Chapter 7 - THE FILE THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
Edward stood in the dark hallway, staring at the empty space where the old man had disappeared.
For a few seconds, nobody moved.
The mansion was silent.
Too silent.
Then Marcus picked up the file from the floor.
“Sir…”
Edward looked at him.
“Open it.”
Marcus carefully removed the documents inside.
The first page was an old hospital record.
The second was a photograph.
The third was a handwritten statement.
And the name at the bottom made Edward’s heart stop.
Thomas Hayes.
His father.
Emma stepped closer.
“Dad… what does it say?”
Edward didn’t answer immediately.
Because the words in front of him felt impossible.
Twenty years ago, his father had discovered that Sarah survived the accident.
He knew she was alive.
He knew she had been taken away.
And instead of saving her…
He helped hide the truth.
“No,” Edward whispered.
Marcus looked at him.
“Edward?”
“My father would never do this.”
But even as he said it, Edward knew something was wrong.
Because deep down, he remembered.
The strange phone calls.
The arguments between his father and Sarah.
The night Sarah disappeared from the hospital.
The secrets everyone told him were just “business problems.”
Emma touched his arm.
“Dad.”
Edward looked at his daughter.
“I spent twenty years blaming myself for losing your mother.”
His voice cracked.
“But someone knew the truth the entire time.”
Marcus continued reading.
“There’s more.”
He turned the page.
“This says Sarah was transferred to a private rehabilitation facility under another name.”
Edward froze.
“Where?”
Marcus looked at the document.
“The facility was closed twelve years ago.”
Emma’s face fell.
“So she’s…”
“No.”
Edward interrupted.
His voice was firm.
“She’s alive.”
He didn’t know why.
He didn’t have proof.
But something inside him refused to believe otherwise.
Then Marcus noticed something written in the corner of the file.
A location.
A place outside the city.
Edward grabbed his coat.
“We’re going there.”
Marcus nodded.
But before they reached the door…
Edward’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
He answered.
A woman’s voice came through.
A voice he had not heard in twenty years.
“Edward?”
His entire body froze.
Because he knew that voice.
He had dreamed about hearing it again.
“Sarah?”
A long silence followed.
Then she whispered:
“Don’t trust anyone in that house.”
Edward stopped breathing.
“Where are you?”
But before she could answer…
another voice came through the phone.
A man.
Calm.
Cold.
“You should have left the past buried.”
The call ended.
Edward stared at the screen.
Because someone had just proven one thing.
Sarah was alive.
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And someone was still trying to keep her hidden.
TO BE CONTINUED…
