Chapter 12 - THE PERSON BEHIND THE LIES
Nobody spoke.
Not Alexander.
Not his mother.
Not the security team standing outside the library.
Because Emily Carter had just said the one thing everyone had been searching for.
She knew.
She saw.
She remembered.
Alexander slowly asked:
“Who took him?”
Emily closed her eyes.
The memory came back in pieces.
A dark hallway.
Rain outside.
Noah’s frightened face.
A man wearing a company badge.
Someone she knew.
Someone she trusted.
“I don’t know his name.”
Alexander frowned.
“But?”
Emily looked at him.
“I know his face.”
Her voice shook.
“It was someone from your father’s company.”
Alexander immediately understood.
“One of the executives?”
Emily nodded.
“He wasn’t alone.”
The room became colder.
“There were three people.”
Alexander’s mother covered her mouth.
Emily continued.
“They argued with your father.”
She looked at Alexander.
“They said the evidence had to disappear.”
“And Noah?”
Emily’s eyes filled.
“Noah tried to stop them.”
A tear rolled down her face.
“He told me to run.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
“What happened after?”
Emily pressed her fingers against her temple.
“I don’t remember.”
She looked frustrated.
“I remember Noah pushing me behind a door.”
A pause.
“I remember someone grabbing me.”
Her breathing became uneven.
“Then nothing.”
Alexander looked at her carefully.
“Someone erased your memory.”
Emily nodded slowly.
“But why?”
A voice answered from the doorway.
“Because you saw something that could destroy them.”
Everyone turned.
A woman stood there.
Older.
Elegant.
Holding a folder.
Alexander immediately recognized her.
“Victoria Hale.”
Emily looked confused.
“Who is she?”
Alexander’s expression hardened.
“She worked with my father.”
The woman walked inside calmly.
“I wasn’t his enemy.”
Alexander stepped forward.
“Then why are you here?”
Victoria looked at Emily.
“Because Noah asked me to find you.”
Emily froze.
“You know where my brother is?”
Victoria didn’t answer.
Instead, she placed the folder on the table.
Inside were documents.
Photos.
Medical records.
And one picture.
Noah.
Alive.
Emily grabbed it.
Her entire world stopped.
“When was this taken?”
Victoria looked at her.
“Three months ago.”
Tears filled Emily’s eyes.
“He’s alive.”
Alexander stared at the photo.
“How do we know this isn’t another trap?”
Victoria looked at him.
“Because Noah knew you would say that.”
She handed Emily a small envelope.
“He left this for you.”
Emily opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
Her hands shook as she read.
Emily,
If you found this, it means you finally remembered.
I’m sorry.
I tried to protect you.
But now they know you know.
Trust Alexander.
He’s not his father.
He’s not them.
He’s the only person who can help you find me.
Emily slowly lowered the letter.
She looked at Alexander.
For ten years, she had searched for Noah alone.
Now she finally had a path.
But there was one problem.
The people who hid Noah for a decade knew she had remembered.
And they were coming.
Because the next message on Alexander’s phone made everyone freeze.
A photo appeared.
Emily.
Taken outside the Kingston mansion.
Five minutes earlier.
Under it was a sentence.
May you like
WE KNOW WHERE SHE IS.
TO BE CONTINUED...
