Chapter 13: The Sister Who Disappeared
I stared at the photograph on my phone.
I couldn’t breathe.
The woman in the picture was older than me, but there was no denying it.
The shape of her eyes.
The curve of her jaw.
The small mark near her eyebrow.
She looked like someone had taken my reflection and placed it into another life.
Claire stood beside me, frozen.
“Ryan…”
I looked at her.
“Tell me this isn’t real.””
She didn’t answer.
That was the answer.
I sat on the edge of the old crib, trying to force my mind to accept something impossible.
A twin sister.
A person who had existed my entire life without me knowing.
A person who had been erased.
“Who is she?””
Claire stepped closer.
“Her name was Emma.””
“Was?””
Claire’s eyes filled with sadness.
“We didn’t know if she was alive.””
I looked back at the photograph.
The message said she survived.
Someone wanted me to see this.
Someone wanted me to know.
“Who sent this?””
Claire looked at my phone.
“I don’t know.””
A knock suddenly came from the doorway.
We both turned.
It was Daniel.
His face looked broken.
“I need to tell you something.””
I stood.
“What else have you been hiding?””
He accepted the anger.
“I was there.””
The words stopped me.
“What?””
“The night Emma disappeared.””
The room went silent.
I stepped closer.
“You knew?””
Daniel looked down.
“I was young. I didn’t understand everything.””
“Understand what?””
He looked at the photograph.
“She wasn’t taken by strangers.””
My heart sank.
“Then who?””
Daniel hesitated.
“Someone in our family.””
The words felt like a knife.
I shook my head.
“No.””
“Ryan—”
“No.””
I pointed toward the door.
“I’m tired of people telling me my family is full of monsters.””
Daniel’s voice softened.
“Because it is.””
The honesty hurt.
He walked toward the old box.
“Your father spent years trying to protect you from the truth.””
I laughed bitterly.
“He lied to me.””
“Yes.””
Daniel nodded.
“He did.””
The agreement surprised me.
“But he also saved your life.””
I looked at him.
“How?””
Daniel pulled out an old document.
“This was found with Emma’s records.””
I took it.
The paper was old.
The handwriting was my father’s.
If they find Ryan, they will use him to find Emma.
My stomach tightened.
I looked up.
“Use me?””
Daniel nodded.
“Your father discovered that Emma was connected to something bigger.””
“Bigger than this?””
“Yes.””
He looked toward the hallway.
“Victoria.””
I remembered her words.
Certain families.
Control.
Information.
Secrets.
“What does Victoria want?””
Daniel was quiet.
Then he said:
“She wants what your real father discovered.””
“What did he discover?””
Daniel looked at Claire.
Claire answered.
“The location of the archive.””
I frowned.
“The archive?””
She nodded.
“A place where every secret they erased was kept.””
My eyes moved to the photograph.
“Emma is there?””
Nobody answered.
But I knew.
She might be.
A sound came from downstairs.
A crash.
Then another.
Someone had entered the house.
Again.
Daniel looked toward the stairs.
“We have to go.””
I grabbed Ava’s hand.
“Not without answers.””
Claire looked at me.
“Ryan, listen to me.””
Her voice became urgent.
“Your entire life, people have been trying to decide what you should know.””
She stepped closer.
“Now you decide.””
I looked at Ava.
At Lily.
At the people who had lied to me.
Then I looked at the hidden room.
The room where my past had been buried.
I finally understood something.
The truth wasn’t going to come to me.
I had to go after it.
“Where is the archive?””
Daniel took a deep breath.
Then he answered.
“Under the first house your family ever owned.””
My blood ran cold.
“Where I was born?””
He nodded.
“Yes.””
Claire looked at the photograph of Emma.
“And if she is still alive…”
She stopped.
“What?””
May you like
Claire looked at me.
“She’s the only person who knows why you were chosen.””
