Chapter 5 - THE SECOND HIDDEN ROOM
They returned upstairs.
Nobody spoke.
Adrian searched the cedar compartment again.
Behind the empty space where the flash drive was hidden…
He found another wooden panel.
Hidden deeper.
Older.
More carefully concealed.
His hands shook.
Because Claire built this house with him.
She knew every corner.
Every secret.
Every place nobody would ever look.
Adrian opened it.
Inside was a folder.
And a photograph.
The photograph fell first.
Adrian picked it up.
His entire body froze.
It showed Madison.
Standing beside a man Adrian had never seen before.
But Claire knew him.
Because on the back of the photograph…
Claire had written a date.
The same day she died.
Natalie looked over his shoulder.
“Who is that?”
Adrian turned the photo around.
And read Claire’s handwriting.
“Madison and Caleb.”
Everyone froze.
Because Caleb Westwood was Adrian’s younger brother.
The man who spent three years telling Adrian to forget Claire’s death.
The man who always defended Madison.
The man who insisted the accident was just an accident.
Adrian looked toward the hallway.
His brother was downstairs.
Waiting.
Then his phone buzzed.
A message appeared.
From Caleb.
“I know what you found.”
Another message appeared seconds later.
“Don’t trust Claire’s evidence.”
Then a final message.
“Because if you open that folder…”
A pause.
“You’ll learn what really happened the night she died.”
Adrian slowly opened the folder.
And the first page made his blood run cold.
May you like
Because Claire had written one sentence at the top.
“MY HUSBAND IS BEING LIED TO BY HIS OWN FAMILY.”
