
Victor stepped forward.
“If you hurt her—”
“You still don't understand.”
The man pointed at me.
“Your mother wasn't kidnapped because of Victor.”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“She was kidnapped because of you.”
I felt the floor disappear beneath me.
“Why me?”
His smile vanished.
“Because your mother left you something.”
“What?”
“A secret.”
Then the lights went out.
A gunshot exploded through the darkness.
I screamed.
Victor grabbed me and pulled me behind him.
Another shot.
Then another.
When the emergency lights flickered back on, the man was gone.
So was Gabriel.
Victor looked around.
“Gabriel!”
No answer.
Then his phone rang.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You have forty-eight hours.”
Victor's eyes hardened.
“Forty-eight hours for what?”
“To find the key.”
“What key?”
The voice laughed.
“The one your sister has carried her entire life.”
The call ended.
Victor turned toward me.
His eyes dropped to my neck.
I instinctively touched the necklace my grandmother had given me when I was seventeen.
It was a small silver key.
Victor stared at it.
“Emily…”
“What?”
May you like
He whispered:
“That isn't a necklace.”
