Chapter 14 - The Daughter Who Vanished Again
The Daughter Who Vanished Again
Anna disappeared before sunrise.
Her phone was found inside her apartment.
The front door was locked from the inside.
There was no sign of forced entry.
Nathan immediately blamed himself.
Grace refused to let him spiral.
“Anna chose to investigate with us. That means she knew the risk.”
A message arrived.
STOP LOOKING FOR WHAT YOUR MOTHER BURIED.
Nathan traced the sender.
Nothing.
Then Lily spoke from the hallway.
“Daddy?”
He turned.
She held an old photograph.
“I found this in Aunt Anna's bag.”
It showed Anna as a child.
Beside her stood a woman Nathan did not recognize.
On the back:
SHE WAS THERE WHEN EVELYN LEFT.
Grace recognized the woman.
“That's Caroline Sterling.”
Victoria's mother.
The woman everyone believed had died decades earlier.
Nathan understood.
Anna had not been kidnapped randomly.
She had found Caroline.
And Caroline had found her.
They discovered Anna in an abandoned chapel near Lake Briar.
She was alive.
Caroline was with her.
But Caroline was terrified.
“Howard isn't the architect,” she whispered.
Nathan froze.
“Then who is?”
Caroline looked at Lily.
“The person who designed the entire agreement was someone you have never met.”
A car approached outside.
Caroline gripped Nathan's arm.
“You have five minutes.”
The headlights went dark.
May you like
Someone stepped out.
And Caroline whispered a name Nathan had never heard before.
