Chapter 5 - THE MAN WHO KNEW SARAH
The estate descended into chaos.
Security officers rushed through the halls.
Windows shattered.
Emergency lights flashed.
Arthur led Emily and Lily toward a hidden passage.
Daniel followed behind them.
“Where does this lead?” Emily whispered.
“To the old garage.”
They reached the exit.
A black sedan waited.
Arthur opened the door.
Then he stopped.
There was blood on the driver's seat.
Daniel raised his weapon.
“Someone got here first.”
A voice came from behind them.
“Arthur.”
Everyone turned.
An elderly man stood in the corridor.
He wore a gray suit.
His hands were raised.
Arthur stared at him.
“Samuel?”
The man nodded.
Samuel had been Arthur's father's personal attorney.
Emily recognized the name from Sarah's old journals.
Arthur lowered his weapon.
“What are you doing here?”
Samuel looked at Lily.
“I came because I finally know where Ethan is.”
Emily stepped forward.
“You know my sister's son?”
Samuel nodded.
“He survived.”
Emily covered her mouth.
“Where?”
Samuel's eyes filled with regret.
“He was hidden to protect him.”
“From Victor?”
“From everyone.”
Arthur stared at him.
“Where is he?”
Samuel reached into his coat.
He pulled out an old photograph.
A teenage boy stood beside Sarah.
Emily stared.
It was unmistakably her sister.
And the boy looked remarkably like Lily's father.
“Ethan is alive.”
Emily whispered.
“Where?”
Samuel didn't answer.
Instead, he looked toward the security cameras.
“Because someone is listening.”
Daniel immediately checked the hallway.
Samuel lowered his voice.
“Your sister left one final instruction.”
“What?”
“If the girl ever meets Arthur Sterling, bring them together.”
Emily stared at Lily.
“Why?”
Samuel looked directly at the child.
“Because Sarah believed Lily would eventually uncover what adults could not.”
Emily shook her head.
“My daughter is eight.”
“I know.”
“Why would Sarah involve her?”
Samuel's expression darkened.
“Because the truth was hidden inside something no one would suspect.”
Arthur suddenly understood.
“The trust.”
Samuel nodded.
“Exactly.”
Emily opened the envelope again.
The legal document had seemed ordinary.
But Arthur pointed at the signature.
“This isn't a trust document.”
Samuel shook his head.
“It is a key.”
“A key to what?”
Samuel whispered.
“Your father's private account.”
Arthur went pale.
The account had been closed twenty years earlier.
Or so everyone believed.
Then Lily spoke.
“Mommy?”
Everyone turned.
She held the envelope.
“There is something written behind the stamp.”
Emily pulled it closer.
Tiny letters had been hidden beneath the seal.
ROOM 417. MIDNIGHT.
Arthur looked at Samuel.
Samuel's face changed.
“That room shouldn't exist anymore.”
Arthur asked why.
May you like
Samuel answered.
“Because that's where Sarah disappeared.”
