The reception had changed in less than ten seconds.
Music stopped.
People stood beside their tables, confused and whispering. Sophie held the edge of her wedding dress away from a fallen chair while Daniel pushed through the crowd toward the gift table.
Claire grabbed Lily's shoulders.
“Stay with me.”
Lily looked at her.
“Someone took the red box.”
“I know.”
“You knew it was important.”
Claire swallowed.
“Yes.”
“Then tell me everything.”
“Not here.”
“Why not?”
“Because there are people listening.”
Lily glanced around.
The guests were pretending not to watch them.
Some were openly staring.
Her mother's voice dropped.
“Take Button and go to the bridal room.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
Claire looked startled.
“No?”
“You always tell me not to lie.”
“I am not lying.”
“You're hiding things.”
Claire's face tightened.
“Lily, this isn't a game.”
“I know.”
That answer seemed to hurt Claire more than an argument would have.
Daniel approached them.
“The box is gone.”
Claire looked at him.
“Who saw it?”
“Nobody clearly.”
“That's not possible.”
“It was sitting under the table. Someone must have moved it during the commotion.”
Lily interrupted.
“The man in the gray suit knows about it.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
Claire looked at Daniel.
That exchange told Lily more than either of them wanted her to know.
“You both know him.”
Daniel sighed.
“His name is Marcus.”
“Who is he?”
“Someone who worked with your father.”
“Where?”
Daniel glanced toward the guests.
“Not here.”
Lily held up the envelope.
Marcus had given it to her.
Claire reached for it again.
“Please.”
Lily did not move.
“What is inside?”
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
Claire shook her head.
“I know what it might contain.”
“What?”
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
Claire looked toward the wedding hall.
Her voice became almost inaudible.
“That your father wasn't responsible for what they said he did.”
Lily stared at her.
For months, adults had used careful phrases whenever her father came up.
He made a mistake.
He needed time.
He left.
It was complicated.
No one had ever said the sentence Claire had just said.
Lily's voice trembled.
“What did they say he did?”
Claire closed her eyes.
“They accused him of stealing money from the company where he worked.”
Lily shook her head.
“My dad wouldn't steal.”
“I know.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you were six.”
“I was seven.”
Claire gave a sad little laugh.
“You were six when it happened.”
Lily looked down.
She was eight now.
Two years suddenly seemed like an enormous amount of time.
“Where is he?”
“I don't know.”
“But you believe he's innocent.”
“Yes.”
“Then why isn't he here?”
Claire had no answer.
Daniel stepped closer.
“We need to leave this room.”
“Why?”
“Because whoever took the package may still be inside.”
Lily looked at him.
“Why would they take it?”
Daniel hesitated.
“Because they are afraid of what it contains.”
The words stayed with Lily.
She remembered the stranger's frightened expression when he had seen Button.
She remembered the note.
She remembered her father telling her that Button had a secret pocket.
None of it felt like a child's game anymore.
Claire touched Lily's hair.
“Come with me.”
This time Lily followed.
They entered the bridal room and closed the door.
The noise outside became distant.
Sophie joined them a minute later.
Her wedding veil was still pinned into her hair, but her face no longer looked like the bride Lily had watched that afternoon.
She looked worried.
“Is it really happening again?” Sophie asked.
Claire nodded.
“What is happening?” Lily asked.
Sophie looked at her.
Then at Claire.
“Lily deserves to know.”
Claire shook her head.
“She deserves to be safe.”
“She can't be safe if everyone keeps deciding what she can handle.”
Lily looked between them.
Sophie sat down.
“Your father worked with Daniel.”
Lily turned to Daniel.
“You said he worked with the company.”
“I did.”
“You didn't tell me you worked together.”
“I didn't want you to know.”
“Why?”
Daniel's eyes dropped.
“Because after he disappeared, I was afraid someone was watching me.”
Lily felt the room become smaller.
“Someone?”
Daniel nodded.
“Your father was investigating missing company records. Not money. Records.”
“What kind?”
“Property records.”
Lily didn't understand.
Sophie spoke quietly.
“Your father discovered that several houses and small businesses had been transferred to names that didn't belong to their real owners.”
Lily frowned.
“Why?”
“Because someone was using false documents.”
Claire added, “Your father found evidence.”
“And then they accused him of stealing?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Claire looked at Daniel.
Daniel answered.
“People with enough power to make the accusation believable.”
Lily's hand tightened around Button.
“Is that why Dad disappeared?”
“We think he ran because he was afraid,” Claire said.
“You think?”
“We don't know.”
Lily looked at the envelope.
“Then what's this?”
“We need to open it.”
Claire reached out.
Lily finally handed it over.
Claire opened the envelope carefully.
Inside was a photograph.
It showed Lily's father standing outside an old building.
Beside him stood Marcus.
And behind them was a red metal door.
On the door was a number.
17.
Lily stopped breathing for a moment.
“The blue fabric,” she whispered.
Claire looked at her.
Lily pulled the strip from Button's hidden lining.
The number 17 was stitched into it.
Daniel took the photograph.
“That building.”
“You know it?” Lily asked.
“Yes.”
“Where is it?”
Daniel hesitated.
“An old records office outside town.”
“Then we go there.”
“No.”
Lily stared at him.
“Why not?”
“Because your father went there the night he disappeared.”
Silence filled the room.
Lily looked at Claire.
“You knew.”
Claire nodded slowly.
“We found his car there.”
“Was he inside?”
“No.”
“Was there blood?”
Claire's face changed.
Lily immediately regretted asking.
“No,” Claire said. “There was no blood.”
“Then he could still be alive.”
Claire began to cry.
Not loudly.
Just one tear, then another.
Lily had never seen her mother cry about her father.
She had seen her angry.
She had seen her tired.
She had seen her sit alone at the kitchen table after midnight.
But she had never seen hope frighten her this much.
A knock came at the door.
Everyone froze.
Daniel moved toward it.
“Who is it?”
No answer.
He opened the door.
Nobody stood outside.
Only Button's missing red ribbon lay on the floor.
Lily picked it up.
Something was written on the inside.
A single sentence.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR FATHER, GO TO ROOM 17 BEFORE MIDNIGHT.
Daniel read it.
His face hardened.
“No.”
Lily looked at him.
“Yes.”
“You don't understand.”
“I understand that Dad left clues for me.”
“You're eight years old.”
“And you're afraid.”
Daniel said nothing.
Claire stepped forward.
“Lily, we are not taking you there.”
“Then I'll go myself.”
Claire stared at her.
“You wouldn't.”
Lily looked toward the window.
Outside, evening had begun to settle over the parking lot.
The first lights were coming on.
“I would.”
The room became silent.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed almost immediately.
“What?”
He listened.
Then whispered, “That's impossible.”
He ended the call.
Claire stepped closer.
“Who was it?”
Daniel looked at Lily.
“The old records office.”
“What did they say?”
“The security system was activated.”
“Someone is there?”
Daniel nodded.
“Room 17 has been opened.”
Lily looked at the photograph again.
Her father's face stared back at her from two years earlier.
For the first time, she wondered whether the clues had never been meant to lead her to something hidden.
Maybe they had been meant to lead her to someone.
Click Here to continue read next: PART4: At Room 17, Lily Found the First Real Trace of Her Father and Learned Why Someone Had Been Desperate to Reach It First
The Wedding Was Supposed to Be a Happy Day Until Lily Heard a Name Nobody Wanted Spoken Again
Part 3 of 16
