Chapter 2 - THE MAN WHO RAN
Victor Shaw had worked for the Whitmore family for thirty-two years.
He had handled business deals.
Estate disputes.
Criminal accusations.
Divorces.
Deaths.
He had never once run from a room.
Until Emily’s jade pendant hit the floor.
Daniel chased him through the hotel corridor.
“Victor!”
Victor didn’t stop.
Guests moved aside as the sixty-eight-year-old attorney shoved through a service door.
Daniel followed.
He caught him near the loading dock.
“Stop!”
Victor turned suddenly.
“Daniel, go back upstairs.”
“Why?”
“You don’t know what you’re getting involved in.”
Daniel grabbed his jacket.
“My wedding just exploded because my mother thinks my fiancée is her missing daughter.”
Victor’s expression changed.
“That wedding cannot happen today.”
Daniel froze.
“Why?”
Victor looked toward the corridor.
“Because once people start asking questions, everything changes.”
“What questions?”
Victor lowered his voice.
“About your mother.”
“About Emily?”
“About you.”
Daniel’s grip loosened.
“Me?”
Victor stepped closer.
“You were not brought into that family by accident.”
Daniel felt cold.
“I was adopted.”
“Yes.”
“My biological parents died.”
Victor looked away.
“That is what you were told.”
Daniel grabbed him again.
“What does that mean?”
Before Victor could answer, Eleanor appeared behind them.
“Victor.”
He closed his eyes.
She approached slowly.
“I want the truth.”
Victor laughed bitterly.
“The truth?”
“Yes.”
“You built your whole life on avoiding it.”
Eleanor’s face tightened.
“I searched for my daughter for eleven years.”
“And then you stopped.”
“I was told she was dead.”
Victor stared at her.
“You were told what you wanted to hear.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“Enough riddles.”
Victor looked at Daniel.
“You want to know why I ran?”
“Yes.”
“Because that pendant was supposed to disappear.”
Eleanor went pale.
“What?”
Victor continued.
“The police never saw it.”
Emily and several guests had now reached the corridor.
She heard him.
“My foster mother said it was found with me.”
Victor stared at her.
“Then someone made a mistake.”
Emily stepped closer.
“Who?”
Victor didn’t answer.
Daniel blocked the exit.
“You’re not leaving.”
Victor laughed again.
“You think I’m the villain here?”
He pointed at Eleanor.
“Ask your mother where she was the night her baby disappeared.”
Eleanor’s expression changed.
Emily saw it.
A flicker of fear.
Daniel saw it too.
“Mom?”
Eleanor swallowed.
“I was home.”
Victor shook his head.
“No.”
Eleanor glared at him.
“Shut your mouth.”
“You weren’t home.”
“Victor.”
“You were at St. Matthew’s Clinic.”
Emily frowned.
“What clinic?”
Victor looked directly at her.
“The same clinic where Daniel was born.”
Everyone went silent.
Daniel slowly turned toward Eleanor.
“You told me I was born in New York.”
Victor said, “You weren’t.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Then where was I born?”
Victor answered quietly.
“Two floors below the nursery where Emily disappeared.”
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Daniel whispered, “Mom?”
May you like
Victor’s next words hit harder.
“And both children vanished from their original records on the same night.”
