Evelyn did not want to go downstairs.
That was how Mara knew they had found the right place.
She stood at the end of the hallway with her arms folded tightly across her chest while Daniel examined the old wooden floor.
“Where?” he asked.
Evelyn shook her head.
“Daniel, leave it.”
“You brought us this far.”
“I brought you here because I thought the truth would stay buried.”
Mara looked at her.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“It will.”
Daniel crouched and ran his fingers along the boards.
“There.”
Mara saw nothing.
He pressed one section of floor.
It shifted.
A narrow seam appeared between two boards.
Evelyn closed her eyes.
Daniel looked at her.
“You knew.”
“Yes.”
“How long?”
“Six years.”
Mara's voice sharpened.
“You lived above this?”
“Yes.”
“With this underneath you?”
“Yes.”
“And you never told me?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it is true.”
Daniel pulled up the hidden panel.
Cold air rose from below.
There was a staircase.
Not a modern basement staircase.
Stone steps.
Narrow.
Damp.
Mara stared into the darkness.
“How old is this?”
Evelyn did not answer.
Daniel took the brass key from the table.
“I'll go first.”
Mara caught his arm.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“If something happened six years ago, I need to know.”
“And if whoever did it is still down there?”
Daniel gave her a faint smile.
“Then I would rather not meet them alone.”
Mara stayed beside him.
Evelyn followed reluctantly.
The staircase ended beneath the house.
The room was smaller than Mara expected.
A single bare bulb hung from the ceiling.
Shelves lined three walls.
Old business files filled them.
Some had been ruined by moisture.
Others remained sealed.
Daniel walked slowly through the room.
His hand hovered over a shelf.
Then stopped.
“This.”
Mara pulled out the folder.
The label read VALE HOLDINGS — PRIVATE.
Daniel opened it.
Inside were bank statements.
Property transfers.
Copies of contracts.
Names.
Dates.
Amounts.
Mara stared at the figures.
“This is millions.”
Evelyn nodded.
“Your father knew.”
“And someone was stealing it.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Evelyn pointed to a signature.
Mara read the name.
Her face tightened.
“Uncle Victor?”
Daniel looked at her.
“Your mother's brother?”
Mara nodded.
Victor had been dead for years.
He had died of a heart attack two months after Daniel disappeared.
Mara remembered him as a quiet man who rarely came to family gatherings.
“Why would he—”
“Because he wasn't working alone,” Evelyn said.
Daniel turned.
“Who else?”
Evelyn hesitated.
Before she could answer, something struck the wall upstairs.
Everyone froze.
Mara looked toward the ceiling.
“What was that?”
Another sound.
A door closing.
Daniel immediately switched off the bulb.
The room went black.
Mara heard her own breathing.
Then footsteps.
Above them.
Slow.
Measured.
Someone was walking through the house.
Evelyn grabbed Mara's wrist.
Daniel whispered, “Don't move.”
The footsteps stopped.
A floorboard creaked.
Then another.
Someone was coming down the hidden staircase.
Mara's heart hammered.
Daniel stood between the stairs and the women.
A shadow appeared.
Then a figure descended.
The person stopped halfway down.
Mara could not see the face.
Daniel whispered, “Who are you?”
No answer.
The figure turned and ran.
Daniel chased.
Mara followed despite Evelyn's protest.
They reached the hallway just in time to hear the front door slam.
Daniel ran outside.
Rain struck his face.
The street was empty.
Mara came to a stop beside him.
“Did you see?”
“No.”
Evelyn reached them.
She looked terrified.
Daniel turned.
“Someone knows.”
Evelyn nodded.
“They always knew.”
Mara stared at her.
“Who?”
Evelyn looked toward the road.
“I don't know.”
Daniel returned inside.
He went straight to the hidden room.
Mara followed.
One folder was missing.
She noticed immediately.
“Mom.”
Evelyn looked.
“The police report.”
Evelyn's face tightened.
“They took it.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
He pointed toward the floor.
There were muddy footprints.
The person had entered the room.
But the footprints stopped near the shelf.
Mara crouched.
“There's something here.”
She pulled a small object from beneath the shelf.
A silver cufflink.
Engraved with a single letter.
V.
Mara stared at it.
“Victor.”
Evelyn shook her head.
“Impossible.”
“He's dead,” Mara said.
“I know.”
Daniel picked up the cufflink.
His face changed.
“What?”
Mara asked.
Daniel looked at the engraving.
“I've seen this.”
“Where?”
“In the photograph.”
Mara's eyes widened.
They returned to the picture from the river.
She zoomed in.
The woman stood near a tree.
Beside her was a man.
Only part of his sleeve was visible.
At the cuff was a silver glint.
The same shape.
The same letter.
V.
Evelyn sat down.
“Victor was there.”
“But you said he died later,” Mara said.
“He did.”
“Then why was he at the river?”
Evelyn looked at Daniel.
“Because he wasn't supposed to be.”
Daniel stepped back.
A sudden pain crossed his face.
He pressed his palm against his temple.
“Daniel?”
He breathed heavily.
The hidden room disappeared.
He saw headlights.
Rain.
A river.
A car door opening.
A man's voice.
“Give me the key.”
Daniel heard himself answer.
“No.”
Then another voice.
A woman's.
“You don't understand what happens if you refuse.”
Daniel stumbled backward.
Mara caught him.
“What did you see?”
Daniel stared at the floor.
“I remembered the key.”
“The brass key?”
He nodded.
“It wasn't for this room.”
Evelyn looked frightened.
“Then what was it for?”
Daniel looked at the wall.
“There was another door.”
“Where?”
“By the river.”
Mara frowned.
“There isn't a door by the river.”
“There was.”
Evelyn whispered, “The old flood tunnel.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You know.”
“Yes.”
“What was inside?”
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“I never opened it.”
“Why?”
“Because Adrian told me not to.”
Daniel froze.
“You spoke to Adrian that night?”
Evelyn nodded.
“For the last time.”
Mara stared at her.
“You told me you hadn't seen him.”
“I lied.”
“Why?”
“Because he came to me before he died.”
Daniel's voice was low.
“What did he say?”
Evelyn looked at him.
“He said if anything happened to him, I should never trust the man who came home wearing your face.”
Mara felt a chill.
Daniel slowly stepped backward.
“What does that mean?”
Evelyn shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You do.”
“No.”
Daniel looked at his own reflection in the dark window.
For a long moment, he studied his face.
Then he whispered, “Maybe he wasn't talking about me.”
Mara stared at him.
“What are you saying?”
Daniel turned.
“I think someone came home that night.”
Evelyn closed her eyes.
“And it wasn't Daniel.”
Click Here to continue read next: PART4: Daniel Found the First Memory That Did Not Belong to Him, Forcing Mara to Question Whether Love Had Been Built Around a Stranger
The Smile in the Photograph Made Her Mother Stop Breathing Before Anyone Could Explain Why
Part 3 of 16
