Chapter 4 - THE MAN WHO WAS NEVER THERE

The darkness lasted only ten seconds.

But in the Ashford mansion, ten seconds was enough for everything to change.

Daniel stood frozen in Noah’s bedroom, one hand holding the old photograph, the other protecting his son.

Maya whispered:

“Someone is inside.”

A small sound came from the hallway.

A footstep.

Then another.

Daniel immediately moved Noah behind him.

“Stay here.”

Noah grabbed his father’s jacket.

“Dad…”

“I’m right here.”

Daniel opened the bedroom door.

The hallway was empty.

But the window at the end of the corridor was open.

Cold night air rushed inside.

Someone had escaped.

Daniel walked toward the window.

On the floor was a single object.

A black leather glove.

He picked it up.

Maya looked at it.

“That’s not from anyone who works here.”

Daniel’s expression darkened.

“No.”

Because he recognized something.

A small symbol stitched inside the glove.

A silver wolf.

A symbol he had not seen in years.

But one person had worn it before.

His former business partner.

Victor Hale.

The man who had died six months before Emily.

At least…

That was what everyone believed.

The next morning, Daniel called a private investigator.

Marcus Reed arrived before sunrise.

He was one of the few people Daniel trusted.

“I checked the security system,” Marcus said.

“The missing footage wasn’t deleted from the computer.”

Daniel looked confused.

“What does that mean?”

“It was removed from the original source.”

“Someone physically accessed the system.”

Marcus nodded.

“And whoever did it knew exactly what they were doing.”

Daniel looked at the footage again.

The mysterious man.

The missing 47 seconds.

The fall.

Everything connected.

“Find him.”

Marcus looked at him.

“Daniel, are you sure you want to open this?”

Daniel stared at the picture of Emily.

“My son almost died yesterday.”

A pause.

“And my wife might have been murdered.”

Marcus understood.

The investigation had begun.

Meanwhile, Lauren sat in the mansion’s private lounge.

Her hands were shaking.

She wasn’t crying.

She wasn’t scared about Noah.

She was scared because Daniel was asking questions.

A man entered the room.

The same man from the security footage.

Lauren looked up.

“You were supposed to fix this.”

The man closed the door.

“I did.”

“No, you didn’t.”

Her voice became angry.

“He survived.”

The man remained calm.

“He wasn’t supposed to.”

Lauren’s face turned cold.

“You promised me nobody would find out.”

The man stepped closer.

“They won’t.”

Then he placed a small envelope on the table.

Lauren opened it.

Inside was a copy of the old photograph of Emily.

Her eyes widened.

“Where did you get this?”

The man smiled.

“Your problem isn’t the boy.”

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He leaned closer.

“Your problem is that Daniel finally started looking.”